Pedestrian bridge connects greenways

Trail nears completion

By ANNE PAINE • Staff Writer • January 17, 2008

A new bridge arching across the Cumberland River where it bends near Briley and Two Rivers parkways is hard for drivers to miss. Fifty-foot steel towers that rise 130 feet above the water.

"It's not wide enough to drive a car across," said Nashvillian Steve Bacon, an automotive service writer, who has mulled the bridge's purpose as he's watched it grow. "It's got to be a pedestrian bridge, but what does it go to?"

The $7.5 million structure — about $2.8 million was federal and state funds — is a pivotal piece of Metro's greenway system that officials say should open by March.

The bridge will link almost 22 miles of walking/biking trails from MetroCenter north of downtown to Percy Priest Dam. "The whole system connects parks, schools, recreational facilities … and neighborhoods from suburban areas to downtown," said Shain Dennison, Metro Parks greenways director.

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