A new pedestrian bridge over the Union Pacific Corp. railroad tracks will help residents west of the track get to the Heritage District. (Courtesy town of Gilbert)
A new pedestrian bridge over the Union Pacific Corp. railroad tracks will help residents west of the track get to the Heritage District. (Courtesy town of Gilbert)
A pedestrian bridge across the Union Pacific Corp. railroad tracks on the Western Powerline Trail has opened in downtown Gilbert.
The bridge, built in partnership with the Arizona Department of Transportation, will serve as a gateway to the Heritage District for citizens who live west of the railroad and a safe crossing over the tracks for those biking, walking and riding the trail.
A ribbon-cutting will be held at 6 p.m. Aug. 26 at the base of the bridge near 393 N. Neely St.
Gilbert contributed $1.33 million in funds from its capital improvement projects and general funds.
A Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality grant of nearly $2.83 million from the Federal Highway Administration also was applied to the project.
Raised in Arizona, Tom Blodgett has spent more than 30 years in journalism in Arizona and joined Community Impact Newspaper in July 2018 to launch the Gilbert edition. He is a graduate of Arizona State University, where he served as an instructional professional in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication from 2005-19 and remains editorial adviser to The State Press, the university's independent student media outlet.
