The members of the Mayor's Advisory Committee are listed below. The committee developed objectives to reflect the needs and desires of the community. These objectives were used as criteria, along with the techncial requirements, during the options analysis.
Mayor's Advisory Committee
Katherine Miller, Project Manager; Senior Engineer, City of Spokane
- Beth Mort, Bicycle user representative
- Brandon Betty, University District project coordinator
- Fritze Clark, University District Advisory Council / business
- John Mercer, City of Spokane Capital Programs
- Karl Otterstrom, University District Board of Directors / STA
- Ryan Ruffcorn, Washington State University
- Melissa Wittstruck, City of Spokane Targeted Area Development Program
Objectives
Connectivity
- The bridge is part of a network of walkways, trails, and sidewalks that allow people to walk, use transit, and bicycle throughout the district in multiple directions.
The bridge is a critical connection across a major transportation barrier, allowing the higher education functions and recreational amenities on the north to interact with commercial and living spaces on the south. - Because it is the only such connection within the district, its location and use should be prominent.
- The bridge should enhance interaction between multiple modes of transportation.
Clarity
- As redevelopment around the bridge occurs, there is the potential for it to be visually obscured. But because its role is so important, its form should not recede into the background, but be distinctive and highly visible without being overly monumental or overwhelming its context.
- The bridge serves as a symbol for co-joining the academic and the urban communities.
- This symbolic role is significant enough to suggest a scale and form that is amplified beyond the basic functional and structural requirements.
The bridge will have multiple identities. It should be visible from a distance – as much as several blocks away. Like many other bridges throughout the world, the bridge should be a landmark that allows for people to be oriented to where they are within the city and the district.
- The bridge should be seen by the public not merely as a corridor to be used to get between multiple points, but as a unique and exhilarating experience in itself.
- The bridge could be a unique destination, much like a number of other, places in downtown.
- The design of the bridge should emphasize the principles of sustainability and “low impact development”.
- Art should be incorporated into the bridge and its approaches, whether integral to the design or commissioned separately.
Comfort- The bridge will accommodate a wide range of users – walkers who are commuters, walkers who are on a leisurely stroll, people who are disabled, and people who are using bicycles. The bridge will be used by people of all ages.
- Because of the clearance over the tracks, its height will likely require special means –structural and/or mechanical – to convey people up and down vertically.
- The bridge should offer a high degree of comfort for people in a number of different ways: convenient access, some degree of shelter from wind, rain and snow, dry non-slip surfaces, and a general sense that the experience of traversing it is pleasant.
- The bridge should enhance the sense of personal safety and security of users, particularly at night.
Catalyst
- As a distinct piece of architectural engineering, the bridge should energize its surroundings with a new image and value.
- Private investment can be stimulated and enhanced through creating an ambiance that includes the bridges, attractive approaches and streetscapes, landscaping and public spaces.
- Because the existing context within the University District is evolving, the bridge can convey both stability and vitality. A particularly distinctive bridge could attract people to live in a unique and transforming neighborhood.
- The bridge and its associated connections can serve as a demonstration of more sustainable methods of circulation in the district and downtown.