Garden City West Bridge
The West Bridge connects an existing stretch of greenbelt on the north side of the river to a 3.2-mile pathway recently constructed generally between Eagle Road and Glenwood Street on the south side of the river. This is a crucial link for safe biking and pedestrian opportunities for greenbelt users wanting to access locations such as Eagle Island, Boise Water Shed, Hewlett Packard, Boise Bible College, and area schools.
Phase I: Deciding to build a bridge In 2010 Garden City started exploring a bike pedestrian bridge just east of the head of Eagle Island. The City received hundreds of signatures on petitions along with numerous written and oral comments in favor of the bridge. The Garden City Council decided to apply for funding and move forward with the bridge formally.
Phase II: Procuring funding Several grant applications were prepared. In 2012 Garden City received Federal funding for Fiscal Year 2013 in addition to a grant from Idaho Parks and Recreation. Additional funding has been provided by Garden City, Ada County, J-U-B Engineering, and Specialty Environmental.
Phase III: Design The Garden City West Bridge completed the ‘Design’ of the West Bridge in May of 2014. The design phase includes crafting agreements with the various entities that will be working on the bridge or will be impacted by the bridge, a thorough analysis of exactly how the bridge needs to be engineered, how the bridge will affect the river system, including habitat and cultural resources and what needs to be done so that the bridge will not adversely affect these resources. There was an open house held on September 17, 2013, to share a preliminary design concept. Once the preliminary design was decided on, we continued to work with all concerned parties to ensure the best possible design with the least impact.Phase IV: Construction The final step of the bridge was construction. The City entered into a contract with the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) for construction management. ITD administered the bid for the construction of the West Bridge. The bid was awarded to Knife River. Knife River started construction at the beginning of 2015.
Phase V: Completion On June 16, 2015, the bridge and connecting pathway were dedicated and officially opened to the public. Shortly after opening the bridge received an Idaho Smart Growth, Grow Smart Award.
Thank you to the many supporters! We couldn't have done this without you.
Grant Funding
- Recreational Trails Program (RTP) Grant from the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation
- Transportation, Community, and System Preservation Program (TSCP) from the Federal Highway Administration (FWHA) administered by the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD)
Local Funding
- City of Garden City
- Ada County
Volunteers and Donors
- Jeanne Barker- Garden City Resident
- Karl Gebhardt- Resource Systems, Inc.
- J-U-B ENGINEERS, Inc.
- Foundation for Ada/Canyon Trail Systems (F.A.C.T.S.)
Project Team
- Garden City Mayor and Council
- J-U-B ENGINEERS, Inc.- Grants; Design Engineering
- Idaho Transportation Department (ITD)
- Garden City Staff
- Jerry Hastings- Ada County Survey
- Karl Gebhardt- Resource Systems, Inc.
- CH2MHill
- Community Planning Association (COMPASS)
- Knife River - Construction
- T-O Engineering-Construction Engineering/ Inspection
- B&A Engineering- Pathway Design
- The Land Group- Landscape Design
Project Advocates
- Ada County Board of Commissioners
- Ada County Highway District (ACHD) Bicycle Advisory Committee
- Ada County Highway District- Director Wong
- Boise Watershed Exhibit, Inc.
- City of Boise- Mayor Bieter
- City of Eagle- Mayor Reynolds
- Clements Concrete
- DeChambeaue Family Trust
- Flake Country Subdivision Homeowner’s Association
- Flood Control District 10
- Foundation for Ada/Canyon Trail Systems (F.A.C.T.S.)
- Pioneer Irrigation
- Riverside Village Homeowner’s Association
- Treasure Valley Cycling Alliance
- Ulmer Hollow Homeowner’s Association
- Water Ski Pro Shop
- Petition Signers and 71 Residents