With only days to go before the city starts construction of the first of several improvements - a 680-foot pedestrian bridge over the CSX rail tracks at Locust - various constituencies are mobilizing to stop, or delay, the $5.8 million project.
Some fear the bridge's concrete ramps will loom like a wall over the recreation path. Others say the span should be rerouted to spare mature trees in a community park adjacent to the waterfront trail. The loudest opposition comes from pet owners, who complain the bridge will compromise their dog park. They have hired a lawyer and say they will seek a temporary injunction against the project.
"Many people bought houses in the neighborhood because of the dog park," said Damon K. Roberts, attorney for the pet owners. "There are not adequate provisions for what happens during two years that the pedestrian bridge is being built."
Anticipating the boisterous free-for-all, the city already had scheduled a public meeting for Monday evening at the Trinity Center for Urban Life to discuss the connector bridge. Construction is to begin Tuesday.
The bridge has been in the design phase for more than five years, and Fairmount Park Director Mark Focht noted that this would be third community meeting to explain the project.
As a result of the sessions, Focht said, the city is spending $2 million from the project's budget to replace lost trees, improve the dog park, and reconstruct parkland damaged by construction.
Roberts said the dog owners had not been allowed sufficient input into plans for the dog park, which Focht said would be significantly enlarged and equipped with state-of-the-art irrigation to flush dog waste from the surface.
