First, there was the Millennium Bridge, followed by the Platte River Pedestrian Bridge. Then came the Highland Bridge. Now, are you ready for the next and final installment of the Central Platte Valley pedestrian bridges?

Introducing… the 18th Street Pedestrian Bridge! This final CPV pedestrian bridge will span the Consolidated Main Line railroad tracks and connect the Union Station redevelopment area with the Riverfront Park area along 18th Street. On the Riverfront Park side, the base of the bridge will be located between the Glass House and the Manhattan. On the Union Station side, it will be located between to the City House project (slated to begin construction this year) and the relocated Light Rail station that’s part of the FasTracks multi-modal transit hub behind Union Station.

The 18th Street Pedestrian Bridge will be painted steel with perforated metal panels inset from the truss. The elevators will be glass on two sides with petina copper on the other two sides. The elevator car itself will be polished copper. The stairs at the north (Riverfront Park) end will be painted metal. The grand stairway at the south (Union Station) end will be a metal structure with granite steps and a granite wall feature that faces the street corner.

Here are a few images, courtesty of East-West Partners. The three perspectives below are viewed from (or above) the future Light Rail station along the CML tracks at the end of 17th Street. The building on the left is the Manhattan, and the building on the right is the proposed City House:

Below, the image on the left is looking toward the bridge from the foot of 18th Street on the Union Station side. The middle image is looking northeast down the tracks from the future Light Rail station with the Manhattan on the left and City House on the right. The image on the right is viewed from the top of the north tower of the Glass House, looking down and to the east:

Construction of the new pedestrian bridge should be complete by 2009-2010.