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Around 100 people gathered Tuesday to walk, run or jog across the newest addition to Tempe Town Lake — a pedestrian bridge.To celebrate the opening of the bridge, Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman, city council members and members of the public took a short jog across the bridge at sunrise.
Replacement of the dam and construction of the pedestrian bridge began after an inflatable rubber section of the lake’s west dam burst in July 2010, draining all of the lake’s water.
While the bridge adds another connection for pedestrians to traverse the lake from north to south, it also provides shade for the new rubber dam and has a sprinkler system to help keep the dam cool, Tempe spokeswoman Kris Baxter-Ging said.
Engineers said heat contributed to the old dam’s failure.
The sprinkler system is environmentally sensitive, she said. The system doesn’t turn on at night or if the outside temperature is under 90 degrees.
“The water has to actually provide a function for the system to be activated,” Baxter-Ging said. “It’s not going to waste water.”
Before the bright blue ribbon restricting access to the bridge was untied, Hallman spoke about how the bridge is an addition to a current bicycle and pedestrian system that stretches across the Valley.
“It is also a work of art,” he said.
There is a pattern on the pathway of the bridge that replicates the 34 feet high crisscrossing metal beams that help support the bridge. On the Summer Solstice, the longest day of summer, June 20 in 2012, the shadow cast by those beams at 12:34 p.m. will fall on that pattern, Hallman said.
Hallman also spoke about the possible replacements for the current dam. He said it could be another rubber system or it could be made of steel.
“It will not be, contrary to some people’s desires, a beaver dam,” Hallman said. “I can assure you of that.”
Officials are discussing several design options for the new dam and a final decision is expected in November.
Hallman said the bridge is a place to enjoy the riparian area just west of the bridge and to relax and contemplate life.
Graduate student Tim Huffman attended the opening celebrations with his wife Kristen. Tim Huffman said it is good the bridge is providing shade to help prevent a second break.
“The bridge is awesome,” he said.
Kristen Huffman said the bridge is pretty and it is nice to have something specifically for pedestrians.
Tempe resident Art Mack, 58, said he and his father have been waiting for the bridge to open.
Mack’s dad is 91 years old and enjoys riding his bike but is not necessarily fit to do the complete ride around Tempe Town Lake, Mack said. With the new bridge, there is the option of doing a shorter ride around the lake.
Reach the reporter at ryan.mccullough@asu.edu Click here to subscribe to the daily State Press newsletter.
