the impetus for this gateway bridge was a mere and almost accident between the front bumper of my toyota prius, and a flight footed runner heading north to south, on the nature trail. after looking carefully and proceeding with caution, i attempted to make a right hand turn from pier ave onto valley blvd. being an avid runner myself, and a frequent user of the trail, i was shocked that i didn't even see the runner. i have always thought that valley/ardmore/pier intersection(s) were very dangerous. there are children on the way to school, people hustling off to work, others recreating on the nature trail, crossing guards, etc. this made me curious somehow.

the following day, i went to the above mentioned intersection, brought a coffee, and a beach chair, and observed the intersection from the hours of 7:15a.m.-8:30a.m. i witnessed several close calls between both cars and pedestrians, and cars and bicycles the children going to school were often, but not always held back, by the crossing guard, which seemed to have trouble controlling the number of pedestrians trying to cross the crosswalk.

i then began a schematic design study for a pedestrian bridge, that would alleviate the number of possible occurrences that we now seem to encounter. as the study progressed, it also occurred to me that this pedestrian bridge could do more than just carry persons, over pier ave., it could also become a gateway for the city. a landmark that could be both experienced and valued by our neighboring communities.