Crossing Speer Boulevard from downtown Denver to Ball Arena can be downright dangerous. For years, people have talked about building a bridge for the thousands of people traversing the route from Union Station to Avalanche and Nuggets games and big concerts.
Now, Kroenke Sports and Entertainment is making plans to build one — and it’s also a first step for major development projects on 55 acres of Ball Arena parking lots and along the South Platte River.
A concept plan recently submitted to the city shows just what that bridge might look like. Kroenke Sports and Entertainment plans to pay for the bridge as part of a larger development. The cost is currently unknown.
It would be named Wynkoop Crossing, connecting the Lower Downtown Landing (the fancy new name for a parking lot near the Downtown Children’s Playground) over Speer Boulevard to Ball Arena. The landings are owned by Kroenke.
The bridge could eventually serve as a link between downtown and a new development zone along the South Platte River
“It's arguably, absolutely necessary, even today, without the new development in the area,” said SAR+ Architect Andy Rockmore. “We all know what it looks like for a big event over there, and there are thousands of people who try to cross Speer.”
The bridge would land in the Ball Arena parking lots — right where Kroenke plans to start the arena area redevelopment. The first phase of the development could bring a concert venue and other commercial uses near Speer Boulevard in the next few years.
Stan Kroenke eventually hopes to bring thousands of housing units, hotels, office space, retail, parks and entertainment to the arena’s parking lots. Kroenke also has the option to build another major development, River Mile, which would replace Elitch Gardens with thousands of new homes and other developments. River Mile would be west of Ball Arena.
“It's more of an extension of downtown than a new neighborhood separate from downtown,” Rockmore said. “That's been the goal all along: How do you create this place that really just continues all the activity of downtown rather than pulls away all the energy from downtown.”
For all that to work, planners have argued pedestrians need a safer way to cross Speer Boulevard. Right now, large crowds wait for crossing guards and walk signals as they navigate between the arena and downtown.
The bridge is designed for pedestrians, cyclists, wheelchair users and scooter riders, who will all share the same path. Rockmore was also the architect behind the nearby Millennium Bridge, which gets pedestrians from the Union Station area to Commons Park. (Ed. note: Also known as the big toothpick.)
The downtown landing of the bridge would feature staircases and long, looping ramps on either side.
A gap in the center of the bridge would allow light to reach the road below, preventing a tunneling effect. The ramps would have a 5-percent grade to ensure they’re usable on wheels. The bridge would hang from a large arch over Speer Boulevard rather than be anchored to pillars in the ground. That would allow planners to more freely rework Speer in the coming years, as a potential redesign of the boulevard progresses.
On the other side of Speer, the bridge would land at grade, meaning users can walk on and off it without using stairs or ramps.
The trip across the bridge would be designed to showcase the beauty of Speer Boulevard, the architect said.
“You don't just want to pass over that as fast as possible,” Rockmore said. “You want to enjoy it. You want to be sensitive to that. You don't want to disrupt it. So that's why we've made the bridge as thin and as light as possible.”
The project would also include a new pedestrian walkway into the Downtown Children’s Playground. The nearby trestle bridge over Cherry Creek would remain.
The concept plan, submitted to the city’s planning department last week by Martin/Martin Consulting Engineers, is only the preliminary step and is not a final plan. The plan is under review by multiple city departments.
Martin/Martin did not respond to an immediate request for comment, and Kroenke declined to comment on the record.
In development plans, Kroenke has rebranded Wynkoop Street — which would include the new bridge — as The Sports Mile, a street connecting Coors Field to Ball Arena and continuing to Empower Field at Mile High.
But there’s a wrinkle for that concept: The Broncos now plan to move their stadium to Burnham Yard, and Empower Field could be demolished. So maybe it will be more like The Sports Three-Quarter-Mile.
