This project deserves a thread of its own. This would also be a good place to post anything about the conflicting stadium project attempting to stop the link, because these two potential projects are inextricably Link-ed.
HI-OOOOOO!
‘The Link’ seeks to connect San Antonio’s River Walk with improved San Pedro Creek downtown
https://www.expressnews.com/news/loc...d-16784998.php
County Commissioner Tommy Calvert, an advocate for The Link, recently asked the city’s street bond committee for $7 million to construct two bridges — one on Main and another on Soledad. The county also is seeking $4 million in parks funds.
Calvert asked that funds for the bridges be transferred from 2017 bonds allocated for Main Street reconstruction, “so that we do not tear up Main Street twice and close down Main Street to the businesses that are located there.”
But two city committees excluded The Link from the lists of projects they’re recommending be included in a $1.2 billion bond election scheduled for May 7. The City Council is expected to vote on the final list of projects and call the bond election Feb. 10.
City Manager Erik Walsh said at a recent bond meeting he would like a commitment in writing about the county’s role in funding the project. It now is in a preliminary engineering phase that will include public meetings, along with environmental and historical surveys, and will better define the scope and total cost of the project. That process could take up to a year.
Some City Council members have said they’d rather see 2022 bond funds used to address unmet needs in neighborhoods outside of downtown.
Brenda Vickrey Johnson, president of land and development planning firm Vickrey & Associates, told county commissioners in September that the project would complement the Culture Park, which is being expanded downtown along 2.2 miles of the creek.
“If we pass up this opportunity, it could be 10 to 20 years or more before this project could be built, if ever,” she told commissioners.