BATTERY PARK CITY — Construction on the long-delayed West Thames pedestrian bridge will finally begin in November, officials said Wednesday.
The 240-foot bridge, which will diagonally span the busy lanes of traffic on West Street at West Thames Street, should be completed by December 2015, and then the old Rector Street footbridge nearby will be torn down, city officials said during a presentation to the Battery Park City Authority.
The project, which has been in the works for years, will cost about $27.5 million, said Matthew Best, a program manager from the Mayor's office.
The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation is set to contribute the bulk of the funding with a $20 million infusion, while the BCPA will pay the rest of the costs, including $2 million for the environmental review and design.
The LMDC allocated money for the project back in 2010, but it took years to finalize the BPCA's contribution, officials said.
A preliminary bridge design by SHoP Architects was unveiled in 2009, but Best said officials have gone back to the drawing board and are working on a new plan for the structure.
Best expects to have a new design in place in July.
