Walking Tall

Architect Miguel Rosales has four pedestrian bridges on the drawing board for the city.

by Vince Guerrieri | Sep. 19, 2014 | 4:00 AM

Miguel Rosales is making his presence known in Cleveland. The native of Guatemala, who lives and works in Boston, has designed three pedestrian-bridge projects throughout our city and is working on a fourth. This August, he was recommended to design a bridge from downtown Cleveland's Mall C to the lakefront. "It should be an experience to cross a bridge," Rosales says, "so people remember it and identify it with that city."

Rosales' introduction to Cleveland came in 2007 as the architect for the proposed North Coast Harbor Pedestrian Bridge, a planned drawbridge at the harbor's entrance. Rosales points to a pedestrian bridge in a Greenville, South Carolina, park as an example of what he hopes the bridges will do for Cleveland. "It really transformed that area," Rosales says. "It was a barrier, and the bridge opened and it became more public."

Mall to Lakefront Bridge

Est. cost: $25 million
Est. completion: 2016

The proposed pedestrian and bicycle bridge from Mall C to North Coast Harbor, over the Shoreway and the train tracks, is on a fast track for completion before the Republican National Convention in 2016. Plans are in the early stages, but Rosales hopes to make a statement: "The expectation is that this will be innovative and an identifier with Cleveland."

North Coast Harbor Pedestrian Bridge

Est. cost: $8 million
Est. completion: 2017

The drawbridge from Voinovich Bicentennial Park to the harbor's western end had to satisfy U.S. Coast Guard requirements that the opening remain at least 90 feet wide with 70 feet of clearance. Designed to complement the Rock Hall, its curvature is functional too. "If you keep the bridge straight, it will end at an odd angle," he says.

Case Western Reserve University Pedestrian Bridge

Est. cost: $7 million
Est. completion: Unknown

This S-shaped bridge (on hold as the university raises funds) would connect CWRU's main campus to a future western campus. It would stretch from the Cleveland Museum of Art to near the Temple-Tifereth Israel. "I felt it was important to have longer spans for the bridge to float," he says.

Lakefront Connector Pedestrian Bridge

Est. cost: $5.4 million
Est. completion: Unknown

This proposed bridge would span the freight-train tracks between Whiskey Island's Wendy Park and the West Bank of the Flats. A contemporary truss bridge, it will fit with the industrial landscape. "What I was trying to do was span the railroad tracks while relating to the other bridges," Rosales says.