The Tube Coronado Bridge

Seattle has its space needle. St. Louis has its Arch. Sydney, its Opera House. All are iconic structures giving identity and fame to their cities. Almost every depiction of these cities contains their iconic identity structure.

San Diego has a beautiful bridge that was built fifty years ago on a tight budget that only provided five vehicular traffic lanes and, unfortunately, no access for pedestrians or cyclists to traverse its two mile span. San Diego is arguably is the one of the premier cities for Tri-athletes, runners, and cyclists in the Country, and probably the one with the best weather for walkers and athletes of all ages. The challenge is to create, not only a pedestrian/ bicycle crossing, but also a unique and iconic experience for walkers, runners, and bicyclists crossing the bridge, while NOT ruining the aesthetics of the bridge.

This steel and cable “tube” pathway addresses these issues for the Cities of San Diego and Coronado. An eleven foot wide bikeway/walkway is suspended at the top of the arches of the legs of the existing bridge, beneath the roadway, in a tubular open-air structure that allows for free flow of air and still provides the necessary safety for users, completely removed from the vehicles. The tube respects and enhances the aesthetics of the bridge, leaving the existing forms intact and connects to parks at each end. Preliminary investigations indicate that the loading of the steel tube may be possible within the capacity of the existing steel beams of the bridge.

City views from the tube and viewing platforms 200 feet above the bay are spectacular and extend all the way from Mission Bay and Point Loma to Mexico and the Coronado Islands. Three glass bottom viewing platforms allow for rest stops on the 2 mile bridge and dramatic views of the bay. It will be an iconic structure for San Diego, drawing visitors from all over the world. The design has already won an award from the American Institute of Architects.