West Side Buffalo resident John Weber was out early Sunday walking his husky mix, Henry, as he surveyed the progress on the Ralph Wilson Pedestrian Bridge during the final few hours of its installation.
Weber got as close to the work site as he could, walking south along a chain link security fence that stretched along Fourth Street to Hudson Street, where onlookers had access to an unfettered view of the new pedestrian span.
“I was down here last night, too,” Weber said. “Last night I got down here about 10 o’clock. It was just everybody setting up. It wasn’t too exciting. The excitement was in the air, but nothing was moving around too much.”
The hum of activity was still evident by 8 a.m. Sunday, but the span was clearly in place for onlookers to gaze upon and admire.
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“I think it’s beautiful,” said Paul Follett of Clarence, who joined a few other members of the Sunday Morning Riders, a bicycle riding club, to see the nearly finished results.
With the installation of the new pedestrian bridge and the razing of the old span, Follett said he has gained a new access point to Front Park, which is in the process of being expanded to accommodate a brand new Ralph Wilson Park.
“It’s a nice place to be, and the other side of it, too, is all the cars that pass by every day will see how beautiful the bridge is,” Follett added.
Two gantry cranes and a 100-ton terrain assist crane were used to remove the old pedestrian bridge and install the new one overnight, Ralph Wilson Park Conservancy spokesperson Carolyn Human reported.
It “will create a stunning new pedestrian and bicyclist entrance to Ralph Wilson Park when it opens to the public in early 2026,” she said. More work needs to be done before the bridge can be used, she noted.
In the meantime, the conservancy will hold a community celebration at Fourth and Jersey streets from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Monday to salute the placement of the bridge.
Julian Delisle, who lives in the city’s Elmwood Village neighborhood, pedaled his unicycle down to the site at Fourth and Hudson streets Sunday and observed that the avant garde span is as great addition to the city as it will be as an addition to the waterfront park.
“I think it’s more fun than the old bridge,” Delisle said.
Asked if he thought the design was too modern to fit in with Buffalo’s more classic architectural gems, Delisle didn’t think so.
“No. We’ve got to adapt to the times. I think it says that really well,” he said of the span’s design. “It’s tasteful. I think it’s fun. I look forward to using it.”
Peter Hall of Kenmore, another member of the Sunday Morning Riders, also marveled at the bridge’s design.
“The style is very exciting, very European. It reminds of the Sydney Opera House (in Australia), something that’s just completely different from the rest of the city. And this, hopefully, will be the wave of the future, more structures like this. It’s beautiful,” Hall added.
Nancy Anastasia of Kenmore, another Sunday Morning Riders member, recalled seeing the bridge being shipped up the Erie Canal in pieces in June.
“I was riding my bike on the Lockport bike ride and I saw a piece of it coming up on the barge. We had heard it was coming up in pieces, and it’s pretty exciting that we have a new modern bridge for pedestrians, and it’s going to be wider, and we can get more people to our waterfront. It’s beautiful,” she said.
Weber agreed.
“That looks good,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to the whole project being in place.”
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Harold McNeil
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