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University District Bridge opens to pedestrians, bikers in Spokane

The University District Bridge is officially open after city leaders announced delays throughout the building process. The pedestrian and bicycle bridge over the BNSF Railway corridor connects Spokane's East Sprague area to the University District.

SPOKANE, Wash. — The University District Bridge is officially open after delays throughout the building process.

The City of Spokane posted a video of the bridge on its Facebook page on Friday. The pedestrian and bicycle bridge over the BNSF Railway corridor connects Spokane’s East Sprague area to the University District.

Related: Spokane’s new U District bridge being built differently from collapsed Florida pedestrian bridge

City leaders said they will hold a celebration in the spring for the new Spokane landmark.

In late September, city leaders said the project was about six weeks behind schedule. The project has been in the works for a decade and the city broke ground in March 2017.

Marlene Feist, a spokesperson with the city’s public works and utilities department, said the city had a number of challenges during the construction project. She cited scheduling conflicts with the railroad being one. There are certain types of activities workers cannot do during certain times when the trains are running.

The team also had to take another look at the tensioning of the bridge's cables to make sure they could hold up the bridge

In September, the city estimated that the bridge would open in mid to late November but it opened about a month after the city's estimated date.

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