Oakland residents rally to save pedestrian bridge from planned demolition
OAKLAND -- Parents who live near Montclair Elementary School in Oakland say the Bruns Court pedestrian bridge is crucial for them and their children to safely cross Highway 13.
The bridge is nearly 100 years old but Caltrans says it is structurally unstable nor ADA-compatible. They plan to demolish it.
Now, community members like Cecila Wogan-Silva have been advocating to save it.
"I would like to see the bridge replaced," Wogan-Silva said. "In the next 100 years we need more walking solutions to our town and reducing us to one is dangerous."
Wogan-Silva helped organized a community meeting to discuss the issue Thursday at Montclair Elementary. In attendance was deputy district director for Caltrans Bay Area, Cheryl Chambers. She explained the demolition project was being reconsidered.
"We need to work with Oakland to see what improvements we can agree upon and that was going to be the case anyway with the design work," Chambers said. "Going forward we still need to go over the design work so, who knows? It may be the same thing but now we have to look at funding."
Cecilia says having everyone involved in this conversation already feels like a win.