Clinton Presidential Center "Renovation Costs for Little Rock Pedestrian Bridge Expected to Double"

Conversion of a former railway bridge to carry pedestrians and cyclists across the Arkansas River near the Clinton Presidential Library will cost twice as much as once expected, officials of the Clinton Foundation said Thursday.

The foundation said in 2002 that it would spend $4 million on renovation of the Rock Island Bridge, and the City of Little Rock committed another $1 million. Now, estimates are in the vicinity of $10 million.

A lot has happened in the five years since then: The Clinton Presidential Library was built and opened; the Big Dam Bridge for bikers and walkers was built upstream at Murray Lock and Dam; and work was begun last week on converting another, nearby railroad bridge to a pedestrian span.
Jordan Johnson, a spokesman for the foundation, said big changes in plans for the Rock Island Bridge have been required because of discussions with officials in Pittsburgh _ where a similar project was recently completed and big rises in the price of fuel and steel.

Johnson described the foundation's first meeting with Pittsburgh officials in November 2006 as an ''awakening.''

''We realized there are some dramatic differences in cost, and it made us look at what we'd put together,'' he said. ''We decided that we need to systematically revise the whole plan because of cost.''

Johnson said foundation officials are now working to establish a new timeline for the project as they ramp up efforts to complete the bridge project. With cost estimates rising, he said, fundraising has become a bigger hurdle.

When completed, the bridge will be the eastern end of a 14-mile hiking-and-biking loop that will have the Big Dam Bridge at the western end.

Jonathan Semans, the foundation's project manager, said meeting with Pittsburgh bridge planners _ the most recent session was this week _ has been invaluable.

He said those at the meetings have talked about everything from the paint on handrails to testing steel support pins.

''One of the things that was comforting is that it was nice to see that the thought processes were very similar and the outcome was the same,'' Semans said.

Assistant City Manager Bryan Day said the city's commitment to contribute $1 million to the Rock Island Bridge project remains in effect.