Edina Asks Residents To Vote On Grandview Pedestrian Bridge Plans

EDINA, MN — Edina officials are reaching out to residents to ask for their help in choosing the design for a proposed pedestrian bridge in the Grandview area of the city.

The city is asking residents to vote for one of three designs for the bridge, which is expected to be built on the vacant site of the former Edina Public Works facility in the 5100 block of Eden Avenue.

The pedestrian bridge is being built to create a safe and convenient way for people to cross the railroad tracks just east of the public parking garage behind Jerry’s Foods, officials said.

$22M In Tax Incentives Needed For Edina Project: Developers

The city initially planned to build a bridge for vehicle traffic but that project was scaled back as it would’ve required reconstruction on parts of the parking structure, as well as Jerry’s office building and the Walgreens drive-thru.

City officials said the bridge is being funded with taxes from the Grandview 2 tax-increment financing district. Those funds are also being used for public infrastructure improvements on Eden Avenue and Brookside Road, officials said.

The Better Together Edina website has renderings for each of the three proposed bridge designs, as well as a statement from each of the artists about their plans.

Click here to view the designs and submit a vote. Voting closes Sunday.

Gas Prices In Edina Area Inch Closer To $4 Per Gallon

The first design concept, called “Plants for a sense of place,” features a series of panels with designs of plants that are native to Minnesota. The artist said they focused their design on plants because the “idea of place-based artwork and green space came up frequently” during focus group sessions.

“Learning about native plants deepens one’s sense of place, and my hope is that this can function both as a beautiful piece of artwork and a learning tool,” the artist wrote.

The second design concept, called “Community, flow and education,” features a web of hands to focus on “interpersonal connections,” according to the artist.

Edina Boys Hockey Wins Sectional Title, Returns To State Tourney

“This bridge will connect one piece of land to another, and the various shapes, sizes, and interconnections of hands in the design represent people connecting to one another in the community,” the artist wrote. “This is especially fitting for the current climate in a post-Covid world, where people are finally being allowed to make connections with one another again.”

The artist also said the design could offer up a chance for community participation, as residents could make templates of their hands to be included in the final piece.

The third concept, called “Horse, Wind, Clover and Bridge,” brings together four abstract panels that fit together “like a puzzle” to represent the history of the area, according to the artist.

The horse is meant to represent Dan Patch, and the wind “represents the horse running forward, a concept of changing times,” the artist wrote. The clover is included as its Edina’s city symbol while the “bridge” panel represents the present, “the last transformation of the area,” according to the artist.

Ice-Skating Season Ends In Edina Parks With Warmer Weather Coming

The three “up-and-coming” Minnesota artists were selected by St. Paul-based Forecast Public Art.

Voting was due to close Wednesday, but Edina officials extended the deadline until Sunday for residents to vote on the three design concepts.

Work on the site of the bridge started in 2021, and its construction is expected to be completed later this year, officials said.