STAFF REPORT

Town Council, February 10, 2005

Art Enhancements to the Proposed Morrisville Parkway Bridge (EN05-072a)
Consideration of art enhancements for the proposed Morrisville Parkway bridge just west of the Preston Village North subdivision

Speaker: Tim Bailey

From:  Tim Bailey, P.E., Engineering Director
Prepared by:  Russ Overton, P.E., Senior Engineer
Approved by:  William B. Coleman, Jr., Town Manager
Approved by:  Benjamin T. Shivar, Assistant Town Manager

Staff presented several options for including art enhancements to the proposed Morrisville Parkway bridge at the January 5, 2005 Operations Committee meeting and January 13, 2005 Town Council meeting.  Council did not want to pursue public art at this phase of the project but was interested in looking into additional options other than the ones presented in the original staff report (EN05-072).  Council directed Staff to review the costs of providing enhancements to the proposed Morrisville Parkway to identify areas to reduce the costs of such enhancements and to provide more detailed information and images of the proposed Morrisville Parkway bridge at a future Town Council meeting. 

As described in the previous staff report the Morrisville Parkway bridge is a new bridge required to span over a floodway between Louis Stephens Drive and the Preston Village North subdivision, located adjacent to the proposed Western Wake County Regional Library, and is one of several phases of Morrisville Parkway that is currently being designed/constructed to ultimately provide a continuous link from NC 54/Chapel Hill Road to western Cary.  A greenway under the Morrisville Parkway bridge has been included in the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Facilities Master Plan but is currently unfunded.  This staff report gives examples of potential artistic features that could be added to the bridge now as part of the current project or later as part of the potential greenway project or a separate standalone project.  All of these features would require additional funding of the current project.

Attached below are renderings of the originally proposed bridge as well as of potentially less expensive options to enhance the aesthetics of the proposed bridge.  (These renderings were provided by the Town’s consultant, URS, out of their Tampa Bay, FL office at an additional cost of $2,000.)

Originally Proposed Bridge

Original Proposed Plan

The Morrisville Parkway bridge is a proposed concrete column and girder bridge with standard 3-bar metal railings and 5’ sidewalks on both sides.  The Morrisville Parkway bridge is a 4-lane median divided, 190’ long, 3-span bridge.  The estimated design and construction cost of this bridge is $1.8 million.  The bridge design is expected to be complete in early 2005 with construction expected to begin by the end of 2005.  The bridge will span a swampy, natural area between Preston Village north and the recently constructed Green Hope Elementary School .  Nothing is expected to pass underneath the bridge until a greenway is constructed in the future.  This is probably the most widely used type of bridge in the area, as examples can be sited at almost every overpass along I-40, US 1, and US 64.

Option 1a

This option would keep the proposed bridge as a proposed concrete column and girder bridge, but the standard 3-bar metal railings and concrete bridge abutments would be replaced with a decorative concrete railing to give the appearance of stone.  The stone could be stained with a gray coloring to blend with the other concrete bridge features as well as with the rip-rap on the bridge slopes.  These changes would increase the design and construction costs by approximately $75,000.  No delay to the current bridge project would be expected with the use of these features as they can be incorporated into the existing engineering design contract. 

Option 1b

This option is the same as option 1a but would have a brick appearance instead of stone and would keep the proposed bridge as a proposed concrete column and girder bridge, but the standard 3-bar metal railings and concrete bridge abutments would be replaced with a decorative concrete railing to give the appearance of brick. These changes would increase the design and construction costs by approximately $75,000.  Again, no delay to the current bridge project would be expected with the use of these features as they can be incorporated into the existing engineering design contract. 

Option 1a-a

This option illustrates additional work that could be done in conjunction with Option 1a or as standalone projects to decorate the concrete median on the bridge deck and/or the piers as part of the bridge substructure to give the appearance of stone. 

The bridge median, shown as a concrete island in Option 1a, could be stamped and stained to give the appearance of stone to match the decorative concrete railing in Option 1a. This change would increase the construction costs by approximately $40,000.

The bridge piers, shown as columns in Option 1a, could be redesigned to give the appearance of a solid stone wall.  This change would increase the design and construction costs by approximately $150,000.

No delay to the current bridge project would be expected with the implementation of either of these features as they could be incorporated into the existing engineering design contract.  Again, the stone could be stained with a gray coloring to blend with the other concrete bridge features as well as with the rip-rap on the bridge slopes.

Option 1b-b

This option is the same as option 1a-a but would have a brick appearance instead of stone.  This option illustrates additional work that could be done in conjunction with Option 1b or as standalone projects to decorate the concrete median on the bridge deck and/or the piers as part of the bridge substructure to give the appearance of brick. 

The bridge median, shown as a concrete island in Option 1b, could be stamped and stained to give the appearance of brick to match the decorative concrete railing in Option 1b. This change would increase the construction costs by approximately $40,000.

The bridge piers, shown as columns in Option 1b, could be redesigned to give the appearance of a solid brick wall.  This change would increase the design and construction costs by approximately $150,000.

Again no delay to the current bridge project would be expected with the implementation of either of these features as they could be incorporated into the existing engineering design contract.

Staff Recommendation:  Staff requests that Town Council review these revised bridge enhancement options and provide direction to staff for the proposed Morrisville Parkway bridge.  If Council decides to pursue one of the proposed options, staff recommends the stone finish to better blend with the other concrete bridge features as well as with the rip-rap on the bridge slopes. If Council proceeds with art enhancements for the bridge, then staff recommends to transfer the appropriate funding for the option selected from the General Fund fund balance to this project (ST 1104).