Editorial: A design to respect more than love

Why does the bridge cross the river? If that's the only important question, the bridge design unveiled Monday is a success. It gets to the other side -- and it gives every indication of strength and durability as well.

Yet the collapse of the old Interstate 35W bridge over the Mississippi represented an opportunity -- not one that anybody would wish to have knocked so harshly, but an opportunity nonetheless. From that disaster came the chance to build something inspired and inspiring, a landmark structure that would have meant more than a route into and out of downtown. That opportunity, it appears, has been missed.

The new 35W bridge "is going to be a memorial bridge whether we want it to be or not," observed Thomas Fisher, dean of the University of Minnesota's College of Design. "People died there." But there is nothing striking about the span, and, as Fisher pointed out Tuesday, people driving across the bridge won't even see much of it; all the action is underneath.

The lack of any exciting visual element to the design is disappointing, given that the contractor promised neither the fastest nor lowest-cost project (in fact, its price was the highest of the bids). So what does $234 million buy these days? The bridge has some bright points:

• Its railings will afford motorists a better view of the river.

• Its structural redundancies should reassure the driving public of its safety.

• Its capacity for a future light-rail line, though it may never be tapped, at least keeps a sensible option open.

• Its system of sensors should alert authorities to any structural problems -- though, of all the bridges in Minnesota, this one had better have the least trouble for the sensors to report for a good long while.

But while those points may help make the chosen design respectable, they do not make it lovable. Not in this day of distinctive, signature bridges like the ones recently built in Dallas and Charleston.

The lack of transparency in the process -- the design was kept secret until the state had signed its contract with Flatiron-Manson -- does nothing to inspire public confidence in the state's selection process. And the topics left open for citizen input, notably a choice of colors and the shape of the supporting piers, don't go very far toward creating an impression of public involvement. (For our part, we'd be skeptical about a white bridge that will see heavy traffic, for the same reason we'd hesitate to buy a white carpet with kids in the house. In this climate, nothing stays white for long.)

Do Minnesotans harbor a cultural reluctance to profit from a tragedy -- some sense that we deserve nothing fancier than what we had before the accident? If so, it's our loss. Meanwhile, those who long for a little architectural adventure do have a signature bridge to celebrate: the one that will carry bikes and pedestrians across Hiawatha Avenue on the Midtown Greenway in Minneapolis. It's a thing of beauty, and it opens Nov. 8.