Renderings Give More Insight Into Cedar Rapids Pedestrian Bridge [PHOTOS]

It was more than four-and-a-half years ago that a Cedar Rapids group unveiled what seemed like a lofty goal of raising money for a pedestrian bridge over the Cedar River.

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Since then, all the money for the project has been raised, almost all of it privately. Alliant Energy donated $1 million for the new bridge in 2021, and it was revealed that the bridge would be called the Alliant Energy Lightline.

The new 23-foot-wide pedestrian bridge will be built where a railroad bridge stood prior to the 2008 flood and will connect Czech Village and NewBo. What remains of the railroad bridge will be removed this summer after it was determined none of it could be used as part of the new pedestrian bridge. The hope is that part of the bridge can be saved and used as either landscaping or signage. A park is planned for the NewBo side of the pedestrian bridge.

We now have new renderings of what the bridge will look like, via Connect CR, the organization behind the bridge and the reimagining of Cedar Lake.

Here are the newest pictures of the design of the Alliant Energy Lightline. Please keep in mind Connect CR says the images are meant to "give a general idea of how the bridge will look."

A view of the bridge at night, from just above river level:

Looking toward  Mount Trashmore:

Up close look that shows two lanes for bicycle traffic, and one for pedestrians.

A portion of the 165-foot tower is shown in this photo, which splits a portion of the bridge. The split is also visible in the photo at the top of this story. The tower will have both interior and exterior lights.

According to Connect CR, the groundbreaking and construction of the bridge is scheduled for 2024. Both the bridge and Cedar Lake, where work has already begun, should be completed in 2025.