21 March 2016
Pedestrian jump at Three Mile bypass bridge still open to public
Guardrails at the northeast and southwest corners of the bridge over the westside bypass at Three Mile Drive protect motorized vehicles from rolling off a precipice — but at the northwest and southeast corners, there’s nothing to protect pedestrians from the same deadly drop. There’s not even a warning sign.
I walk in the area. Below, a few of my photographs of the pedestrian jumps.
South side of the Three Mile bridge on 20 March 2016, taken from sidewalk on the west side of the bridge.
The southeast corner. Note the lack of a guard rail east of the chain link fencing. You don’t want your three-year-old playing here.
The bridge from the northwest. There is no protective barrier between the sidewalk and the drop to the bypass. A low guard rail on the south side of the road keeps cars and trucks from plunging over the precipice.
Close-up of the approach to the northwest pedestrian jump.
The northwest pedestrian jump from the east.
The NW jump from a slightly different angle.
The southwest wall of the bridge and bypass route, photographed from the southeast side of the bridge (and well back from the SE pedestrian jump). A guardrail protects eastbound traffic on Three Mile Drive.
Construction of the Two Mile Drive bridge over the bypass, as seen from the Three Mile bridge.
The water tank at the bypass and Parkridge Drive. The tank is replenished through a six or eight-inch flexible hose connected to what I presume is a city water main at the north end of the Empire loop. If you look closely, you can see the waxing moon — and if you look even more closely, you can see a pale dot below and to the left of the moon. That's a hot air balloon.