A pedestrian bridge over the Missouri River is under construction that will join Omaha and Council Bluffs. While the Nebraska side of the bridge includes a new baseball stadium and a lot of development, the Iowa side is more laid-back. Don Gross, Council Bluffs’ community development director, explains what walkers can expect to see upon reaching Iowa.
Gross says there’ll be a pedestrian bridge landing and several parks on the dry side of the levee and a large riverfront park on the wet side of the levee. The pedestrian bridge project was driven by Omaha leaders so now Council Bluffs is trying to catch up. Gross says it’s a somewhat difficult area to develop commercially.
Gross says, "The site itself does not have real good access to the interstate, or the community, for that matter." He says that may change, eventually, but it won’t be immediate, at least compared to the developments that’re going great guns on the Nebraska side.
He says: "On the Iowa side, it’s more of a driver. It actually creates the opportunity for us to develop the site, so that’s why it’s kind of lagged." The new pedestrian bridge linking the cities is expected to open later this year.