16 Tech to break ground on signature bridge

16 Tech Community Corp. in Indianapolis will break ground Tuesday on what it says is a first-of-its-kind community bridge project. The bridge is designed to connect the 16 Tech Innovation District to the city’s downtown research and medical corridor on and around the IUPUI campus.

The bridge, which is estimated to cost more than $50 million, is viewed as a signature piece of the $500 million innovation district and has been in the works for several years.

Final designs for the bridge were unveiled in December 2021. Designed by Germany-based schlaich bergermann (sbp) and Practice for Architecture and Urbanism in New York, the bridge spans Fall Creek and will have space that separates pedestrians and cyclists from vehicular traffic.

The organization says the bridge will also link 16 Tech with the city’s wider trail and greenway network, including the Indianapolis Cultural Trail.

The bridge is scheduled to open in the summer of 2024.

16 Tech CEO Emily Krueger will be joined by Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett, City-County Council President Vop Osili and representatives from the design team for the groundbreaking ceremony.

The 16 Tech Innovation District opened its first building, Innovation Building 1, in August 2020. Two additional buildings and a parking garage have since opened, and the organization has plans for a central green and residential projects, also slated to open next year.

We’ll have more from the groundbreaking on this weekend’s edition of Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick.