On Friday March 18, 2011, after two and a half years of construction, a pedestrian bridge at the intersection of San Diego’s Park Boulevard and Harbor Drive opened to the public.  The bridge couldn’t have come at a better time. With baseball season starting and 81 home games to be played in the East Village, it will ease access from a Hilton hotel and a 2,000-space parking structure to Petco Park, over a six-lane road and several rail lines. Previously, people had to walk several blocks to a cross walk.  The bridge’s opening was marked on the Padres’ Opening Day, April 5, with live music and appearances by the team mascot and employees.
The opening allows construction work to begin on rebuilding a vehicular railroad crossing that connects Park Boulevard and Harbor Drive.  The bridge is 550 feet long and one of the longest self-anchored pedestrian suspension bridges in the world, according to the Centre City Development Corp. It was funded by $11.1 million from CCDC, working on behalf of the city of San Diego’s Redevelopment Agency, $6 million from the California Transportation Commission and other contributions from JMI Realty, the State Transportation Improvement Program, the Federal Highway Administration, SANDAG and the Unified Port of San Diego.