Border Pedestrian Bridge Gets Makeover

In the past year, various reinforcement and remodeling efforts have been applied to the old pedestrian bridge crossing the Tijuana River, the quickest and most efficient walking route to downtown Tijuana. The bridge, built decades ago, recently had its concrete and steel-rebar side walls and railings replaced with lightweight, all-steel side-walls.

After workmen arrived with sledgehammers and busted up the walls, journeymen steel workers and welders spent three weeks onsite, constructing the side-wall pieces from steel plates and perforated-steel sheets. Welders and steel cutters put the shapes and pieces together before they were installed on the arched walkway of the old bridge.

The twin rising switchbacks and staircases that mark both ends of the bridge have been reinforced by steel I-beams, and the walking surfaces have been gussied up with a new semi-plasticized surface.

The bridge straddles the Tijuana River and runs parallel to the first auto bridge, which crosses the Rio Tijuana before it leads onto the International Highway leading to Las Playas, Rosarito, and Ensenada.

The Grand Arch, marking the juncture of Avenida Revolución and Calle Primera (the historic loci of the beginnings of the city), is visible from the bridge and offers a prominent landmark for pedestrians wanting to orient themselves toward the city center.