Pedestrian Bridge Would Connect Rutgers Campuses

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — A Somerset-based design firm has pitched building a pedestrian bridge spanning the Raritan River, which would connect Rutgers' main campus in New Brunswick with the dorms, business school and athletic fields in Piscataway.

In 2016, Rutgers and the New Brunswick Development Corp. (DEVCO) asked local New Jersey architectural firms to suggest new ideas and innovations to be considered in the school's master plan, Rutgers 2030.

Design Resources Group Architects, (DRG), the Somerset-based firm, suggested the Raritan River Pedestrian Crossing, also called the "Nexus Bridge." The bridge still needs Rutgers' approval and significant funding. But if built, it would connect the main Rutgers University quad and the NJ transit hub with other far-flung parts of campus, such as High Point Stadium, Johnson Park and the Rutgers Ecological Preserve.

"This would transform the Raritan River into a valued feature, attraction and destination," said Jack King, the director of architecture at DRG. "We proposed an ambitious enhancement to the Rutgers Master Plan pedestrian bridge, changing it into a public park suspended above the Raritan River. This will unify all campuses, the riverfront and the city of New Brunswick as an iconic destination."

While Rutgers University president Robert Barchi has not commented on the proposal yet, DEVCO President Christopher Paladino told MyCentralJersey that the idea of a campus-connecting bridge is important to Barchi.

“This is the kind of thing you need to do,” Paladino said. “You need to dream, to create a vision. I have no idea if the engineering, permitting or cost would allow for something of this proportion to work, but it certainly is the type of thing to aspire to. It’s really cool.”

While the project still has yet to be approved, it is getting noticed: The design proposal was submitted to the 2017 New Jersey American Institute of Architects Annual Design Awards, and it won first place in this year's New Jersey AIA Annual Design Honor Award in the Unbuilt Category.

Photos used with permission from DRG.