The Arc of Justice bends towards 2nd Street SE

Schematic drawing shows car lanes and new wider
pedestrian areas

The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice--THEODORE PARKER, 1853 (later made famous by Martin Luther King, Jr.)

(8/27/2026) The 8th Avenue bridge is going to be completely replaced, because it's nearing the end of its useful life--it was built in 1937--and because we need some river crossing to be high enough to allow traffic to cross during a major flood. The other crossings--A, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 12th, and 16th--have gates that will close during a flood, keeping the traffic dry but the bridges wet.

Rob Davis, Flood Control Systems Manager for the city, presented the plans to a fairly large public crowd at the City Services Center on 15th Avenue SW.

Crowd awaiting presentation on 8th Avenue bridge project

The new bridge will be 15 feet higher than the current one, and will have one pier in the river instead of seven. This should result in lower water level--because less displacement--but requires a center tower supported by cables above ground that look bougey and thus have drawn some ire. 

Other resident ire has been directed at the cost of the project, the time it will take and the complexity of detours, and the removal of the bridge's original name, which was to have been the Arc of Justice. (Shouldn't we should all call it that anyway? I'm calling it that anyway.)

The audience questions, though, were mostly technical in nature, and there was no sign of ire at the 4:45 presentation. Maybe the 5:45 presentation was more fraught.

Rob Davis, CR's Flood Control Manager

The total cost will run about $123 million, about half from the federal government--presumably the reason for the disappearance of the Arc of Justice name, in this age of Trump--and half from the city. The entire project will take more than three years to accomplish, with the bridge not open to traffic until spring 2030 and all work not expected to be complete until that fall. The current skinny sidewalks, added in the early 1960s, will be replaced by 14-foot-wide multiuse paths (see above picture).

It does not appear that the path along the west side of the river that extends more or less southwest out of the McGrath Amphitheater behind the Chelsea and Mott buildings will be extended under the bridge. Currently it ends abruptly at a wall of weeds.

Wide sidewalk ends under the current 8th Avenue bridge

The schematic perspective that shows this area doesn't show the sidewalk in question at all.

Schematic view of new bridge, with the west side on the right

However, we are promised a trail through Riverside Park and then parallel to 1st Street SW, to which the current sidewalk will easily connect. So, besides flood preparedness, the Arc of Justice will bring connectivity for cyclists and pedestrians, and aesthetic pleasure for all.

And if this bridge, with the police station at one end and the federal courthouse at the other, causes people to reflect on justice, and those like Dr. King who made it their life's cause, so much the better. And when the money's been spent, and Trump is no longer President, maybe the City will official.

SEE ALSO: Abigail Homrock, "Cedar Rapids to Replace Nearly 90-Year-Old Bridge Starting Next Year," kgan.com, 26 August 2026