Before the completion of the $5.4-million Bear Canyon Arroyo bicycle and pedestrian bridge, Albuquerque did not have a dedicated crossing over Interstate 25 for non-motorized traffic in the northern half of the city, and the arterial streets crossing I-25 at the interchanges were not particularly bicycle-friendly or safe.
"Anytime you have a freeway, they tend to disconnect communities," said one judge. "If you can work in these [pedestrian] overpasses to get bicycles through, you start to connect people."