ASHEVILLE — Some residents think a planned bridge across the French Broad River can be more than just a way to drive from one side of the river to the other.

The bridge, to be located north of Smoky Park Bridge, could also be so visually striking that it would become a community icon in much the same way the Golden Gate Bridge is for San Francisco or the Brooklyn Bridge is for New York City, says West Asheville resident Joe Minicozzi.

The state plans to build an additional crossing of the French Broad from the Westgate shopping center area to U.S. 19-23-70 to relieve congestion on the Smoky Park Bridge as part of the I-26 Connector project, which also involves widening Interstate 240 in West Asheville. Construction on the connector is scheduled to begin in 2012.

“It’s a big infrastructure project and big infrastructure projects have a way of altering your landscape,” Minicozzi said.

The planner and urban designer for downtown development firm Public Interest Projects has been making the rounds of local civic groups presenting the idea. Why not build the bridge in a way, Minicozzi asks, “so our grandkids can say, ‘This is cool.’”

An emblem

Several cities around the country already have or are planning “landmark” or “signature” bridges that have dramatic designs intended be a point of local pride and an attraction for visitors. That’s in addition to the basic task of carrying traffic.

• In Toledo, Ohio, workers are building the Veterans’ Glass City Skyway with a central, 400-foot-tall tower. The tower will be covered with glass panels that will be lit at night, and it will anchor suspension cables that will hold up the bridge deck below.

• A bridge in Daytona Beach, Fla., features special lighting and railings and tile murals of marine life found in the area.

• A new bridge across the Cooper River in Charleston, S.C., with two distinctive diamond-shaped towers drew thousands to its opening last summer.

Asheville resident Matt Wallace, who saw Minicozzi’s presentation to members of several professional engineers groups recently, said he’d like to see something in a similar vein here.

“Asheville kind of owes

it to its history down there (on the French Broad riverfront) and its future to have a signature bridge. It’s a neat opportunity,” he said.

For some — notably, state Department of Transportation officials — it’s a question of balancing desires with the money available.

A group of city residents, appointed by former Mayor Charles Worley and working with state officials, is also looking at the landmark bridge idea as part of consideration of a wide variety of measures to beautify the I-26 Connector project and lessen noise and other neighborhood impacts.

“We want a fabulous bridge,” said Alice Oglesby, who heads the Asheville I-26 Aesthetics Advisory Committee. But, “Funding can be a challenge.”

A balance

A landmark bridge “is a wonderful concept for us to consider,” said Rick Lutovsky, president and CEO of the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce. “I think the key is what is the extra cost, where does it come from, how does it affect the (construction) timetable?”

Jeff Caulder, co-owner of an automobile junkyard a little north of Smoky Park Bridge, has the same concern.

He called the new Charleston bridge “a marvel” and said he could support some extra spending on the aesthetics of a bridge. But there’s a limit, Caulder said.

“It just depends on how much the taxes are going to go up.”

DOT is talking to Oglesby’s committee and others about aesthetic issues and will probably spend about 1 percent or 2 percent of the cost of the project on making the connector attractive, said Alan Thornburg, who represents Buncombe and several nearby counties on the state Board of Transportation.

“I think we can do something within those parameters,” said Thornburg, but it probably won’t be a spectacular bridge held up by cables, he said.

Oglesby said the bridge shouldn’t be the only part of the project where appearance is a concern.

Her committee is looking at issues like how to include attractive landscaping, pedestrian bridges and designs along noise walls as the road courses through West Asheville.

“If we have a fabulous bridge, that’s great. But if we have a fabulous bridge and the rest of (the I-26 Connector) looks horrible, is anybody going to remember the bridge?” she said.

Vince Rhea, DOT project manager for the connector, said DOT has not identified any engineering need for a bridge with an unusual structure.

DOT has had to delay several projects in recent years because of funding problems.

“Everybody is feeling the crunch right now,” Rhea said. “If you start asking for extra money that’s not needed to do the project, then the chances are not as good.”

It is possible to build a distinctive bridge without spending more, said Linda Figg, president and CEO of a Florida-based engineering firm that has designed several landmark bridges around the country, including the Natchez Trace Parkway Arches near Nashville, Tenn.

Others were skeptical.

“The odds are that it’s going to be more expensive if it’s structurally unique,” Rhea said.

Minicozzi said local government or other local sources might kick in some money for a design competition or costs greater than what DOT might ordinarily pay: “We have to be willing as a community to come forward.”

How visible?

Lonnie Brooks, a DOT official who has been involved in planning for a bridge, said one alternative calls for a structure that would be about 1,600 feet long and 50 feet above the water level of the French Broad.

That’s smaller and lower than some of the more spectacular structures around the country. Some are designed to allow ocean-going ships to pass. The new bridge here is more likely to see canoes, kayaks and small motorboats underneath.

Given the new bridge’s location, “If it’s going to be down lower … it may not be that visible,” said Jacquelyn Schauer, a local architect who has looked the issue.

Minicozzi thinks it will be visible enough to deserve special treatment.

He advocates close attention to design for virtually any structure.

“Everything that man creates on the landscape is an opportunity for man to put his hands on it,” he said.