The city of Spokane has awarded a contract to KPFF Consulting Engineers, of Seattle, to study possible sizes, types, and locations for an envisioned bicycle and pedestrian bridge over the BNSF Railway Co. tracks near Sprague Avenue to link parts of the University District just east of downtown.

Under the $400,000 contract, the consultant will study options for creating a pedestrian link between the portion of the U-District south of Sprague and the academic portion of the district in the Riverpoint Campus, north of Sprague and the railroad tracks, says city spokeswoman Marlene Feist. The work will include updating the estimated cost of what previously has been envisioned as a $5.2 million bridge project, and developing a right-of-way plan.

The U-District stretches from Interstate 90 on the south to about Sharp Avenue on the north, and from Division Street on the west to about Hamilton Street and the Spokane River on the east. It encompasses an area that includes hundreds of businesses clustered around the Gonzaga University and Riverpoint campuses. Washington State University and Eastern Washington University both have extensive programs at Riverpoint.

KPFF Consulting Engineers will produce a recommendation that will go to the City Council for approval, Feist says. She says the consulting contract runs through fall 2011.

The consultant will work with a project team that includes Taylor Engineering Inc., of Spokane; the Spokane office of GeoEngineers Inc.; the Spokane office of LMN Architects; MW Consulting Engineers, of Spokane; landscape architect Sherry Pratt Van Voorhis PS, of Spokane; and Northwest Dynamics Inc., of Coeur d'Alene.

The information produced in the study would be used to seek funding to design and construct the project, Feist says.