Birmingham’s historic Rainbow Bridge holds plants and pedestrians. Its quiet, clean and boasts a clear view of the city skyline.

What it still can’t hold is cars.

The Rainbow Bridge, one of the city’s oldest, has connected people to the south and north sides of downtown Birmingham for more than 130 years. In January 2022, the bridge was closed to vehicular traffic due to structural concerns and to prevent further damage. REV Birmingham, a revitalization nonprofit, is working with the city of Birmingham to find options for the bridge’s future.

One community member said he is disappointed in the lack of updates.

“This was a major artery into the central city yet it has been closed for multiple years with no update on reopening or planning for permanent closure,” Joseph Culotta wrote in a letter to the editor of the Birmingham News.

“Ridiculous the accountability or lack of accountability from the Birmingham city to citizens. Currently other arteries are ill suited due to the timing of traffic lights. Seems odd no effort was made to accommodate the absence of this well used route. The silence is deafening.”

Officials say they are unsure when the bridge will reopen, but here is what they’ve been doing in the meantime.

The history of the Rainbow Bridge and what’s next

The city built the bridge in 1891 to link the north and south ends of 21st Street, now known as Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard.

And two decades later, the Birmingham City Commission upgraded the bridge to increase traffic. Those efforts were slowed by World War I, but construction began on the bridge in 1918 and cost $200,000, according to REV.

The bridge was formally dedicated to the veterans hosted in Birmingham who fought as part of the “Rainbow Division” during World War I, according to REV.

Because the last structural update to the bridge was in 1918, it was not designed to handle modern traffic and heavy vehicles.

The city of Birmingham closed the structure to vehicles in 2022 after claiming a “continued lack of compliance” with the Rainbow Bridge’s three-ton weight limit had “deteriorated” the more than 100-year-old structure over time, according to a news release at the time.

In 2023, REV installed short-term beautification measures for pedestrians and cyclists including a temporary multi-use path, informational signs, traffic bollards, planters and additional services from CAP safety ambassadors to care for the plants and address litter and graffiti.

So what’s next for the bridge? Officials are not sure.

AL.com reached out to REV but a spokesperson was not available for an interview prior to publishing. AL.com was instead directed to a website that contains the most up-to-date information on the project’s progress.

“To determine the long-term plan for the bridge, REV is working with the city of Birmingham to issue a request for proposals (RFP) for an engineering and feasibility study to identify viable options for the structure’s future. We already know there will be no zero-cost option. There will be opportunities, challenges and costs associated with all possible outcomes of the study,” the website states.

The city of Birmingham reiterated the statement.

“No formal decisions can be made until a complete engineering assessment has been conducted and finalized. A project this size would have a significant cost which cannot be determined until the assessment phase is completed,” Rick Journey, a city of Birmingham spokesperson told AL.com.