GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Several key buildings shape the Grand Rapids skyline: The Amway Grand. McKay Tower. The River House and Bridgewater Place. But arguably what defines the downtown landscape isn’t a building at all, it’s a structure: The Blue Bridge.
The pedestrian path crosses the Grand River, connects the east and west sides of the city and is the backdrop of countless photo ops.
But even though it has been around for more than a century, the Blue Bridge has only recently become a key feature. The 575-foot span has lived a few different lives in its 150-plus years. Most of them were dedicated to trains.
What we now know as the Blue Bridge was originally called the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad Bridge, named for the company that had it built. GR&I was one of several railroad companies expanding in the area at the time. In 1868, it was able to get the finances sorted out and received approval to build the bridge in the spring. It was completed within a few months and cost $32,000.
According to Graydon Meints, a local historian who wrote several books on Michigan railroads, the first crossing was Sept. 12, 1868, with crowds jumping aboard the freighter cars and cheering as they crossed. There was also a “feu de joie” — a cannon firing — to celebrate the achievement.
The bridge, however, didn’t last long. According to the Grand Rapids Historical Commission, the span had to be rebuilt in 1874. That one didn’t last for long, either.
An unusually wet summer in 1883 not only claimed the bridge but also nearly crippled West Michigan’s economy. By late June, water levels along the Grand River were getting notably higher. By early July, the levels started to cause problems. Timber floating on the river would escape their booms and cause logjams at bridges.
It happened again weeks later. After a rain system moved in on July 21, the river swelled even more. This time, a boom on the Flat River broke in Lowell. Logs flowed into the Grand River and exacerbated the problems in downtown Grand Rapids. By July 26, the water had won. The logjams claimed three railroad bridges in the city, including the one that belonged to GR&I.
The GR&I bridge was rebuilt in 1892 and continued to carry rail traffic for another 90 years.
As rail traffic slowed, the bridge’s future was uncertain. W.D. Frankforter, then the director of the Grand Rapids Public Museum, had led the push to save the Sixth Street Bridge, but told the Grand Rapids Press in 1976 that he didn’t see a future for the GR&I Bridge.
A photo showing the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad Bridge crossing the Grand River in downtown Grand Rapids. The photo is believed to have been taken in the 1950s or 1960s. (Courtesy Grand Rapids Public Library) 
A photo showing the railroad tracks as they run along the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad Bridge in downtown Grand Rapids. The photo is believed to have been taken in the 1950s or 1960s. (Courtesy Grand Rapids Public Library)
“I don’t see that it would have any use,” Frankforter said. “I can’t see how it could be adapted to even a pedestrian bridge, although I haven’t investigated that. It starts from virtually nowhere and goes nowhere.”
Frankforter would eventually eat those words. In 1984, the Michigan Legislature approved funding to expand Grand Valley State College with a campus in downtown Grand Rapids. Crews broke ground in 1986 and more development along the riverfront made the idea of a pedestrian bridge more palatable.
City officials thought it would make sense for the newly developed GVSC campus to share connections with the commercial sector on the other side of the river.
“As the complex grows, more and more faculty, students and visitors will want easy access to the downtown area,” the Grand Rapids Press said in a report.
What is now known as the “Blue Bridge” has stood in downtown Grand Rapids since 1892, and dates back decades earlier. (Matt Jaworowski/WOOD TV8) 
The steel beams of the Grand Rapids’ Blue Bridge have now held for well over a century. (Matt Jaworowski/WOOD TV8) 
A view of the Blue Bridge from it’s neighbor to the North — the Pearl Street Bridge. (Matt Jaworowski/WOOD TV8) 
The Blue Bridge in downtown Grand Rapids. (Sept. 20, 2022)
The city purchased the “abandoned” bridge from Conrail Corp for $1. Restoration work on the bridge started in 1987, “quickly shedding its aged and weather-beaten image and adding character to the riverwalk area,” a Grand Rapids Press report read.
It took crews months to sandblast, scrape and repaint the stone and cement supports of the bridge. Its bearings were also replaced. Then it was covered with a bold, blue primer before it was set to be painted bronze.
It turns out, it was perfect just the way it was. A lot of people liked the primer color, saying it looked strikingly similar to Grand Valley’s colors, dubbed “Laker Blue.” After a push by some members of the university’s administration, city officials decided to stick with it and added another coat of primer instead of bronze paint.
Now, it’s the Blue Bridge we all know and love, but there have been some questions about making changes. In 2012, one year before it was set to be repainted, the Downtown Development Authority held public forums to discuss whether the color should stay or be changed. The feedback was strongly one-sided and again, the bridge was painted in Laker Blue.
In hindsight, changing the paint color wasn’t exactly necessary anyway. Part of the 2013 restoration project included the addition of color-changing LED lights. Now, you’ll see the bridge lit up in all sorts of different colors, like red, white and blue for Independence Day or purple for Epilepsy Awareness Month. The lighting system was updated again in 2020.
