Walkers and joggers now cross the Trinity River on the Ronald Kirk Bridge, the 1933 Lamar-McKinney Viaduct reborn. Once built as the Lamar-McKinney Viaduct in 1933, this original road bridge was intended to carry vehicles across the periodically swelling Trinity River to West Dallas. It was completed 27 years after the river's 1908 flood that submerged most of the area.
By 2010 the bridge had fallen into a state of disrepair, and plans were developed to reconstruct Continental Avenue and the bridge. During reconstruction it was decided there was no need for vehicular traffic here, since the nearby Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, completed in 2012, would do so; the structure was reimagined as a footbridge to complement the open park plan for Klyde Warren Park as a recreation amenity. In 2016 the city renamed the Continental Avenue Bridge the Ronald Kirk Bridge in honor of Ronald Kirk, the first African-American mayor of Dallas.
Today you can feel the history beneath your feet — a 1933 viaduct reborn for walkers, joggers, and park-goers. From this spot your eye can follow the curve of the river to the 2012 Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge and the 1930 Texas and Pacific Railway Trinity River Bridge nearby.