The Duluth City Council is looking to move forward with a resolution to request an evaluation of the long-term future of the downtown Duluth skywalk.

The skywalk has been around since the 1970’s offering pedestrians a weather-protected option for navigating the downtown area. With this proposed evaluation, the council wants to look into potential opportunities for improvement and investment, but will also consider closing off or limiting access to other parts of the network.

Kevin Swanberg, who uses the skywalk to get to work every day, expressed some concern for the potential limitation of access to the skywalk.

“I would love to see more people use the skywalk. I think it’s an important artery for people who have mobility issues or people who cannot drive or don’t drive. It’s an important access point for a lot of businesses. There are several businesses that their main entrance is actually in the skyway. I think they would be hurt by it,” said Swanberg.

He also added that aside from the skywalk, there isn’t another option for safe, street-level pedestrian travel from the downtown area to Canal Park.

“If you take a look at the pedestrian networks that we have downtown, there really isn’t a safe and accessible way to get from downtown to Canal Park if you are a pedestrian on street level. You have to cross multiple busy intersections and multiple lanes of traffic. The safest way to walk from downtown to the DECC for a Bulldog game or an event is in the skyway,” said Swanberg.

There have been reports of nuisance behavior in the skywalk as well, but Swanberg said he doesn’t feel like his ability to access the skyway is limited by those behaviors.

Another user of the skywalk is Duluth City Councilor Arik Forsman, who say’s he’s used for over a decade. While he says the landscape of downtown has changed since the skywalk was installed in the late 1970s, he’s hoping for positive changes as downtown evolves.

“I want it to be better. It’s not living up to its potential. It was built for a day and age that really doesn’t exist anymore. And as we look at adding more housing downtown and some of the changes long term, I want it to be an asset that can work for those folks as well” Forsman said in an interview with WDIO.

The initial resolution passed at the meeting on February 24, they will vote again on March 10 to make it official. If it passes then, a report will be expected in six months.