Metro-riding crowds clamoring to get into the new Harry Potter-themed section of Universal Studios will soon have a totally new, much safer way to get from the Universal City Red Line stop to the park. A new bridge for pedestrians is expected to open in early April to "coincide" with the April 7 opening of the much-anticipated Wizarding World of Harry Potter attraction, says a Metro report on the project (via Los Angeles magazine). The Rios Clementi Hale Studios-designed bridge will allow people to go from the subway to a Universal Studios shuttle bus stop without having to wait for car traffic to stop.

The bridge, which hooks across Lankershim and Universal Hollywood Drive, was originally proposed as a $19.5-million project, but the pricetag eventually swelled to $27 million. Opponents argued that this was a lot to pay for a kind of bridge that lots of people ignore, and which doesn't link up to a nearby bus station (the bridge hits three of the four corners of the intersection, but not the fourth one, where the bus stop is).

Love it or hate it, the bridge will be complete this spring and bring with it landscaped plazas on each end of the span, plus the draw of elevators and escalators that will be covered and out of the elements. The structure itself will be open but covered in "a wire mesh for safety and transparency," says Los Angeles.