A screen shot from our 360-degree tour of the current bridge. The proposed structure would be built on top of the same pilings.

The Time-Dispatch’s Graham Moomaw broke some big news on the T-D website earlier today, reporting that the Commonwealth Transportation Board allocated $2.5 million in state funding Wednesday for the city’s downtown Riverfront Plan. The money will go toward the first phase of the plan — funding the proposed Brown’s Island Dam Walk.

The city already has $7 million available  for the plan, and these funds will supplement that. The city has yet to actually say how much the BIDW would cost, though early estimates suggested it was somewhere around $8 million. As Moomaw reported, the state allocation boosts the likelihood that the bridge will be completed in time for the 2015 International Cycling Union Road World Championships.

In talking with city employees and others familiar with the bridge, I heard time and again the worry that with funds tight, city planners could propose building the walkway, but not connecting it to the trails on the south bank of the James near the Manchester Climbing Wall — at least not right away.

With more in the coffers, Olinger told the T-D, the city can go “full bore” on both elements. “We’re just going to kind of get it all done at once,” he said.