Most residents at a community meeting Saturday said they favored a new pedestrian and bicycle bridge across the Ala Wai Canal.

Dozens attended the meeting at Ala Wai Elementary School near University Avenue and voted in favor of the bridge which would connect their neighborhood with Waikiki the center for tourism in the state.

The city is considering building a pedestrian and bicycle bridge at a cost of $15 million and has secured about $1.6 million in federal funding to start designing the project.

The Saturday meeting included visual aids set up around the school cafeteria to demonstrate many options, including different widths, designs and construction materials.

Nicola Szibbo, a senior transportation planner in the Complete Streets program with the city’s Department of Transportation Services, said the bridge is one of four options the city is considering for an Ala Wai crossing. The other options are doing nothing, improving other bridges over the Ala Wai, or some other option, such as an aquabus or a tunnel.

Szibbo said the idea for another bridge over the Ala Wai dates back to the 1950s, but is being analyzed again because of the city’s Complete Streets policy, which calls for increased safety and the balancing of all users’ needs. In addition, she said, the bridge could improve the public’s health by encouraging physical activity and enhance public safety by offering an additional exit from Waikiki during an emergency.

Planners are considering two locations for a bridge, one at the end of University Avenue and the other at the end of Seaside Avenue. Federal funds will cover 80 percent of the project.

Mayor Kirk Caldwell said he hoped to build the crossing to connect not only neighborhoods, but also people through their interactions with each other.

“I’m hoping that through your input, we can connect and get this thing right and not to stop,” Caldwell told the participants.

Szibbo said the community feedback on the bridge design will help planners develop the project. At the meeting, popular concerns voted on by residents included lighting; the separation of pedestrians and bicyclists on the bridge; and managing access.

In addition to the community feedback at the meeting, the department surveyed about 700 people walking or biking near the canal for a study of the crossing alternatives. The study, which will include an environmental assessment, is expected to be completed sometime next year when the city will choose the “least environmentally damaging preferred alternative.” If the bridge is the winning alternative, construction could begin in 2022.

Some opposed a new bridge over the Ala Wai, such as Mareva Minerbi, who lives near Ala Wai Elementary. She said she was concerned about people parking in her neighborhood and using the bridge to walk to Waikiki. She also said she’s concerned about crime spilling into her neighborhood from Waikiki.

But most others favored it and said the bridge could reduce traffic noise and congestion in Waikiki and have positive effects in other communities on the island.

Kevin Wilcock, 60, a Makiki architect who rode his bike to the meeting with his wife, Leslie Fleming, said the Ala Wai is a major divider between Waikiki and the rest of Honolulu. He said a bridge over the canal could help economically by allowing people to cross into other neighborhoods to visit other restaurants and businesses.

“It’s all about connections, connecting neighborhoods,” he said.

“It really should be an icon for this city,” he added. “It could be a tourist attraction.”

Another community meeting is scheduled for 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Monday at Ala Wai Elementary. The city is also seeking feedback on the project in an online survey at honolulu.gov/completestreets/alapono.