A small, tarnished plaque off to the side of the Raymond L. Watson Bridge steps — stretching over Campus Drive and linking the University Town Center to UC Irvine’s main campus — can be easily overlooked. The metallic material of the plaque is old and rusted, oxidizing in the same bluish hue as the Statue of Liberty.
Unlike the New York statue, the Watson Bridge is not considered a cultural landmark. However, its existence offers a physical connection between university and public life, resembling a connection from one phase of life to another.
This year, the Watson Bridge celebrates 40 years of service. It was built in 1985 and dedicated to Raymond L. Watson in October 2005. Watson, a former Irvine Company president, played a major role in the construction and design of UCI.
He worked with William Pereira, an architect who helped form UCI and the surrounding community’s landscape. Watson’s urban planning legacy includes being an interim chairman for Disney, oftentimes offering advice to Walt Disney himself on plans for the California and Florida parks.
Because of his work, Watson is celebrated and regarded as a modern Renaissance man — a descriptor that will live on as long as the plaque and bridge remains intact.
Watson, who died in 2012, discussed his upbringing and life as an urban planner in an interview with historian Ann Lage and The Bancroft Library Oral History Center in 2003. He described his aim to create a sense of connection through architecture and design, a common principle in the work of urban planning.
“So what Irvine was able to do, because it owns all this land, is to make sure that within the micro-neighborhood, the path connects with the larger neighborhood; the larger neighborhood, with the next neighborhood,” Watson said in the interview.
Watson was the primary urban planner for Irvine, which became an official city 54 years ago. From the design process to the implementation of each tree and building, both Watson and Pereira were able to create a city from the ground up.
As a tribute to the man who helped create the city and university, the bridge was named in Watson’s honor, memorializing his over 45 years of work in and for Irvine.
Though the bridge was built in 1985 — after Watson’s direct work with the university was complete — its name serves as a symbolic nod to the Irvine Company and its continued partnership with UCI.
The University Center, a location students know for quick bites and grocery store convenience, is a retail property owned by the Irvine Company. While the bridge offers a safe way for pedestrians to cross over Campus Drive, it also keeps the partnership alive.
Similarly to the flagpoles and array of steps leading to the university’s main campus, the Watson Bridge stands as its own landmark for the UCI community. Its thick concrete and spiral ramp — perfect for students with bikes, scooters or any other kinds of wheels — is a well-known piece of architecture associated with the university.
The bridge itself is personified, symbolizing the “collaborative planning, energy and implementation by each that has resulted in a vibrant city around a thriving university,” as the plaque describes.
Bridge symbolism is commonplace in literature, often cited for its themes of connection, growth or the ability to overcome. Martin Luther King Jr. even said, “Let’s build bridges, not walls.”
Yelp user Sarina T., rated the bridge in 2017. She gave it five stars.
“I love this bridge,” the review says. “It’s sturdy and does its job well. Allows me to grab some Chipotle without having to engage in a dangerous game of Crossy Road (fun game; not fun in real life) where a wrong move could result in my body pancaked on the windshield of a UCI hydrogen fuel bus.”
The act of unifying one place to another and creating a physical connection — whether that be for pedestrian safety, retail partnership or simply to fill an architectural gap — makes a difference in the everyday lives of students and community members.
Cassandra Nava is a 2024-2025 Layout Editor. She can be reached at cassan2@uci.edu.
Edited by Avery Rosas, Annabelle Aguirre
