"I hope we can find some consensus and agreement as a council," she said. "But regardless of where the other six council members fall, it's not going to change my vote."

Mayor Ralph Becker could exercise his right to veto the council's decision if it fails to receive five votes — a super-majority of the council — though it's unlikely that he would do so.

"While I'm not a fan of skybridges in downtown Salt Lake, I think we've run the course on this one," Becker said. "I'm not going to stand in the way of the council's policy-making decision on this."

In a visit with the Deseret Morning News Editorial Board on Friday, LDS Church and development officials likened the proposed 140-foot skybridge over Main Street to the famous arch in St. Louis and Space Needle in Seattle, saying it will become a city landmark.

"We've approached it as a piece of art," said architect Ron Loch of Taubman Centers Inc., the developing partner based in Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

Artists will etch the glass walls on the skybridge with depictions of plant life that would grow along City Creek in a natural setting. Loch is still investigating methods of how to etch the glass. Some techniques include laser cutting and sand blasting.

"The closer you get, the more detail you'll see," Loch said.

From an engineering standpoint, the biggest challenge has been designing a bridge without any support columns from below. It also has to be built to withstand an earthquake.

"One end is literally on rollers, so it has the ability to move if the building starts shaking," Loch said.

The bridge's final design is the result of more than 13 public meetings in which the plans were criticized and changed, said Alan Sullivan, an attorney for LDS Church- owned City Creek Reserve Inc.

"The design we started with was different than the one we ended with," he said.

Based on public feedback, the skybridge was to be "transparent to the maximum extent possible" but also a focal point in the city, Sullivan said.

Critics fear the skybridge will block lines of sight to the mountains. The church maintains the current canopy of trees planted downtown blocks sight anyway.

The church is continuing to talk to members of the council who have questions about the skybridge.

"I'd say we're optimistic," said Taubman project manager Bruce Heckman.

The project may be as good as dead if the council doesn't pass the skybridge. The developers don't have any other ideas about how to connect retailers on both sides of Main Street.

"It would be a very unfortunate situation if they determined we didn't meet (criteria for a skybridge)," Heckman said. "But we don't have a Plan B."

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E-mail: jpage@desnews.com or lhancock@desnews.com