The Walnut Street Bridge was closed to motor vehicles and converted to a pedestrian and bikeway link to City Island after the 1972 Hurricane Agnes flood.

The eastern span of the bridge is outlined in lights which, along with the City Island facilities, create a dynamic visual effect at night.

The 2,801-foot (854 m) span is one of the longest pedestrian bridges in the world and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

On 20 January 1996, as a result of rising flood waters from the North American blizzard of 1996, the Walnut Street bridge lost two of its seven western spans when high floodwaters and a large ice floe lifted the spans off their foundations and swept them down the river.

This dramatic scene was recorded by an amateur videographer and shown on national news clips.