The State Bond Commission on Friday approved $19.5 million to continue work on a pedestrian bridge and its link with the National Coast Guard Museum planned for downtown New London.

A contract now will be drawn up between the state's Department of Economic and Community Development and the National Coast Guard Museum Association, which is raising funds for the estimated $100 million museum.

The state's commitment of up to $20 million for the bridge was part of a 2014 memorandum of agreement signed by the state, New London, the Coast Guard and the National Coast Guard Museum Association.

The bridge eventually will span Water Street and the Amtrak railway line and connect the city-owned parking garage with the train station platform and another location convenient to both the museum and Cross Sound Ferry. It will include stairways and elevators in several locations.

Boston-based architectural firm Payette is designing both the 54,000-square-foot museum and the bridge.