The weather was mediocre. The pace, methodical. But for a small group of Portland cycling enthusiasts, Saturday was cause for celebration.
A couple dozen, including U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, gathered in Northeast Portland to await the six-hour installation of a new, $13.7 million pedestrian and bike bridge providing a new route over Interstate 84.
“I just think it’s going to be a good time,” said Alyssa Hursh of North Portland, who gathered four friends – and met some new ones -- for an “infrastructure party, watching under cool, gray skies as cranes prepared to lift the 450,000-pound bridge into place overnight.
The 400-foot span will rest on a temporary tower over the freeway until builders add permanent arch support. (The city is streaming Saturday night’s activities online.)
The normally busy freeway closed Friday night, and I-84 isn’t due to reopen until 5 a.m. Monday. The new Blumenauer Bridge — named for the bicycling congressman who helped champion it — won’t open until sometime next summer.
For those gathered Saturday, though, the six-hour installation process provided plenty of excitement. Hursh had tea on a camp stove and card games to keep her friends entertained during the slow moments.
“It’s not that often that a bridge goes in,” Hursh smiled.
Actually, the Blumenauer Bridge is the latest in a string of new car-free bridges in Portland — following the Tilikum Crossing, Barbara Walker Crossing and newly christened Ned Flanders Crossing.
“This is going to be transformational. I could not be more excited,” Blumenauer said Saturday afternoon as he watched preparations for the newest bridge. He said creating safe routes for cyclists is key to increasing the number of people who ride.
Jeff Hawkins, of Northeast Portland, was up at 4 a.m. to watch the installation of the new Blumenauer Bridge, returning intermittently throughout the day.Mike Rogoway/The Oregonian
Portland is paying for the bridge with money from a variety of city funding sources, aiming to create a better route between northeast and southeast neighborhoods and serve as a link in the city’s “Green Loop.”
On Saturday, Blumenauer said he had been pushing for the bridge since he served on the Portland City Council in the 1980s and ‘90s. He said the bridge will help reduce traffic congestion and pollution by encouraging people to ride.
“This is Exhibit A of where we need to be going,” Blumenauer said.
-- Mike Rogoway | mrogoway@oregonian.com | Twitter: @rogoway |
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