This morning on the Burnside Bridge.
(File photo)
(File photo)
As the photo at right (which I snapped this morning) can attest, bike fun on the Burnside Bridge will have to wait a few weeks.
The bridge was expected to be closed to all motorized vehicle traffic for the next three weeks but now plans have changed. Here’s the word from Multnomah County Public Affairs office:
“The Burnside Bridge reopened to motor vehicles at midnight on Friday, July 20 after an extended bridge closure was postponed due to technical problems… It will take several weeks before the contractor is ready to close the bridge again.”
The fun had already begun last Thursday with the Burnside Bridge Slalom event, but fear not, I’m sure more bike fun will be planned once the closure is re-announced.
When I rode over the bridge on Friday last, the road bed was completely closed off, filled with heavy machinery, and had large gaping holes. The sidewalks on either side were fenced off from the road bed and bikes and peds were directed to the sidewalks. That, combined with the always interesting gantlet of hangers-out on the west side of the bridge made the crossing much less \”fun\” than anticipated 🙂
I wondered what the mini-bikes were doing at the west end of the bridge last week… zoobomb-on-the-flats? Looked like fun.
Makes me remember the early \”BikeFest\” of ten or twelve years ago, when the Burnside Bridge was closed all day on a Sunday and bike-oriented businesses set up booths and ran \”slow-bike\” races in the middle of the bridge. A glimpse of what a car-free bridge could look like. Let\’s pursue THAT, why don\’t we?