(Photo: Cindie Olson)
Perhaps influenced by recent events in Minnesota, there’s a post in the Portland Bike Forums that proposes a new solution to the ailing Sellwood Bridge.
Forum member (and regular commenter) Attornatus_Oregonensis (a.k.a. A_O) is a Sellwood resident and he thinks the aging and deteriorating bridge should be decommissioned and kept open only for bicycle and pedestrian use.
Here are excerpts from his posting:
“…the most sustainable solution would be to decommission the bridge for motor vehicle traffic and make it a ped-bike bridge…
… I realized that (a) many (or most) people who use the bridge are from Clackamas County, or elsewhere outside the neighborhood, on their way to and from the west side of the Willamette (and those from Clackamas who use the bridge will not pay for its replacement); (b) these people regularly clog and speed through Sellwood’s main street, making it difficult for its residents to get around, creating a dangerous situation, and generally lowering the livability of the neighborhood; and (c) the Sellwood Bridge roadway is essentially impassible by bicycles due to impatient, aggressive motorists and cyclists are forced to go across a narrow, almost unrideably narrow sidewalk.
…I want to draft a petition that calls for decommissioning the Sellwood Bridge. I want to send a message that the residents of the Portland area value people over cars.”
To get involved with the Sellwood Bridge Project, visit the official website.
Read A_O’s full post and read what others are saying about it in the Forums.