(Photo © J. Maus)
Multnomah County has released the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Sellwood Bridge Project. Included in the DEIS are details of the five bridge design configurations that are being considered.
Now, the County needs your feedback to help them decide what type of bridge to build.
The Sellwood Bridge is a major barrier to biking and better bike facilities on it would open up a host of possibilities for all types of riders — whether you’d enjoy a weekend riverfront spin, a safer, more efficient ride to work, or both.
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One of the five alternatives includes a separate bike/ped bridge. It’s a pretty exciting prospect. Here’s the description from the county:
The bicycle/pedestrian bridge will be 23 feet wide, with 20 feet for bicycle/pedestrian use and 1.5-foot railings. Its alignment will extend from the Springwater Trail on the east side, above the parking lot of Sellwood Riverfront Park, over the river to north of Staff Jennings, and across Highway 43 to connect to a Riverview Cemetery access road as recommended by the Bicycle/Pedestrian Working Group. Ramps from the bicycle/pedestrian bridge will also connect to the Greenway Trail on the west side.
And a cross-section drawing:
It’s exciting to see a separate bike/ped bridge included in the DEIS and it would be great if the County heard a lot of support from the community about it. One thing to keep in mind as you submit your comments is that the preferred alternative that’s eventually selected will very likely be a hybrid of various components (like interchange design, bike/ped facility, where the bridge touches down, etc…), and will not be a carbon copy of any one of the five alternatives.
Comments can be submitted in person at public hearings or online and will be collected through December 22nd. All comments will be given to the project’s Community Task Force and the Policy Advisory Group to help them select a “Locally Preferred Alternative.”
More information on other designs being considered available at the excellent project website, SellwoodBridge.org.