(Photos © J. Maus)
The new Waterfront Pearl condominium just north of the Broadway Bridge might be in a world of hurt financially, but it also boasts a nice new piece of riverfront trail.
The new section of the Willamette Greenway Trail built as part of the condo project begins just south of the Portland Police horse stable, where NW 9th meets NW Naito. A sign near the Naito sidewalk leads you to the riverfront. The new trail is much wider and smoother than other trail sections in that area and it comes with two large lookout areas with benches.
A sign points the way.
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Looking south at Broadway Bridge.
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With this new section of trail, you can now ride (or walk) south from NW 9th all the way to the Steel Bridge (where you can weave your way onto the more well-known riverfront path in Waterfront Park).
Hopefully, someday the trail will extend even further north (and get some much-needed improvements to existing sections). There seems to be plenty of right-of-way near the mounted Police horse stable property, and just north of that, the PDC has plans to redevelop the old Centennial Mills property (although last time I checked, that project is on the back-burner).
Eventually, this trail might even become part of the North Portland extension of the Willamette Greenway Trail. Maybe City planners and engineers can figure out how to add a bike facility to the Fremont Bridge? Now that would make for some nice loop opportunities.
(If you ride out and explore this, there are some excellent blackberry picking opportunities on the river side of the trail, just south of the new segment!).