done, and the bridge itself is
coming along nicely.
-More photos below-
(Photos © J. Maus)
It’s been just about 16 months since the Gibbs Street Pedestrian Bridge broke ground. And lo and behold, it’s set to open late next month.
I took a ride in the Aerial Tram yesterday and snapped a few photos of the new bridge (scroll down). I didn’t realize this project was so close to completion.
Once open, the bridge will connect the Lair Hill neighborhood to the South Waterfront District. The west end of the bridge is at the intersection of SW Gibbs St. and Kelly Ave. From there, the bridge winds over I-5 to an elevator and staircase that stand at the southern end of the new cycle track on SW Moody. The stairs are expected to be bicycle-friendly but I have seen them up close yet. I imagine most folks would just take their bikes on the elevator.
Here are a few more shots from above…
According to an analysis by Alta Planning + Design, usage of the bridge is expected to be evenly split between people on bikes and on foot. The cost was about $12 million, with $2 million of that coming from PBOT (their share of a 10% federal match). PBOT says we can expect a big public grand opening in late May or early June.