(Photo by Portland Parks)
A new, quarter-mile segment of the Willamette Greenway path through the South Waterfront is almost complete. The section of path is part of Portland Parks & Recreation’s South Waterfront Greenway project which was first envisioned in city planning documents in 2004.
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The path will run along the Willamette River from SW Lane to SW Gibbs Street. In a first for Portland, it will offer space for cycling and walking that’s physically separated by a row of vegetation. The $4.7 million needed for this phase of the project was paid for with System Development Charges via a City Council vote back in February.
A new piece of riverfront trail is something to celebrate — especially in a such a growing and dense part of the city — but unfortunately we still lack a connected path. Even though Parks Commissioner Amanda Fritz has called it a “vital link for commuters,” this new path does not connect to existing sections of the path to the north or the south. These connections will have to wait for future real estate development projects (like the 33 acres owned by the Zidell family) that are in the works.
To share more about this project, PP&R is holding an informational meeting on November 18th at 6:00 pm at Umpqua Bank (3606 SW Bond). As for when we can ride the new path, that will have to wait until Spring 2015 when the official opening is planned once all the new vegetation has had a chance to establish itself.