Proposed Willamette River bridge goes public

Hybrid design no sure thing for southbound MAX line

By Jim Redden

The Portland Tribune, Apr 4, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (29 Reader comments)

Courtesy photo

A rendering of a proposed Willamette River light-rail and pedestrian bridge will be on display this month to give the public a chance to weigh in on the plan.

The public is invited to view a model of the recommended design for the first new bridge over the Willamette River in 35 years – the transit bridge that is part of the coming Portland to Milwaukie MAX light-rail line.

The viewing comes amid growing concern that the design might not be accepted by TriMet, however, because of potential cost and other considerations. Although it was chosen by an advisory committee that included a number of prominent architects, TriMet will study it for the next two months before making a final decision.

“The selection committee thought it would be nice to have something fresh, but I’m afraid TriMet might play it safe and do something that has been built many times before,” said David Sodersrtom, a retired Portland architect who served on the committee.

The committee chosen a design that is a hybrid mix of a cable-stay and suspension bridge. It was designed by Miguel Rosales, an architect retained by TriMet for the bridge design phase of the project. Rosales came up with the compromise in part to reduce the tower height required for traditional cable-stay bridges.

TriMet spokeswoman Mary Fetsch said the hybrid bridge has not been ruled out.

“We need to do our due diligence on it to understand whether it could be built and what it would cost,” she said.

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