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January 28, 2008
Town halls to focus on funding for bridge repairs
Multnomah County has scheduled a series of town hall meetings to present information on the condition of its Willamette River bridges and a proposal to fund their repair.
County Chair Ted Wheeler will share information on the county’s 20-year capital shortfall of $490 million for its six bridges across the Willamette. Bridge repair needs range from replacing or repairing the Sellwood Bridge to safety improvements such as replacing the open steel grating on the Morrison Bridge. The Board of County Commissioners is considering referring a measure for the May ballot that would increase the county vehicle registration fee to raise funds for bridge repairs.
Town halls are scheduled for:
- Thursday, January 31, 6 – 8 pm, Multnomah County East Building, Sharron Kelley Room, 600 NE 8th St., Gresham
- Monday, February 4, 6 – 8 pm, Midland Library, 805 SE 122nd Ave., Portland
- Monday, February 11, 6 – 8 pm, Multnomah Building, Boardroom, 501 SE Hawthorne Blvd., Portland
- Tuesday, February 19, 6 – 8 pm, North Portland Health Clinic, 9000 N. Lombard Blvd., Portland
The meeting format will include a presentation, an opportunity for the public to ask questions and share comments, and time to view displays on the condition and repair needs of the Willamette River bridges.
Multnomah County’s Willamette River bridges include the Broadway, Burnside, Hawthorne, Morrison, Sauvie Island and Sellwood. The bridges range in age from 50 to 98 years. Each day more than 180,000 vehicles cross the bridges, in addition to an estimated 12,000 bicyclists and thousands of pedestrians.
Contact: Michael Pullen, Public Affairs Office, 503-988-6804
Posted by Joseph Edge at 7:58 AM
Comments
January 28, 2008 11:49 AM
elee Says:
I recently blundered into a televised Columbia Crossings Task Force public meeting, it was fascinating, I wish this site had displayed (or perhaps, featured more prominently) the times for televised meetings of this body.
January 28, 2008 7:44 PM
Jason Barbour Says:
This is actually separate from the Columbia River Crossing Project.
Much of this is due to Multnomah County's Sellwood Bridge Project, which is currently in the phase where data is being collected based on certain bridge alignments and options. Much more is available at sellwoodbridge.org.
The rest, as I understand it, is essentially the same type of process as City Commissioner Sam Adams' earlier town halls. The results of that turned into the Street Maintenance and Safety Fee proposal, which is currently on the City Council adgenda.
It should be noted that this is also separate from that proposal, however.
February 8, 2008 9:44 PM
Jason Barbour Says:
I've been to the first two of these meetings, to hear what the general public has to say about this. Even though this isn't officially a part of the Sellwood Bridge Project, it's obvious that this includes a portion of the local funding to try to make it easier for the upcoming Sellwood Bridge LPA to get Federal funding.
At the first one in Gresham, 6 people showed up. The second at the Midland Library had 5 attendees. These numbers include myself.
So, please tell people you know about the ones coming up on Monday (unless my schedule changes I'll be at that one, too) and next Tuesday. There's a lot of opinion out "on the street" on this, but the involvement seems like a lot of funding measures lately - where barely anyone in the general public is showing up, few in the general public are listening, and when the final proposal is available, everyone disagrees.
