12
November, 19221
THE WESTERN AMERICAN
Burnside and Ross Island Bridges and Their Relation to Traffic
A Substantial Argument in Favor of the Two Proposed Portland Bridge
Measures on the Election Ballot
By O. Laurgaard, City Engineer.
WO BOND issues for Portland
—
bridges will be voted upon at the
general election on November Seventh.
These bond measures, if enacted, will pro­
vide the funds for the construction of
the proposed bridges across the Willam­
ette river at Burnside street and in the
vicinity of Ross Island. The amounts
to be voted upon being $3,000,000 for the
Burnside bridge and $1,600,000 for the
Ross Island bridge. Before the meas­
ures were put upon the ballot by the
County Commissioners, the matters of
the need of bridges and of the cost of
the same, as well as the general design,
were carefully considered by the City
Engineer’s office and the estimates were
based upon a design made from this
office.
While there will be some local benefit
derived from the construction of the
proposed bridges, virtually the only real
problem to be considered is that of fa­
cilitating traffic- across the Willamette
river. That the present bridges are in­
adequate to accommodate the vehicular
traffic during rush hours is apparent to
anyone who needs to cross the Willam­
ette river. As it will probably be at
least two years before the new bridge
can be thrown open to traffic in case
the bond issues are approved, the con­
gestion at that time will undoubtedly
be considerably greater, as the traffic
counts on the bridges show a steady in­
crease from year to year, this being
caused party by the growth of the city
and partly by the increase in the num­
ber of automobiles in use.
At present the Hawthorne and Broad­
way bridges carry the bulk of the cross­
river traffic, the travel on these two
bridges being considerably more than
the other three combined. The exces­
sive traffic on the Hawthorne bridge is
principally accounted for by the fact
that there is no other bridge which can
conveniently take the traffic from the
district on the East side of the river
running south of Hawthorne Avenue,
which is also augmented by the fact
that the present Burnside bridge has
Been limited as to traffic on account of
the bridge not having been designed for
the heavy loads now commonly
crossing the bridge.
The Burnside
bridge is also avoided by many
drivers on account of the frequency of
the draw opening. That this interferes
largely with traffic is shown by the
fact that during August, 1922, the Burn­
side street bridge was closed to traffic
on account of draw openings for fifty-
three hours, while the Broadway bridge
was closed for nine hours.
Although the Broadway bridge car­
ries more vehicular traffic than the Haw­
thorne bridge, the latter is the .most
seriously congested of any of the
bridges during the rush hour, this be­
ing due principally to the arrangements
of the roadways and the width of the
same. The Broadway bridge has a wide
roadway, while the Hawthorne bridge
has a narrow roadway for vehicles be­
tween trusses and a single track road­
way on each side used jointly by street
cars and fast moving vehicles. The con­
gestion is also greatly increased on ac­
count of the traffic crossing Front
street at grade. Much delay being caused
at this point on account of the interurban
cars using Front street. The Burnside
street bridge at the present time is of
comparatively little value for cross-river
traffic.
In August, 1922, only 6400 vehicles
used this bridge per day, while 15,000
ued the Hawthorne bridge and 19,000
the Broadway bridge. This shows con­
clusively that much of the traffic which
normally would use the Burnside street
bridge, was averted to the other bridges,
as Burnside street bridge offers a di­
rect and convenient connection between
the West Side business district, the East
Side business district and a large dis­
trict in the eastern part of the city,
as well as being the most direct avenue
to the Columbia River Highway. The
fact that the present Burnside street
bridge carries so much less than its
proper share of the traffic is due prin­
cipally to the following points:
1. The present bridge is not designed
for present heavy traffic and the traf­
fic is now restricted to light vehicles
and to a limited number of street cars.
2. The roadway is only sufficiently
wide for three lines of travel.
The
street cars being placed on the outside
of the roadway leaves only one line of
traffic for slow-going vehicles.
3. The grade of the bridge is so low
that the draw must be opened for prac­
tically all steamers, even at low water,
and this results in a great loss of time,
as pointed out above.
4. The grade of the bridge approach
crosses Front street and First street at
grade. This causes considerable con­
gestion, as it is necessary for north
and south bound traffic on the West
Side to cross the stream of traffic on
the bridge.
5. The streets leading to the bridge,
both on the East and West sides are
only 60 feet in width and are occupied
by ear tracks.
Practically all of the bad features of
the Burnside bridge covered above, are
corrected in the proposed design for the
new bridge. The bridge of course is
designed for heavy traffic loading, which
in all probability will not be exceeded
in a period of fifty years or more. The
roadway proposed on the bridge is 66
feet between curbs, which will easily
accommodate three lines of traffic ini
either direction, this roadway being
wider than any bridge now in use ini
the city of Portland. The bridge as de­
signed will have a clearance above high I
water of 40 feet, this being practically I
the clearance of the Broadway bridge. I
which will accommodate ordinary river I
steamers without the necessity of rais- 1
ing the draw span. For ocean going ves­
sels a double Bascule draw span is pro­
vided which will operate similar to the I
present Broadway bridge, except that I
no trusses will extend above the road- 1
way of the bridge, all of the trusses I
and machinery being concealed beneath!
the surface.
The proposed bridge as designed con­
forms with the water front scheme I
which was developed in this office about
three years ago. This plan, as it af­
fected the Burnside street bridge, con- 1
templated that all interurban railroad I
lines would come into the city along I
the water front, the Burnside bridge I
being elevated above the tracks. This I
would do away with the grade crossings I
of the Oregon Electric railway at Front
street and Tenth street and the cross­
ing of the Southern Pacific lines at I
Fourth street. The new bridge would
also be elevated above Front street and I
First street so that traffic going north I
and south on the West Side could cross I
Burnside street without interfering with
or being stopped by the traffic on the
Burnside bridge.
There are at present under way ini
this city, proceedings for the extension I
of Sandy Boulevard from its present I
terminus at 16th street to a connection!
with East Couch street at East 14th I
street and East Burnside street at East!
13th street; also for the widening of
East Burnside street from an extension I
of Sandy Boulevard to the Burnside
bridge, from its present width of 60 1
feet to a width of 90 feet, and of East I
Couch street from the Sandy Boulevard I
extension to East 3d street from its I
present width of 60 feet to a width of
80 feet. The bridge plans provide fori
a connection from East Couch street I
as well as on East Burnside street and I
this will greatly facilitate traffic reach­
ing the bridge on the East side. On I
the West Side the bridge proper will
extend to 3d street and the plans pro­
vide for the widening of the same from I
its present width of 60 feet to a width
of 90 feet, and also a flaring intersec­
tion east of Third street so as to pro­
vide an easier entrance onto the bridge. I
There will also be a connection with the I
Burnside bridge on Second street. It I
is also proposed to widen Burnside I
street on the West Side as far I
west as Washington Street.
All I
(Continued on page 24)