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EDITORIAL:
Southwest motorists
need to be particularly
aware of bicyclists
and pedestrians
Southwest Portland’s Independent Neighborhood Newspaper
Volume No. 20, Issue No. 3
www.swportlandpost.com
Portland, Oregon
Complimentary
– Page 2
January 2012
New Sellwood Bridge
construction officially under way
By Lee Perlman
The Southwest Portland Post
Work didn’t actually begin that day,
and at press time Multnomah County
was still $5 million short, but on the
morning of December 16 it “officially”
began work on a new Sellwood Bridge.
By now crews should be working on
the creation of new piers 40 yards north
of the existing structure. Sometime
this summer the existing span will be
moved onto these piers (a process tak-
ing two or three days), and this will
function as a temporary bridge.
At that point crews will begin con-
structing a new bridge in the old loca-
tion, a process that will take about three
and a half years.
The new structure will have a lane
of auto traffic in each direction as at
present, plus much better facilities
for bicyclists and pedestrians, and the
space and facilities to accommodate a
future streetcar line.
The cost for all this will be just under
$269 million, from a variety of different
sources, down from an estimate a year
ago of $330 million.
The refusal of Clackamas County
voters to approve an appropriation
for the bridge left a major funding
gap, but most of this was closed this
week when the federal Department of
Transportation approved a $17.7 million
Transportation Infrastructure Geared to
Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant for
the project.
Multnomah County spokesperson
Mike Pullen said the County would
attempt to get the remaining $5 mil-
lion from the Oregon Department of
Transportation.
Officials have identified the need to
replace the bridge, built in 1926, for 50
years. Since the identification of cracks
in its supports in 2004, heavy vehicles,
including TriMet buses, have been
barred from using it.
Multnomah County Commissioner
Deborah Kafoury, who acted as MC
at the groundbreaking ceremony, said,
“Three years ago we only had a plan
and about $11 million. Now, after six
years of planning and design work,
construction can begin!”
Kafoury continued, “This is the larg-
Multnomah County Commissioner Deborah Kafoury (left) receives a ceremo-
nial check from U.S. Undersecretary of Transportation Polly Trottenberg, at the
December 16 groundbreaking of the new Sellwood Bridge. (Post photo by Lee
Perlman)
est transportation project the County
has taken on in a long time, and it
would not have been possible without
strong partnerships.” There was some
irony in the remarks.
Last year, County Commission Chair
Jeff Cogen and Portland Mayor Sam
Adams were publicly at loggerheads on
this issue, and Kafoury announced at a
public meeting a plan to have the rest
of the Portland City Council overrule
Adams. Last month Adams and Cogen
paid tribute to each other.
U.S. Undersecretary of Transporta-
tion Polly Trottenberg said that the TI-
GER grant was one of 46 announced by
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood
“months ahead of schedule.” It upholds
President Barack Obama’s pledge “that
we will not wait for projects that benefit
the American people.”
The requests far exceeded the amount
available, she said, but the Sellwood
Bridge application “knocked it out of
the park. It fits the transportation priori-
(Continued on Page 3)
Hayhurst School robotics team wins
trophy in regional tournament
By Fran Barth
The Hayhurst Neighborhood School Lego Robotics team won a trophy at the
regional robotics competition at Catlin Gabel School on December 10. (Photo
courtesy of Fran Barth)
Don’t forget to renew your subscription. Form on Page 2.
The Southwest Portland Post
4207 SE Woodstock Blvd #509
Portland, OR 97206
The Hayhurst Neighborhood
School Lego Robotics team, “Lego
My Lettuce”, competed against 19
other teams in a regional tourna-
ment held at Catlin Gabel School on
December 10.
They had spent the previous 10
weeks, designing and building their
robot, writing programs and working
on their research project.
Every year, teams across the world
take on the First Lego League Chal-
lenge. The challenge is released early
in September and the tournament is
in early December.
This year’s theme was Food Safety.
The challenge always consists of three
parts: the robot game, the research
project and FLL core values.
For the robot game, the teams
design, build and program a robot
to complete challenges on a themed
competition board. The robot has
three opportunities to complete the
tasks within 2 ½ minutes.
The second part of the robot game
is technical judging on the program-
ming and robot design. The research
project involves selecting an existing,
real life problem, researching it and
recommending a solution.
The FLL core values are the founda-
tion of the program, reminding all of
us that Lego Robotics is about being
a team, about being good sports and
about enjoying the journey, regardless
of the outcome. Most importantly, it’s
about having fun.
“Lego My Lettuce” had a balanced
day at the competition, performing
well in all of the categories. They
did especially well on the research
project.
They researched lettuce harvesting
and discovered a high incidence of
contamination, including listeria, sal-
monella and ecoli. The team designed
an invention that could be strapped
to a harvester’s arm or leg.
The device uses solar powered,
ultraviolet light combined with a liq-
uid cleaner to sterilize the harvesting
knives. The process involves swiping
the knife before each head of lettuce
is cut, reducing the contamination.
The team wore farmer’s costumes,
created a lettuce field for a prop, built
a prototype of their invention and
wowed a panel of judges with their
presentation. They were awarded a
trophy for their project.
The team members are Tyler Brown,
Josiah Barney (missing in photos),
Sam Weber, Kailin Gilzow, Dominic
Lenzini and Reid Kille. The coaches
are Fran Barth, Shannon Rodgers,
John Kresl, and Kathy Taylor. Danielle
Lenzini and Lori Weber were particu-
larly helpful on the research project
Helpful Links: http://firstlegole-
ague.org/challenge/thechallenge,
http://www.ortop.org/fll/
Fran Barth teaches instructional
technology in the Odyssey Program at
Hayhurst Neighborhood School.