8 • The Southwest Portland Post
NEWS
March 2013
Neighbors want Newbury and Vermont bridges safe for bikes and peds
HILLSDALE NOTEBOOK
By Jillian Daley
The Southwest Portland Post
There’s been a lot of debate center-
ing on the Barbur Boulevard bridges
project – and two local neighborhood
associations are in direct opposition
on the issue.
South Portland neighbors weighed in
on the project in January [Rehabilitation
planned for Newbury and Vermont bridges
on Barbur Boulevard,” by Lee Perlman,
The Post, February 2013] and last month
Hillsdale neighbors had their say.
The South Portland Neighborhood
Association board voted in favor of
widening traffic lanes while workers
make repairs, but Hillsdale neighbors
are going the other way. They want
more room for bicycles and pedestrians.
Responding to community disap-
proval, Oregon Department of Trans-
portation officials are reconsidering
an initial plan to do major bicycle and
pedestrian safety improvements while
repairing the Newbury Street and
Vermont Street bridges next year, said
ODOT spokeswoman Jilayne Jordan.
Hillsdale wants those major improve-
ments.
The Newbury and Vermont bridges
support Barbur Boulevard and are just
south of the Southwest Capitol High-
way on-ramp. The bridges are not in
immediate danger of failing, but with-
out the repairs, ODOT would institute
weight restrictions barring heavy trucks
and buses, Jordan said.
Along with the structural repairs,
the project will include improvements
for walkers and bikers – just not to the
extent that the Hillsdale Neighborhood
Association asked for during its Febru-
ary meeting.
Neighbors approved a motion to
submit a request to ODOT to either
build new bridges or make traffic lanes
smaller, so a bike lane or larger sidewalk
could be added.
“It was our desire to have immediate
action to help accommodate pedestrian
bicycle space,” said Glenn Bridger, the
association’s transportation committee
chairman.
Jordan said repairing the bridges
rings in at $5 million, and replacing
them would cost $25 million. That’s
most of the annual project dollars for the
ODOT region that covers Multnomah,
Washington, Clackamas, Columbia and
Hood River counties.
If a bike lane is added, the right traf-
fic lanes and the median separating
northbound and southbound traffic
would get skinnier, said Jordan, who
presented the plan for the bridges dur-
ing the association’s meeting.
“We took that proposal out to the
public and it was not received well,”
she said.
ODOT does plan to install taller pe-
destrian safety railings and repair walk-
ways, ramps and curbs on the bridges.
More signs warning drivers to watch
for cyclists are another proposed up-
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The Vermont bridge is located along Barbur Boulevard at Southwest Parkhill Drive. (Post
photo by Jillian Daley)
grade. The drainage grates by the ramps
will be moved and covered, Jordan said.
The repair project for the bridges,
built in 1934, will begin in early 2014
and last more than eight months. The
construction will close lanes, but the
entire road will not be shut down at
any one time.
There will be a couple of weekends
when southbound traffic will need to
find another way to get through.
“I’d rather be inconvenienced and
have the road fixed,” said Mikal
Apenes, Hillsdale Neighborhood As-
sociation chairman.
The original wood caps that support
the bridge on either end will be replaced
with steel caps, Jordan said.
The Newbury bridge needs new con-
crete around its joints, which support
bridge users’ weight. Both bridges will
be repaved.
A public hearing is tentatively planned
for May. To learn more, visit www.oregon.
gov/ODOT/HWY/REGION1/pages/ver-
mont_newbury/index.aspx.
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