6 • The Southwest Portland Post
NEWS / OBITUARY
March 2016
New Sellwood Bridge span opens, yet nine months of work remains
By Erik Vidstrand
The Southwest Portland Post
The new Sellwood Bridge opens to
traffic on March 1. While it marks a
major milestone, more construction
work will continue which cannot be
performed until the new bridge opens.
This will allow contractors to begin
removing the old bridge and complete
other projects.
The current bridge opened in 1925
replacing the Spokane Street Ferry. The
$442,000 cost was reputed to be “the
most extensive bridge programme (sic)
of any city in America” (The Oregonian,
Jan. 1, 1924). It took 250 working days to
construct.
It would be Portland’s first Willamette
River bridge without a movable span
and the first Portland bridge to be
designed without trolley tracks.
The problems with the 90-year old
Sellwood Bridge were well known:
f o u n d a t i o n p ro b l e m s , g e n e r a l
deterioration, and a narrow, lightweight
design that poorly served all traffic
modes.
Multnomah County, who owns the
property, maintained a rigorous safety
program that included visual inspections
every three months to ensure that the
bridge continued to be safe to use but
was decided it needed replacing.
The project began back in 1999 with
the South Willamette River Crossing
Study looking at a variety of options
for a new bridge. Community input
was provided and local school children
developed their own models. Work
began in summer 2012.
“One of the most important messages
we want to convey to the public about
the bridge opening on March 1,” stated
bridge spokesman Mike Pullen, “is that
we still have nine months of construction
to complete.
“I think your westside readers would
be especially interested to know what
work will be completed after the bridge
opens and why.”
The westside trail from the bridge
to Willamette Park is expected to open
in April. The wide trail will follow the
trolley corridor and Southwest Miles
Place. It will be a major improvement
compared to the old trail along the
east side of busy Macadam Avenue
(Highway 43).
The Macadam Bay/Freeman Motors
driveway work has resumed after a 30-
day delay due to an archaeological find
of a century-old brick house foundation
and expected to be completed by April.
The old concrete truss spans (deck,
sidewalks and railings) will be removed
in March and April. The steel truss will
be disassembled and removed in May
and June.
Northbound Highway 43 which goes
under the bridge is expected to open in
May. The left turn from the Sellwood
Bridge to Highway 43 south is expected
to open in late August. It will eliminate
the need for drivers to travel north and
turn around at Taylors Ferry.
Final paving on Highway 43 will
take place in August. Bioswales will be
installed on the both sides of the river
from August to November.
The new bridge features a steel deck
arch design, with three arches supporting
the deck of the main river spans. It
measures 1,976
feet in length,
including the
main river
spans and the
east and west
approaches.
This design
picked by a
community
a d v i s o r y
c o m m i t t e e Aerial view of the new Sellwood Bridge as it appeared in January.
allows for a 64- (Photo courtesy of Multnomah County)
feet width at its
go over the span.”
narrowest point. Two 12-foot travel
A farewell candlelight walk was held at
lanes, two 12-foot shared use sidewalks,
the end of February. Participants strolled
and two 6.5-foot bike lanes/emergency
across the 90-year old bridge one last time
shoulders make up the bridge.
to say goodbye. At press time, a community
“While no plans are underway for a
celebration was scheduled to be held Feb.
streetcar at this time, the deck is ready
27 to dedicate the new bridge. Dignitaries,
when the need and budget present
workers, media, and the community were
itself,” Pullen commented. “A MAX line
scheduled to be on hand.
was never in the design and will never
Harry Austin Blythe, Jr. 1927-2015
OBITUARY
Harry Austin
Blythe, Jr. passed
away on Dec.
19, 2015. Harry
died at home of
cancer with the
care and support
of hospice, his
family and a
dear close friend.
Born Aug. 25,
1927 in Chicago, Harry attended Hyde
Park High School, graduating in 1945.
He enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was
stationed in Corpus Christi, Texas and
served as a medical corpsman.
After his discharge from the Navy,
Harry returned to Illinois to attend
Bradley University, where he met
Barbara Joanne Stone. Harry and
Barbara were married in 1950 and
settled in Peoria, Ill. where Harry got a
job selling ads for the local newspaper
and Barbara became a schoolteacher.
In 1953, the family moved to Burbank,
Calif., so Harry could accept a job selling
ads for the Los Angeles Times. Their son
John was born in 1954, daughter Merry
in 1955 and daughter Leslie in 1956.
Soon after this Harry began working
for Ohio Medical and the Blythe family
grew by one more with the birth of
daughter Stephanie in 1962.
In 1968, Harry’s company transferred
him to the San Francisco area, so the
family moved to Piedmont, Calif. In
the mid-1970s, Harry and Barbara
purchased a home on four acres on the
Mendocino, Calif. coast and spent most
of their weekends there.
Harry soon bought the Coast Peddler,
a small newspaper which evolved into
the Mendocino Commentary under his
ownership. The Blythes sold their home
in Piedmont and bought a new home in
San Francisco. Throughout the 1980s,
Harry split his time between Mendocino
and San Francisco, selling surgical
equipment for Medical Technologies and
continuing to publish his newspaper.
In 1991, Barbara retired from her
teaching career so the Blythes sold
their home in Mendocino along with
the newspaper and moved to Portland.
In 1997, Harry began selling ads for
the Southwest Portland Post and he and
Barbara (who were married for 55 years)
did some traveling. Barbara died in 2005.
For the next 10 years, Harry continued
to sell ads for The Post while making new
friends and enjoying time with his family.
Harry primarily covered Hillsdale
(where he lived) and Multnomah
Village.
Harry was a lifelong fan of the
Chicago Cubs, as well as an all-around
fan of football, basketball, baseball, and
track & field.
He loved listening to music and
public radio, going to see movies
on Sunday afternoons, and having
breakfast at his neighborhood bakery.
He loved to read, and especially
enjoyed poetry, periodicals, and the
New York Times.
Harry is survived by his sister, Bette
Blythe of Las Vegas; children John
Blythe (Denise) of San Anselmo, Calif.,
Merry Pettis (Bill) of Portland, Leslie
Pressman (Stuart) of Carmel Valley,
Calif., and Stephanie Evjen (Eddy)
of Portland. He is also survived by
seven grandchildren and four great-
grandchildren.
Harry will be missed by his friends
and family and will be remembered
for his quick wit, corny jokes, snappy
one-liners and his overall kind and
caring nature.
The Southwest Portland Post is
researching funding a journalism
scholarship at Wilson High School in
the name of Harry Austin Blythe, Jr.
Contributions to this fund can be made care
of this newspaper.
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