December 2016
NEWS
The Southwest Portland Post • 3
TriMet bus line to cross bridge, Willamette Shore Trolley to return
SELLWOOD BRIDGE
By Erik Vidstrand and Don Snedecor
The Southwest Portland Post
TriMet bus service returns to the
Sellwood Bridge on Dec. 5 after a 12-year
absence.
Line #99 service will connect the east
side with destinations from Lake Oswego
to downtown Portland. Bus service
ended in 2004 due to reduced weight
limits on the old bridge.
As far as the rest of the bridge project is
going, final touches are being completed.
At press time, bridge spokesman Mike
Pullen said that the contractor hoped to
have completed major work by Nov. 23.
“We know there will be ‘punch list’,
or clean-up work, continuing for several
more months,” Pullen told The Post
which has been covering the construction
for years.
“Some of the work that will happen
after Thanksgiving is plantings and
work on the eastside condos which don’t
impact bridge users,” Pullen explained.
One of the more important tasks still to
be completed is the opening of the south
sidewalk on the bridge and the bike/
pedestrian bridge on the west side that
is below the main bridge.
“This bridge connects the westside trail
with the south sidewalk of the bridge,”
Pullen said. A big issue has been traffic.
“The issue we get the most complaints
about is the traffic signals at each end
of the bridge,” he said. “The city [of
Portland] transportation bureau owns
and maintains the signals.”
Pullen said that drivers northbound
on Highway 43 [Southwest Macadam
Avenue] complain they have difficulty
turning right to go on the bridge because
southbound traffic clogs the intersection
when their signal is green.
“PBOT is working on the signal
and thinks this situation will improve
once the contractor is off the bridge
completely,” Pullen stated.
The trolley corridor between
Southwest Miles Street and south of
the bridge continues to be a busy work
zone as crews reinstall historic trolley
tracks. Work has included sub-grade
preparation and drainage with sub-
ballast gravel, ballast rock, then ties and
rails, and finally landscaping along the
tracks.
At press time, switches and turnouts
were scheduled to be installed by the end
of November.
“It’s going well,” Pullen replied, “but
we don’t have anything to do with the
historic trolley that plans to use the tracks
again.”
According to Wikipedia, the Willamette
Shore Trolley dates back to the 1880s
when it was a narrow gauge steam
railroad linking Portland to Oswego (as
Lake Oswego was known back then) and
south into the Willamette Valley.
The line was later purchased by the
Southern Pacific Company who widened
the line from narrow gauge to standard
gauge and electrified it in 1914.
This led to its peak in passenger
travel in 1920, when 64 “Red Electric”
interurban trains traveled daily between
Laying track for the trolley line south of Freeman Motors.
(Photo courtesy of Multnomah County)
the two cities.
The line originally ran around Elk Rock
– a bend in the river just north of Elk Rock
Island – on a long trestle until December
1921, when a tunnel replaced it.
The Elk Rock Tunnel is 1,396 feet
(approximately one-quarter mile) in
length and is located in the unincorporated
Riverwood area, between Portland and
Lake Oswego.
On Oct. 5, 1929, passenger service
ended, though the line was used for
freight until 1983.
A consortium of governments
purchased the railroad right-of-way in
the 1980s, and managed by the Oregon
Electric Railway Historical Society, it has
been used as an excursion trolley line for
tourists off and on since then.
According to the trolley website,
regular service is expected to resume
in May. “The website (http://wst.
oregontrolley.com/) mentions December
trips to see the Christmas ships,” Pullen
said. “We should have the track work
done by end of November.”
The public art installation at the east
end of the bridge is also on the to-do
list. This is the series of metal totems on
both sides of Southeast Tacoma Street
between Sixth and Grand avenues.
“The art fabricator needs more time
and these should be all installed by
February 2017,” Pullen said.
“Much of our remaining work is
weather-dependent,” Pullen concluded.
“Last-minute schedule changes may be
required due to heavy rain.”
For more information, visit http://
www.sellwoodbridge.org/
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