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January 22, 2014
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PHOTO COURTESY OF TRIMET
Public enthusiasm is high as Tri-Met looks to the community for comments on four proposed
names of cultural significance for the new light rail bridge over the Willamette River and future
route for the Portland-Milwaukie Orange Line.
History in the Making
Bridge name finalists rooted in cultural significance
by D onovan M.
C alendar
page 11
S mith
T he P ortland O bserver
After a fierce search for the right
name for the new light rail bridge
under co n stru ctio n o v er the
Willamette River, a committee of 10
has narrowed the list of possibilities
to four names that meet criteria for
cultural and geographic significance.
The Milwaukie-Portland light Rail
transit bridge, just south of the 1-5
Marquam Bridge, has been under
construction for over a year now.
The span was designed to exclu­
sively carry light rail trains, bicy­
clists, and pedestrians but no ve­
hicles. Emergency vehicles would
be allowed as necessary.
To give the transit bridge an of­
D ay
O pinion
pages 14-15
F ood
page 16
of
ficial identity, Tri-Met appointed a
naming committee headed by Chet
Orloff, a 22-year veteran of the Or­
egon Geographic Names Board. The
group fol lowed criteria to find a name
that would be culturally significant
to the region, and reflect how the
1,720-foot bridge connects people.
Over 9,500 potential names were
submitted to the committee.
The final four are Abigail Scott
Duni way, named after a pioneer Or­
egon activist who fought to give
women the right to vote; Cascadia
Crossing, in geographic reference
to the Pacific Northwest’s Cascade
M ountain Range; and Tillicum
Crossing and W y’east, two names
rooted in Oregon’s Native Ameri-
can culture. Tillicum is a word for
people in the Chinookian language
and W y’east was the name Native
tribes had deemed for Mount Hood.
The most popular submission to
the committee was the “Kirk Reeves
Bridge,” a tribute to the late trum­
peter Kirk Reeves, an African Ameri­
can resident who was known for
entertaining commuters for years
on the Hawthorne Bridge.
TriMet will take public comment
on the four finalists until March 1.
The ultimate decision on the transit
bridge’s new name will come from
TriM et G eneral M anager Neil
McFarlane, sometime this spring,
officials said. The bridge is currently
set to open September 2015.
S ervice H onors K ing
PHOTO COURTESY OF KAISER PERMANENTE
Kaiser Permanente employees
Trevor Scott (from left), Sandra
Howardand Tresean Foreman
volunteer at the Clark County Food
Bank Monday in honor of the Martin
Luther King Jr. holiday and King’s
legacy of compassion and dignity
for the most vulnerable members of
our community. More than 700
Kaiser workers, friends and family
members volunteered at sites
across the region, joining hundreds
of other volunteers from the United
Way and other organizations.