If there’s something that Portland loves, it’s a wholesome party about something cute and community-oriented. Saturday was that party — to celebrate the new Sellwood Bridge, which opens for real on Tuesday.
(Don’t get distracted by that amazing car covered entirely in yarn: this is actually a picture of the 99 bus, which will bring Trimet service back over the bridge for the first time in forever)Â
Spanning the new bridge for Saturday’s celebration were several food carts, bunches of informational booths, a marimba band full of kiddos, a whole convention of political speechmaking, a ribbon-cutting, and, finally, a parade! It was the kind of sweet neighborhoody event that makes me smile and smile: tons of people coming together to celebrate a new infrastructure addition to their city. Awesome.
(complete with marching bands! This one is LoveBomb Go-Go)
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(old and new)
The new bridge is going to be pretty awesome, I think. It’s not in a new location; it’s just replacing the old and falling-apart bridge. In the picture above (which I took a while ago), you can see the two next to each other. On the left, on the green supports, is the old bridge — where two cyclists going in opposite directions on the one paltry sidewalk couldn’t pass each other without one stopping to let the other go by, pulling as far over to the railing as possible. On the right, the new bridge has sidewalks on both sides. Wide ones at that.
(check out how wide that path is! Nearly as wide as half the whole old bridge!)
So, welcome to the new Sellwood Bridge! This makes two new bridges Portland has seen completed in the last few years, which I think is kind of amazing. A bridge is a crazy thing to build, and I’m excited to have seen two of them from beginning to end now:)
Can’t wait to bike it!!
Me too! Once the path on the west side of the river is finally finished, it’s going to be part of a mean loop around the river from downtown! :)