Task force signs off on Burnside Bridge replacement with one less lane, other cost-cutting measures

A Multnomah County committee voted on Monday to advance plans for a new, earthquake-resistant Burnside Bridge that would have one less lane for cars than the current bridge and made other tweaks to the project’s design in the hopes of saving taxpayers about $240 million.

But most members of the Burnside Bridge Community Task Force who voted Tuesday night said they were not eager to narrow the bridge — cutting one traffic lane from an earlier design and shrinking a shared path for bicyclists and pedestrians — and only did so because they are anxious to move forward with plans for a structure that would be a lifeline in an anticipated Cascadia earthquake, in which other bridges would likely collapse or be rendered impassable.

The project has already been pushed back a year. Now construction would start at the earliest in 2025.

The committee, made up of 20 community members, including representatives of walking, pedestrian, bike groups and neighborhood associations, voted on three changes that county employees came up with to reduce costs on the bridge from nearly $1 billion, down to somewhere in the $700 million to $800 million range.

They also heard input that the county collected from nearly 1,500 public commenters who mostly supported the cost-saving measures, but were also conflicted on whether to narrow the bridge and how much capacity to allow for bike and pedestrian traffic.

Funding for the bridge is expected to come partially from vehicle registration fees. A Metro ballot measure that would have funneled $150 million of taxpayer dollars to the project failed in 2020.

The county also plans to seek funding from President Joe Biden’s recent infrastructure package, including Federal Highway Administration grants specifically for bridge replacement.

Committee members unanimously approved two other cost-saving measures. They supported changing the proposed bridge’s design from a “vertical lift” like the Hawthorne Bridge, which moves the bridge up like an elevator to let boats through, to a “bascule,” which would allow the bridge to open up in the center, like the Broadway Bridge. The committee also approved adding two columns in Tom McCall Waterfront Park that would support the west end of the bridge and reduce the height of the structure on top of the bridge.

But members were conflicted on the third cost-saving measure: reducing the bridge width from five auto lanes to four, and narrowing a bike and pedestrian lane by several feet.

The result would be one less traffic lane than the current Burnside Bridge. While the new structure would be about the same width as the current bridge, it would be narrower than the remodel that was first proposed. The structure could also have a reversible lane, allowing for heavier traffic into downtown Portland in the mornings and eastbound out of downtown during the evening commute. One lane would be reserved for use by TriMet buses.

Much of the discussion focused on how the bridge would be used after an earthquake. Committee members said they were concerned that if the Burnside Bridge is to serve as the main connector between east and west Portland after an earthquake, it should be able to accommodate more traffic, and that narrowing the bridge was unwise. They said they supported moving the bridge project forward, but strongly urged the county to try and find funding to widen the bridge.

A few questioned why the proposal to narrow the bridge from five to four lanes wasn’t examined in a full traffic analysis.

Steve Drahota, a consultant with HDR, the engineering firm that’s working with the bridge planning team, said that traffic volumes are not expected to increase significantly in the next two decades. But he said it would be impossible to conduct an analysis that would reflect the amount of traffic that will come over the bridge after an earthquake.

Susan Lindsay, a representative of the Buckman Community Association, said the project was one of the most urgent needs for Portland.

“I think the Rose Quarter Project can wait. I think the Westside project can wait. I think a lot of projects, if they didn’t get built in the next five to 10 years, oh well. I don’t feel the bridge can wait,” she said. “The bridge should be wider, for pedestrians and bikes, but I think we’ve got to get the thing built.”

The proposed design plan will now go before the county’s policy committee, and county commissioners will vote on it in March. After that, the county will have to conduct an environmental impact statement on the proposed bridge construction. Commissioners will make a final decision on the project at the end of this year.

—Jayati Ramakrishnan

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