PORTLAND, Ore. -- TriMet will vote Monday on the design for the first new Willamette River bridge span in decades, officials said.
The new bridge will carry MAX trains on the Milwaukie to Portland light-rail line and will also serve buses, pedestrians and cyclists.
Courtesy: David Dayton
The new mass transit-only Willamette River bridge
Cars will not be allowed on the bridge, which will be erected near OMSI in southeast Portland, between the Marquam and Ross Island spans.
City officials aim to provide 10 new TriMet access stations between Portland and Milwaukie to service the campuses of Portland State University, Oregon Health Sciences University and OMSI.
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“In the four-county area, 1 million more people are expected here by 2030,” TriMet project developer David Unsworth said. “We're not able to build the road capacity we can so this really will help getting from here to there.”
Monday’s vote comes after $35 million in promised spending from the federal government on mass transit projects from Eugene to metro Portland.
TriMet is set to receive $32 million toward the light rail expansion.
