PORTLAND -- A Portland neighborhood long divided by Interstate 5 is finally reunited.
A 1,700-foot-long steel and concrete bridge now links pedestrians and bikers over 13 lanes of traffic from Lair Hill on the west side to the South Waterfront neighborhood on the east side.
Portland Mayor Sam Adams named the bridge after former U.S. Congresswoman Darlene Hooley, who helped get $10 million in federal funding to build the $13 million dollar bridge.
"I'm thrilled to have a bridge, because to me it means connecting people," Holley said at an unveiling ceremony Saturday. "That's what I like about a bridge."
The bridge not only connects neighborhoods that were separated when the freeway was built in the 1960s, it also connects pedestrians and cyclists with buses, streetcars and--in less than two years--a new MAX line from downtown Portland to Milwaukie.
Background: Footbridge to connect Lair Hill, South Waterfront
