Sellwood Bridge Plan Glides Along

Multnomah County’s Sellwood Bridge replacement project, scheduled to begin construction in 2012, is moving ahead smoothly compared to the tumultuous Columbia River Crossing process and TriMet’s new Willamette transit bridge.

Unlike the CRC process, planning for the Sellwood crossing has presented a clear set of design options for the public to choose from. While federal funding for the project is still not locked in, unlike TriMet, the county says it’s got a back-up plan.

Representatives from the Portland-based project management firm David Evans & Associates, which has been brought in to help manage the project, were officially introduced to the Multnomah County commissioners on Tuesday. The firm manages large transportation, energy, land development and water management projects, and is leading a 20-firm team conducting the environmental impact statement for the massive CRC project, now estimated to cost $2.6 billion to $3.6 billion. Other David Evans bridge projects have included the rehabilitation of the Hawthorne Bridge, the construction of the new Sauvie Island Bridge and the current work on the Broadway Bridge.

David Evans & Associates will assist the county in selecting and hiring outside designers and engineering and construction firms. “They’ll also see that we keep our costs down,” said Michael Pullen, public affairs coordinator for the county. “They’re good at that.”

The new Sellwood Bridge has been in the works since 2006. The project calls for a $330 million, two-lane replacement bridge just south of the existing crossing. Issues like bridge alignment, initial condemnation negotiations and coordination with other community priorities like bike lanes, neighborhood scale, trails and the Westside’s Lake Oswego street car have been resolved.

The process, while much smaller in scope and impact, has gone relatively smoothly compared to the Columbia River Crossing, which has gone back and forth with refinements to scale and configurations for close to a year. Mike Baker of David Evans and Associates said CRC planning is the same process as for the much smaller Sellwood project. “It’s just a lot harder for the public to get its head around the issue because of its scale,” he said.

The county is putting the Sellwood Bridge’s type and design before the public now that the project’s alignment and scope have been resolved. Meanwhile the CRC design seems all but lost to consideration as the public continues to debate the scale and alignment of the project.

For example, Baker said that the CRC’s bridge type has already been selected. The Sellwood bridge type and design will not be determined until this August, when the public has had the opportunity to weigh in via a public survey.

County officials note that although none of the funding for the Sellwood Bridge has been secured yet, commissioners do not expect to be left in the lurch if federal money does not pan out as first expected. Unlike TriMet, which, despite repeated warnings, forged ahead with a request for the federal government to fund 60 percent of their project and failed to get it, the county is asking that only 12 percent of the project – $40 million – be funded by the federal government.

That $40 million is due to come through the federal transportation reauthorization bill, which has been stalled in Congress. If that money does not materialize, the county is also applying for a $40 million federal grant called TIGER II, for capital investment in surface transportation projects, as a contingency.

The remainder of the funding breaks down as $127 million from the county, $100 million from the city of Portland, $30 million from the state of Oregon, $22 million from Clackamas County and $11 million carried over from earlier funds.

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