Ahhh....the new Bridge to the Pearl....I'm just sayin' it's probably the new linchpin....another SamAdramatic "statement"....and where the meter $top$ nobody knows.

As TOP put it:

Double it! - It all comes back.

To bite you, that is.

Well...according to a simple calculation based upon the cost overruns for the tram the Sauvie Island Bridge move should cost only 4 times as much as predicted.
That will be about $22 million.
How many pot holes would $22 million fill? Maybe we can just fill them up with paper?

I'm sure the new bridge will be a fantastic tourist draw, sort of like of like the OHSU aerial tram [rim shot].

Adams' quote: "The Sauvie Island bridge "celebrates" everything we're about..."

Okay, folks - time's up. Let's start speaking like intelligent human beings again. Inanimate objects don't celebrate. People celebrate. A structure may "represent" something, but it sure as hell doesn't celebrate a damn thing. However, like Portland Native suggests, I would definitely CELEBRATE a little work being done on the existing infrastructure - like filling the potholes, or resurfacing a few broken streets, maybe?

I sure wish adults would start talking like adults again, instead of resorting to cute catch-phrases that are usually old and worn by the time someone who wants to appear to be "with it" employs them. It's such a "turn off."

Okay, folks - time's up. Let's start speaking like intelligent human beings again. Inanimate objects don't celebrate. People celebrate.

yeah! right on.

Oh my god. I can't believe this is still a live issue. This captures everything that I can't abide about Portland city government.

Look, I support a bike bridge at Flanders. But there is NO GOOD REASON to move the Sauvie Island Bridge.

The bridge has no special merit. It is a very bland architectural style. It's only historical value is that it was the first bridge to Sauvie.

They claim it is environmentally sound, but there are uses for the current structure as landfill for the new bridge or along the Columbia and Willamette.

This is a pure vanity project. It has no economic merit and no environmental merit. And it could cost 2-3 times as much as a dedicated structure.

Environmentally sound? It's covered in lead paint. At least it's metal. With luck, someone will steal it.

There are better/more efficient ways to recycle the materials from the old bridge. I support efforts to enhance bicycle/pedestrian transportation, but abhore wasting tax resources based on a select group's perception that this would somehow be more cool or whatever.

I forgot to add in an additional $1 million to get rid of the lead paint...maybe I should add in $10 mill?
Also let's not forget that the bridge is being replaced because it is no longer safe for all traffic.
This whole project is just nuts!

This idea couldn't be any more irresponsible.

Sell the bridge to the highest bidder and forget about any new ped/bike bridge over I-405. There's plenty of existing crossings and a huge backlog of infrastructure maintennence waiting for funding.

That 1 in 100 thingie that they rate bridges, where does it stand (vis a vi Sellwood which comes in at 2 out of 100)?

Let's celebrate paving some sand and gravel streets in old neighborhoods that have never been paved...It's at least as important as an new/recycled bike bridge.

We've reached a point where even the most obviously absurd ideas are so muddied and blurred that it's a close close call.

All Sam need say is some kind of sh-t like it celebrates and people nod.

Portland moved beyond weird some time ago.

"Portland moved beyond weird some time ago."

God, let's hope so. How about "Keep Portland What Originally Attracted Everyone Here To Begin With." Never mind. Bumpers aren't long enough...

As a relatively recent transplant (10 years), was there REALLY a time when Portland was "the City that works" or is that just a b.s. slogan?

"As a relatively recent transplant (10 years), was there REALLY a time when Portland was "the City that works" or is that just a b.s. slogan?"

Well that sort of depends what your comparison is. There are loads of City's that don't work as well as Portland. Then there are those that work so much better. Like.... uh... like. Uh does anyone have a Central City the size of Portland (around 5000,000 people) completely surrounded by suburbs and thus not able to grow outward they want to nominate here?

So you see it sort of depends on what your comparison is.

Greg C

Ps. Sorry just couldn't come up with any off the top of my head.

"Adams isn't sure where the last half-million will come from. He proposed $500,000 as part of the $422 million transportation tax package voters might consider in November."

This is the kind of thing Sam has in mind for the new street tax!?!

Sam can get Potter on board if he promises to name the bridge after Chavez.

Classic...its cheaper to build a new one, but Adams is more concerned with how "sustainable" Portland looks to the his enviro buddies, so he wants to use the old bridge.

Hey, its just taxpayer money. What does he care?

"Adams isn't sure where the last half-million will come from"

But he is sure he doesn't care where it comes from.

Greg C,

Try Seattle. But Portland's got them badly beaten when it comes to central planning.

OHSU TRAM = A Bajillion dollars

BIKE BRIDGE = A Zillion dollars

SAM ADAMS TRYING TO SNOW US AGAIN = Priceless !!!!

I'm out here in Beaverton, so this doesn't affect me so much. But, assuming having this bike/pedestrian bridge is necessary, paying a $1.5 Million premium to move an old bridge instead of making a new one (with the latest technology) sure looks stupid from here...

The old bridge would fit nicely as a pedestrian-bike bridge across Marquam Gulch from Broadway Drive to OHSU, and in that location it would make the Tram more accessible to dozens of residents of Seventh Street Terraces.

The best way to recycle the Sauvie Island Bridge is to run an ad on Craigslist and let the meth heads cut it up for scrap.

There's a sucker born every minute and Sam clearly believes it is us. Has this city not learned a single thing from the Tram fiasco and condo-mania? That there is lead paint on top of everything else in this hare-brained scheme is just salt in the wound. Remember when Vera wanted to cover the freeway?

Sounds like Dan and Tom held the line. The bridge idea wasn't in the budget so it needed four votes to pass as an "emergency". The vote was 3-2.

What is really sad is that Adams is likely to bring this foolish idea up again if he has the votes after the primary.