South Waterfront Gets a $134 Million Boost
More Infrastructure Dollars Flowing Into South Waterfront
Ground was broken today on a $134 million bridge project that will connect Portland’s South Waterfront with the eastside. The project that has been on the drawing blocks since 2007 is the first bridge spanning the Willamette to built in more than 34 years. The bridge is part of the a light-rail project budgeted at $1.49 billion. When completed, the light rail line will provide service from the southern end of Portland State University to downtown Milwaukie. The project is funded by a variety of project partners, including the Federal Transit Administration, the Oregon State Lottery, Metro, TriMet, the city of Portland, Clackamas County, the Oregon Department of Transportation, and the city of Milwaukie, OR. Portland officials consider the project — including the bridge — essential to the success of South Waterfront. Needless to say many homeowners at high-end condominiums such as Atwater Place or the Meriwether hold similar hopes.
A Bridge for Pretty Much Everything But Cars
The bridge is unique in that is will carry public transit, cyclists and pedestrians, but not private vehicles. It will serve:
- Portland-Milwaukie light rail trains
- Bus lines 9, 17 and 19, which currently travel on the Ross Island Bridge
- Pedestrians, who will be able to walk between two greenways, one on each bank of the Willamette River
- Cyclists, who can commute via the bridge and connect to city and regional bike routes
- The bridge also will be designed to accommodate Portland Streetcar in the future
A Boon for Homeowners Amid Public Outcry Over Funding
The bridge project has drawn considerable criticism over funding issues. Opponents argue that millions of public dollars are being diverted from more critical services such as much needed upgrades for Portland schools or the Sellwood Bridge (a heavily used bridge further south on the brink of collapsing). Proponents of the bridge project cite the value the bridge provides in alleviating congestion and decreasing travel times for mass transit and alternative transportation (e.g. cycling, pedestrian). I’ll leave it up to you to decide if it’s a good or bad thing for the city. The effect of the project on home values, however, seems less ambiguous. According to a recent study cited by the Federal Reserve of St. Louis “property values in Portland, Ore., increased by $75 for every 100 feet closer a home is to a light-rail station…” According to another study “More than half of all new development over the past decade in Downtown Portland has occurred within one block of the Portland Streetcar, an area which previously accounted for less than 20% of total development”. That’s good news if you are thinking of buying into the neighborhood.
