o What: Public open house on conceptual plan for space beneath the proposed new Interstate 5 bridge.
o Where: Port of Vancouver administrative office, 3103 N.W. Lower River Road.
o When: 4 to 6 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 25.
The sheer height of a new Interstate 5 bridge raises the question of what will become of the space underneath?
The city of Vancouver has hired a design team to create a conceptual design for roughly 5 acres of waterfront land that will fall under the shadow of the new bridge. The team will host an open house on Oct. 25 to suggest possibilities and solicit public comment.
The city has even gone so far as to name the new space: Renaissance Waterfront Landing.
o What: Public open house on conceptual plan for space beneath the proposed new Interstate 5 bridge.
o Where: Port of Vancouver administrative office, 3103 N.W. Lower River Road.
o When: 4 to 6 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 25.
Vancouver hired Hargreaves Associates, Lango/Hansen Landscape Architects and Flowing Solutions to create a conceptual design for the space.
City officials previously expected to pay $50,000 for the conceptual design, split between the city, the Port of Vancouver and the Fort Vancouver National Trust. The city announced the hiring of the design team Monday, but provided no further information about the cost of the contract or when it expects the work to be finished.
The goal is to develop the park as a destination offering a range of activities and seasonal events. It could include public art and educational and interpretive elements, according to the announcement.
City police representatives have raised concern about public safety, especially if Vancouver can’t afford to actually construct the park space envisioned by designers. A large tract of vacant space underneath the bridge could undermine Vancouver’s nascent effort to revitalize downtown.
The existing twin three-lane bridges span a narrow pedestrian trail and Columbia Way before they drop the freeway and all of its associated on- and offramps onto the ground level in Vancouver.
The new bridge will be much higher, to allow tall boats to pass without having to block I-5 for bridge lifts.
It will enter the city at roughly the height of an eight-story building, then continue over the top of the BNSF Railway berm before it lands at ground level nearly a third of a mile north of the river.
