Adams urges congressional help on Pearson bridge constraints
Saturday, June 28, 2008
By JEFFREY MIZE, Columbian Staff WriterPortland Mayor-elect Sam Adams intends to ask the Northwest’s congressional delegation to apply high-level pressure to see if a replacement Interstate 5 bridge could intrude into Pearson Field’s airspace.
Adams, co-chairman of the Columbia River Crossing Urban Design Advisory Group and a Portland city commissioner since 2005, suggested Friday that Portland and Vancouver encourage the Federal Aviation Administration to change its practice of not commenting on bridge projects until a specific design is submitted.
“I think we have some pretty powerful legislators, congressional folks, who can get the FAA’s attention,” Adams said during the group’s meeting in Vancouver.
“I have no problem with that,” said Vancouver Mayor Royce Pollard, the group’s other co-chairman. “I don’t know how successful it will be.”
Pollard, a strong supporter of the city-owned airport, added that he could not support any proposal calling for Pearson to close or move.
Pearson Field has been a core constraint on the crossing project. Engineers proposed a design that is high enough to allow river traffic to pass without bridge lifts but low enough to largely stay out of Pearson’s airspace.
The proposed box girder bridge, similar to the Interstate 205 Bridge, is a flat design that has been widely criticized as boring and inadequate for a gateway span connecting two of the Northwest’s largest cities.
The existing bridge’s lift towers stretch 240 feet above the river’s base water level, almost 100 feet into what has been designated as Pearson’s airspace. The proposed box girder bridge would be more than a 100 feet lower than the existing towers, a change the FAA would welcome as safer for aviation.
The fact that Pearson pilots have been dealing with the towers since the first bridge was completed in 1917 caused Vancouver Councilman Tim Leavitt to suggest a new crossing should be allowed to occupy at least the same vertical space.
Kris Strickler, Columbia River Crossing deputy project director, told the design group Friday that the FAA has submitted comments indicating the agency would favor the “least impactful” design.
“Least impactful is a Glenn Jackson Bridge,” Adams replied.
Other members of the design group were generally supportive of pushing the aviation constraints.
“An inspirational design is part of the way we create consensus to get more federal and state money,” said Walter Valenta, a representative of Portland’s Bridgeton Neighborhood Association, who added that a “plain Jane” design could have the opposite effect.
The group’s guidelines call for considering opportunities for the southern part of the span, the portion farthest away from Pearson’s airspace.
“This might suggest a nonsymmetrical bridge design or the inclusion of an iconic object associated with the river crossing,” the guidelines say. “Astoria Bridge demonstrates use of two distinct bridge types, one of limited height, the other much higher.”
Adams suggested that a flourish could be added to make part of the bridge look like it was cable-stayed bridge or some other design that has a more iconic look.
“It would be cheaper than a suspension bridge, and the average person looking at it wouldn’t know the difference,” he said. | 
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