Daily bridge commute has an ominous side

By Dan Itel

, Aug 9, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (2 Reader comments)

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Every weekday when I jump in the car for my morning commute to the newsroom in Lake Oswego, I make a series of choices.

Am I in the mood for talking head radioing, Dennis Miller, Bill O’Reilly perhaps, or do I need the pick-me-up of some music?

Should I shell out a little extra dough for a Stumptown coffee or go with Starbucks?

Another choice I make from my origin of the Belmont neighborhood in Southeast Portland is which bridge do I take to get to work – the Hawthorne, Morrison or Sellwood being the usual options.

One afternoon recently, after last week’s bridge collapse during rush hour in Minneapolis, I found myself stuck in a line of cars on the venerable Sellwood Bridge.

Great view of downtown, sure.

But that’s not what was running through my mind. First, I thought of the horror that must have gone through the minds of the commuters, some headed to a Twins game at the Metrodome, others home from work, when the span of roadway they had entrusted to get them there safely began to buckle.

I couldn’t imagine.

And then this crossed my mind.

The Sellwood Bridge is slated for a serious makeover, most likely in the form of a $230 million replacement. It’s the lowest-rated bridge in the metro area, which happens to include a host of other dilapidated bridges. A recent Portland Tribune editorial said in the river-divided region of Multnomah County alone, the estimated deferred maintenance totals $320 million.

And the total amount of unmet transportation improvements is a paltry $422 million.

At this point, while idling about halfway across the two-lane bridge, the Willamette chugging by below, when these numbers flash in my eyes, I’m not feeling very good about my situation.

And I realized something. I may choose how my morning goes, which coffee I buy, what radio station I tune to. But the choice of whether to risk my life doesn’t rest in my hands.

Now I know, there are a million ways to die. And walking down the sidewalk in your neighborhood – as we here in West Linn were reminded of recently – can even result in an early exit.

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