Lawmakers hear pleas to fund design of resilient Columbia Boulevard bridge to protect North Portland

Portland and state elected officials and neighborhood leaders told the Joint Committee on Transportation on April 14 that House Bill 2,749 would fund early design work for a new Columbia Boulevard bridge intended to preserve emergency access to the North Portland peninsula.

Advocates said the bill would provide $5 million to the Oregon Department of Transportation to support the City of Portland’s effort to reach 30% design, which they said is a critical threshold for applying for federal bridge-replacement grants.

Representative Travis Nelson (House District 44, North and Northeast Portland) said the project is about “more than infrastructure” and described a risk that a large Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake could sever emergency access for more than 30,000 people on the North Portland peninsula. “These bridges are projected to collapse,” Nelson said, adding that the peninsula includes St. John’s, Cathedral Park and Rivergate neighborhoods and that liquefaction and potential damage at a nearby fuel-storage “CEI hub” could worsen the emergency.

Elena Pertleguine, Portland City…