New Whilamut Passage Bridge viaduct multi-use path to open this week

 

June 25, 2014,                                                      For more information: Rick Little (541) 726-2442

06-152-R2                                                             email at: mailto:richard.little@odot.state.or.us  

                                                                          

 

Whilamut Passage Bridge viaduct path opens to the public

 

 

 

SPRINGFIELD, Ore. — The Oregon Department of Transportation will open a new multi-use viaduct path along the south bank of the Willamette River this Friday. This path begins east of the Knickerbocker Bridge and runs along the south side of the riverbank until it joins a new path that the city of Springfield will start building along Franklin Boulevard this fall.

 

The path – built in cooperation with the cities of Eugene and Springfield – offers a more direct, safer route for pedestrians and bicyclists. It was constructed with beams salvaged from the temporary Interstate 5 Willamette River Bridge, built in 2004 and demolished in 2010. The path was paid for with Oregon Transportation Investment Act and Transportation Enhancement funding.

 

The new path will provide great views of the river and the new I-5 bridge. ODOT thanks the Eugene and Springfield communities for their patience as work on the Whilamut Passage Bridge nears completion.

 

 

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The OTIA III State Bridge Delivery Program is part of the Oregon Department of Transportation’s $3 billion Oregon Transportation Investment Act. OTIA funds have repaired or replaced hundreds of bridges, paved and maintained city and county roads, improved and expanded interchanges, added new capacity to Oregon’s highway system and removed freight bottlenecks statewide. Based on recent estimates, about 10.5 family-wage jobs are sustained for every $1 million spent on transportation construction in Oregon. Overall, the bridge program will create or sustain approximately 22,000 jobs.