Rosales is leaving, and we're stuck with a cookie cutter bridge. Did Trimet just make the flub of the century?

Tim DuRoche is reporting on the Portland Spaces Burnside Blog that Trimet has decided against pursuing the Hybrid bridge design (pictured above) for the new Willamette River MAX and pedestrian proposed by acclaimed Boston architect Miguel Rosales.

Instead, it seems, the agency is pursuing the cheaper, off-the-shelf option that the entire Portland design community and public at large have unequivocally said will not be the right fit. 

What's more, Rosales will not be involved in the design of this cookie-cutter bridge. Duroche quotes Trimet saying Rosales' joint proposal with German firm Schlaich Bergermann and Partner “was not the highest ranked proposal. . .[and thanked him] for the time and effort.”

I have not yet confirmed any of this or talked with both sides. So this is just a preliminary post about this. More to come later. But if this news is true, Trimet should anticipate an avalanche of anger, disappointment, and a coming battle.

Portland should not stand for its transit agency willfully pushing out the superior design to save money or for any other reason. The Hybrid bridge was a slam dunk for Portland. 

Admittedly, I also got excited about the wave form prototype that was also proposed by Rosales, and concerned when the wave seemed to be misrepresented by added costs that weren't true. Even so, it was clear the city wasn't going to choose the wave, and the hybrid was an excellent, refined solution by a talented architect and design group. 

Choosing a lesser bridge and showing a talented designer like Rosales the door is not okay. And this is not the end of this story.

We have enough ludicrous plans to fight in this city with Memorial Coliseum being threatened with demolition. Do we really have to take Trimet to school and fight them for months too, just to do what is right and reasonable, and a fair legacy for our grandchildren?

DuRoche also reported a rumor that architect Thomas Hacker has quit the Vera Katz-led Willamette Bridge Advisory Committee. (Note: a later confirmation call with Hacker found this to not be the case. He's staying on the committee to try and see through a better outcome now than is planned.) And Katz ought to think about doing the same. I had tremendous admiration for our ex-mayor when she left office, but between allegedly being on Merritt Paulson's payroll as a consultant for the Rose Quarter and now letting Trimet take the cheapskate route with the bridge, I'm pretty disappointed.

Comments

[RecollectedStephanie]

Unbelievable. Shame on them. And since I haven't heard this on any other news, thanks for posting!

[Lance Lindahl]

It looks like there should be some lively discussion at tonight's Portland to Milwaukie Citizen Advisory Committee meeting.

The meeting will be held at 6:00 PM on Thursday, May 21st. The location is the TriMet Training Center at 1625 SE Holgate Boulevard, behind the Semaphore Resturant.

The meeting is open to the public, and public comment will be taken at the end of the meeting, typically around 7:25 or so.

[Bob R.]

Lance -

I was planning on addressing the CAC on a separate matter during the public comment period. Unfortunately, I have two other meetings both starting at 7, so can't stay to give testimony at the end. Is there someone I can contact so I can make a brief statement at the beginning?

[Sorry to hijack this comment thread.]

[dave]

Replace the Steel Bridge and stop wasting money on this. A single modern LRT bridge across the Willamette would be more cost beneficial and efficient for transit riders. South waterfront already has the street car, it doesn't need this brigde.

[rwnobles]

Brian, is the pic meant ot infer "Fat Cats" or "Big Pussies"?

[Brian Libby]

Fat cats, with a play on the similarity of "cats" and "Katz". However, I'm not really saying Vera Katz is a fat cat. She was an excellent mayor, in my opinion, and I still have great respect and admiration for her. The image is just a joke. It's actually because I was a big Katz fan that I wish her involvement could have been more successful in convincing Trimet to do the right thing.

[Lance Lindahl]

Bob-Make sure to talk to the TriMet staffers at the meeting to see what sort of accomodation that they can make for you. If this doesn't work, come speak with me. I am on the committee and will be seated at the table.

Dave-The new light rail bridge will benefit Southeast Portland and Clackamas County residents the most. And the benefits are not limited to those that ride MAX. Bus riders will enjoy a much faster ride to downtown thanks to being able to bypass the Ross Island Bridge. Train speeds are way too slow on the Steel Bridge, but at least they have something. That is more than can be said for Inner Southeast.

[Ryan]

this is insane. please keep us posted on the news, and if this is correct, the contact info for the people making these calls for trimet.

[Eric Cantona]

WTF is going on with local government in this town??? i've been here for five decades and it seems as though this past year or so has seen this most soap opera-esque shit emanating from our elected officials and the like.

or am i just being touchy?

[Mikel]

This is hilarious. The "flub of the century?" This and the waxing poetic about the Memorial Coliseum - maybe it is just time to tone down the hyperbole.

[Snowflake Seven]

Apparently The Rose City has run out of roses.

[Double J]

Both the Willamette and CRC situations have put design on the back burner. Im in a Will Bruder building right now... sharpening some sticks for when I get back to PDX.

Portland has to get more serious about design and since we are a bridge city the bridges should be first.

If confirmed, this is very very bad.

[Aneeda]

lame

[Horsewhistle]

Maybe we as the design community, could have spent more time lobbying for our future behind the Rosales bridge instead of focusing on the albatross which is the Memorial Coliseum. What an expensive cost for both with a sub-par result that plagues so much of the great ideas of Portland with poor execution.

[Andrew]

Maybe we could hold a bake sale to come up with the risk money on the wave design, or the 'added costs that weren't true' as you've called it. Trimet simply doesn't have the cash for a good bridge. Maybe the larger question is: if we can't afford the project, why are we still trying to build a sub-par version?

[Frank Dufay]

Maybe the larger question is: if we can't afford the project, why are we still trying to build a sub-par version?

Exactly. In terms of transportation needs, is a billion and a half dollar project --40 to 50% of which is local match-- the best use of our resources? Building parking garages for commuters is NOT my idea of reducing our carbon footprint, nor is turning my close-in SE neighborhood into a parking lot for a MAX stop that doesn't serve us, with no funds --sorry-- budgeted for even a limited so-called "quiet zone."

We asked for neighborhood pedestrian and bike access for us in Hosford-Abernethy to be able to GET to this proposed bridge...sorry, no money for THAT.

You hate to use the word "cheap" for a billion and half dollar project, but the fact is the funding is so tight on this that we will see compromise after compromise on "good design" and the end result won't be pretty.

[Douglas K.]

If funding is an issue, Tri-Met should reconsider its decision to completely exclude cars from the new bridge. It should instead make it a toll bridge, and use the tolls to pay for part of the construction cost of the bridge.

Even at peak times with maximum bus, streetcar and MAX traffic, the bridge will have a LOT of unused capacity to sell to private motorists. Setting a fairly high toll would keep car traffic low enough to not interfere with transit operations (most drivers would avoid the toll by taking the Hawthorne, Marquam or Ross Island Bridge), but could raise enough money to repay a significant part of the bridge's construction.

If, for example, the bridge toll was $3, and -- on average -- only one car per minute crossed the bridge in each direction, it could raise over $3 million per year. That could repay a bond for perhaps $50 million in bridge costs over 20 to 30 years. (I assume the actual price would vary -- maybe as high as $5 for a congestion-free peak-hour shortcut from Division to South Waterfront, down to $1 to use the bridge at night when transit is shut down.)

[Valentij]

Man! And I had just come around to the hybrid!

Quit playing with my emotions, Trimet.

[billb]

DK , good thinking , there are days when a guy/gal just wants to skip traffic , and 5$ to cross
seems worth it. Or maybe Touristas would do it ... user fees rock!

[Randy Gragg]

See update at http://www.portlandspaces.net/blog/the-burnside-blog/2009/5/22/bridge-over-troubled-waters-for-rosales-design

[PMG]

http://trimet.org/pdfs/pm/wrbac_meeting/docs/Architect_Memo.pdf

[Douglas K.]

http://portlandtransport.com/archives/2009/05/trimet_responds.html

[sue]

All that process for nothing. Hire Rosales for the I-5 bridge.

[ka]

toll bridge? WTF and why when there are so many other choices. That will never happen, and if it does it should be on the I5 bridge, but that is another story. They should put a restaurant on the bridge. think of the view - get there by bike, walk, streetcar or maybe one of those bike taxi dudes can take you there. it could be a real unique spot, and could have a completely different feel based on how you got there. it could second as a rest spot and lookout for pedestrians crossing the river. a bridge is no different than a civic building in my opinion. TriMet should not be allowed to put whatever they want across our river! it has to be of civic caliber, or follow in some follow a pardigm for excellence in design. off the shelf just does not seem to align with that.

[Douglas K.]

toll bridge? WTF and why when there are so many other choices.

That's precisely the point. Nobody would be using it to go downtown; they'd be using it to get in and out of South Waterfront from the east side. The alternative is to make your way through (possibly heavy) traffic and multiple traffic lights to the Hawthorne or Ross Island Bridges. There are people out there (I'm one of them) who would be willing to pay for a shortcut if the price was right, particularly if it involves dodging part of rush hour.

The traffic volume would be maybe 1/10th of what other downtown bridges, which is what Tri-Met should be looking for: enough traffic to generate revenue to help pay for the bridge, but not enough to interfere with transit.

The question is: would there be enough people shortcutting between the east side and South Waterfront to pay off a significant part of the bridge? Would the pricing work to manage demand while producing revenue? If not, there would be no point in doing it. If so, it would be foolish to pass up a potential revenue source for the bridge.

It may be immaterial; it looks like some form of a hybrid is still on the table. We'll have to see what the final design looks like. But if cost is the issue, sharing the bridge with light (tolled) traffic could make the difference between a bland design and a stellar one.

[billb]

a mid-bridge isolated restaurant in the middle of a depression will
fail before it starts. How about
if we all buy a 'brick' like in our public square?