I-84 Bridges, Sandy River

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On a trip out to the Columbia Gorge today, I stopped briefly and snapped a few photos of the I-84 bridges over the Sandy River. This was pretty much for the sake of completeness in the ongoing bridge project. There's nothing especially distinctive or exciting about them, and they don't have sidewalks or bike lanes to enable the walking across part. I understand that, technically, you can take bikes on the bridge. Apparently you can bike I-84 for its entire length through the Gorge, according to this map & guide from ODOT. But, like several other freeway bridges I've covered (Boone Bridge, Abernethy Bridge, I-205 Clackamas River bridge), that's outside the scope of the project. Because, well, because I just don't want to, and I don't think it's worth it. So there.

The situation's about to change, though. ODOT is in the early stages of a project to replace both bridges with shiny new ones. We're told they'll be nicer to look at than the current pair, which is an easily achieved goal. During a recent redesign they added a dedicated pedestrian & bike crossing to the bridge plans. So that's nice and everything, although the project won't be done until 2013. Still, assuming I haven't departed for warmer climes by then, and I still have any interest at all in bridges at that point, I'll probably drop by for a look. The ongoing bridge project would be incomplete if I didn't, and we can't have that, can we?