Gibbs Street Pedestrian Bridge
| Gibbs Street Pedestrian Bridge | |
|---|---|
Looking west on the bridge, toward Marquam Hill and Oregon Health & Science University, with the Portland Aerial Tram passing overhead
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| Coordinates | 45°29′57″N 122°40′23″W / 45.4993°N 122.673°WCoordinates: 45°29′57″N 122°40′23″W / 45.4993°N 122.673°W |
| Crosses |
 Interstate 5 and SW Macadam Avenue |
| Locale | Portland, Oregon |
| Official name | US Congresswoman Darlene Hooley Pedestrian Bridge at Gibbs Street |
| Named for | Darlene Hooley |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | box girder |
| Material | Steel |
| Total length | 700 feet (210 m) |
| History | |
| Construction begin | January 2011 |
| Construction end | June 2012 |
| Opened | July 14, 2012 |
The Gibbs Street Pedestrian Bridge, more formally known as the US Congresswoman Darlene Hooley Pedestrian Bridge at Gibbs Street, is an approximately 700-foot (210 m)pedestrian bridge in Portland, Oregon, United States, which opened on July 14, 2012. It connects the Lair Hill neighborhood with the South Waterfront area. It is a steel box girder bridge, a change from the original plans for an extradosed bridge, made to reduce the project's cost.
The bridge crosses I-5 and SW Macadam Avenue, and connects SW Kelly Avenue on the west side to SW Moody Avenue on the east side. At the Moody Avenue end there is a stop on the Portland Streetcar's NS Line, and the Portland Aerial Tram's lower terminus is located across the street. Construction began in January 2011 and was completed in June 2012.
The project dates back to 2005 with approval of the federal Transportation Equity Act of 2005 which dedicated $5 million to the project.
The preliminary design was approved by the Portland City Council on December 3, 2008. It was originally to be an extradosed-type bridge. In the first round of bidding, the project exceeded the allotted budget, and consequently needed to be rescaled. This in turn delayed the timeline and led to a simpler design. After undergoing technical engineering design and detailed neighborhood impact assessment, the refined project was opened to bidding in autumn 2010, and the city council awarded a $6.7 million construction contract to Wildish Standard Paving Company of Eugene.
The overall budget, originally anticipated to be between $7 million and $11.3 million, is expected to be met mostly by federal funds, with ten percent local funding. Early public opinion was mixed, but turned favorable as the plan progressed, particularly by those living nearby. One of the provisions of the 2002–2006 tram construction was to bury existing powerlines in the underlying neighborhoods, but those plans were dropped when the highly controversial tram project encountered significant budget overruns. The pedestrian bridge was another mitigating concession promised.
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