The fifth survey, was posted online to obtain public input on a preferred alternative. It was promoted through a
newsletter mailed to 23,000 area households,
as well as through the local media. Additionally, the Multnomah County Bridge Section erected a banner over the bridge to advertise
the project, web site, and online survey to all bridge users.
By the end of the survey period, there were 1,124 completed surveys. A detailed summary of the results is available, however, the highlights are listed below:
- When asked which of the following alternatives do you generally favor the most, 28.8% chose Alternative D and 25.4% chose Alternative E.
- The majority of respondents (64%) elected not to modify their chosen alternative. However, 36% of respondents decided to change an element
of their preferred alternative (mix and match); 15% would change the west-side interchange, 14% the cross-section, and 6% the east-side connection.
- Those 140 people who wanted to change the West side interchange, 56% preferred the Trumpet type.
- Those people who would change the cross-section, it was fairly uniformly distributed among the choices (2 lanes for vehicles, 2 lanes for vehicles + 2 lanes for transit, 2 lanes that are wide enough for the future, 3 lanes, or no change). However, there was greater favor (27%) for 2 lanes for vehicles from respondents living in the 97202 ZIP code (Sellwood neighborhood).
- Survey participants were also asked why they favored the alternative that they selected (they could choose more than one reason). The top three issues were bicycle and pedestrian safety/connectivity (59.9%), no (or shorter) bridge closure during construction (42.5%) and transit accommodation (35%). Business and residential displacements and impacts to the neighborhood and local parks were also important considerations for people.
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The fourth survey, was posted online to obtain public input on the various bridge types being considered for a replacement Sellwood
Bridge, as well as a dedicated bicycle/pedestrian crossing. It was promoted through a newsletter mailed to 23,000 area households,
as well as through the local media. Additionally, the Multnomah County Bridge Section erected a banner over the bridge to advertise
the project, web site, and online survey to all bridge users.
By the end of the survey period, there were 1,615 completed surveys. A hard copy version of the survey was also available at the November
open house and those results were compared separately from the on-line surveys (see the
open house summary for more information).
A detailed summary of the results is available, however, the highlights are listed below:
- For Alternative A, respondents were asked which bridge type they preferred for the bike/pedestrian only bridge (the existing bridge would
be rehabilitated and so a bridge type selection was not possible) - 24% chose Cable-Stayed, 17% chose Through Arch, 17% chose Deck Arch, and 16% chose Box Girder.
- For Alternative C, only the Through Arch and Cable-Stayed bridge types can support a double deck. Public preferences were nearly equal between these two options.
- For Alternative D, the Deck Arch is the only higher-priced bridge type that can be stage-constructed. Respondents favored the Delta Frame (66%) over the Box Girder as the favorite moderately-priced bridge type.
- For Alternative E, can accommodate any of the six bridge types. The Delta Frame was the favorite among the moderately-priced options (64%). For the higher-price types,
36% chose the Deck Arch, followed by 31% for Cable-Stayed, 20% for Through Arch, and 14% for the Extradosed.
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The third survey, "Alternative Screening," asked the public to compare the pros and cons of the 124 alternatives using the
Build a Bridge tool (which was removed from the website) and then selecting their top two favorites. It began the day after the
public open house on July 26 and lasted through September 9.
There were a total of 3,003 responses to the on-line survey. A hard copy version of the survey was also available at the July
open house and those results were compared separately from the on-line surveys (see the
open house summary for more information).
The responses came from the entire metro region: 51% from the southeast area (including 30% from
the Sellwood area neighborhoods, with the rest from Oregon City, Damascus, Boring, Milwaukie, and others), 18% from
the southwest (including Burlingame, Lake Oswego, Tigard, among others), 3% from north/northeast Portland, and
27% from other zip codes (a total of 822 responses from 109 ZIP codes).
A detailed summary of the results is available, however, the highlights are listed below:
- For their first choice, 59% chose a replacement bridge, 28% chose a combination alternative, and 14% chose to rehabilitate the existing bridge.
- Of those 1,605 people who chose a replacement bridge, the most popular alignments were (in order of most selected to least selected) yellow center, purple,
teal, blue, pink, and yellow south. Preferences for cross-sections were fairly evenly distributed. 75' (D) had the highest support
with 19% of the total, then 68' (C') and 57' (K) with 16% each. The 53' (A) received the strongest support from respondents within
the Sellwood neighborhood, ZIP code 97202.
- The second most popular alignment option was the combination option, keeping the existing bridge for bike and pedestrian
use and building a new bridge for vehicle traffic. 42% of total respondents chose the teal alignment for the new bridge,
followed by blue, purple, and pink alignments. 57% of the survey respondents who preferred this alignment chose the 4-vehicle
lane cross-section. However, 60% of respondents from the Sellwood neighborhood chose the 2-vehicle lane cross-section.
- For those who preferred a rehabilitated bridge, 42% selected cross-section 31' (I), 35% chose 53' (A), and 23%
chose 57' (L). When asked if a detour bridge should be considered, 77% of these respondents said that
a detour bridge was not needed during construction, saying that the cost was too expensive and unnecessary.
- Respondents were given the opportunity to choose a second bridge alternative, however, only 36% did. That the
majority only had a first preference speaks to the strength of their opinions. Second choice preferences for rehabilitation,
replacement, and combination alternatives were nearly identical, percentage wise, to the first choice responses.
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The second survey, “Proposed Alignment and Interchange Concepts Survey,” asked the public to comment on the initial
bridge alignments, widths, and interchange/intersection concepts.
It began on March 18, 2007 and closed on April 13, 2007 on the project Web site.
There were a total of 1,883 responses
to the survey, that were completed online and at the public workshop, in hard copy format. The responses came from the entire
metro region: 63% from the southeast area (including 34% from the Sellwood area neighborhoods, with the rest from Oregon City, Damascus,
Boring, Milwaukie, and others),
25% from the west (including Burlingame,
Lake Oswego, Tigard, among others), and 10% from north/northeast Portland.
The complete results of the survey can be viewed here. Highlights of the survey, include:
- While nearly 1,900 people took the survey, individuals may not have answered every question.
- When asked how they use the bridge, 33.7% said they use it to get to work and 23.7% said they use it for recreational purposes (such as walking, biking, or running).
- The majority of travelers (77.7%) said they usually drive a personal vehicle over the bridge, while 44.3% said they ride a bicycle across the bridge. (People could list more than one transportation mode.)
- Of those who ride a bike, 88.4% do so for fun or recreation, 33.8% do so to commute to work or school, and 27.1% bike over the bridge to run errands.
- When asked how important the cost and consideration of a temporary detour bridge was when looking at the rehabilitation options, 33% said it was very important and 25.4% said it was not so important. The other 36.4% said it was either important or somewhat important to them.
- While participants were not asked to rate their favorite alignment, the survey did ask what they thought was important for the project team to consider when narrowing down this first round of concepts (the rating scale was "very important," "important," "somewhat important," and "not so important").
- Most people thought that minimizing residential impacts was very important.
- Minimizing impacts to the environment was considered very important to a majority
of respondents.
- Most respondents thought that minimizing construction costs was important.
- Keeping the existing bridge open during construction was considered an important or
somewhat important consideration by most of the respondents.
- A variety of bridge widths were posted on the web site and shown at the public workshop. The survey found that 32% thought
a 2-lane bridge was needed, 26.3% favored a 3-lane bridge, and 41.8% thought a 4-lane bridge
was needed.
- 21.7% thought that if the bridge were wider than 2-lanes, the extra
width should be used for one additional lane that is dedicated for public-transit
(creating a 3-lane bridge). 21.5% thought extra width should be
used for two dedicated lanes for public transit, either buses or streetcar (creating
a 4-lane bridge). 21.4% thought extra width should be used for
two additional vehicle lanes (creating a 4-lane bridge).
- The survey also asked how bikes and pedestrians should share the bridge space with
vehicles. 32.6% thought that bikes and pedestrians should have
a 10-foot wide, shared path on each side of the bridge (like the Hawthorne Bridge).
25.4% thought that bikes should travel at street level in their
own lanes and pedestrians should have two 8-foot wide sidwalks.
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The first survey, “Community Values and Issues Survey,” asked the public to comment on their travel use of the bridge and
important issues that should be considered during the project. It began on September 6, 2006 and closed at midnight of
October 26, 2006 on the project Web site.
There were a total of 796 responses from the online survey and 35 surveys that
were completed at the open house, in hard copy format. The responses from this survey came from the Sellwood area neighborhoods
(42%), Burlingame (12%), Milwaukie (8%), and smaller percentages from other zip codes in the
Portland/Vancouver Metro area (35%).
The complete results of the survey can be viewed here. Highlights of the survey, include:
- While over 800 people took the survey, individuals may not have answered every question.
- More than 50% of participants said that they use the bridge often (240 said they use the bridge one or
more times a day and 240 said they use it up to four times per week).
- When asked how they use the bridge, 28% of participants said
to commute to work and 22.8% said to run errands.
- We heard that improved bicycle and pedestrian access, neighborhood livability, transit, neighborhood access, and commuter
access were the most important issues for Multnomah County to consider when thinking about the bridge's future.
- We also compared those same issues between
responses in the inner eastside neighborhoods (97202 zip code) and other zip codes in the area, to see if there are different values in different areas. On most
issues, responses were fairly similar. However, a few issues scored different between residents in the 97202 zip code and others. (The 97202 zip code includes
the Brooklyn, Eastmoreland, Reed, Sellwood, and Westmoreland neighborhoods.)
- Neighborhood livability: 72% of 97202 residents said this was most
important, while 40% of residents in other zip codes said it was.
- Commuter access: only 30% of 97202 residents said this was
most important, compared to 45% in other zip codes.
- Private property impacts: 25% of 97202 residents said this
was most important, compared to 8% in other zip codes.
- Neighborhood access: 50% of 97202 residents said this was
most important, compared to 32% in other zip codes.
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Over 800 individuals took our first survey, almost 1,900 took the second survey, and our third survey received over 3,000 responses!
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