July 30, 2010 – 12:15pm – 1:15pm

This month’s Portland City Club at the Governor Hotel, in conjunction with this year’s PDX Bridge Festival, focuses on our region’s bridges. Portland metro area bridges — which connect multiple cities in several counties and are used daily by many of the region’s 1.5 million residents — have a vital impact on our region’s transportation. And yet, from replacing the crumbling Sellwood Bridge to doubts about Multnomah County’s ability to fund bridges as well as other vital services, governance questions about bridge ownership, operation, use and funding continue to plague regional progress. City Club’s recent report, Moving Forward: A Better Way to Govern Regional Transportation, recommended that many of these issues could be resolved by bringing area bridges under the control of a single bridge authority established by Metro.

On July 30, Multnomah County Commissioner Deborah Kafoury; Lynn Peterson, Chair of the Clackamas County Board of Commissioners; and Mike Burton, Vice-Provost at PSU and former Metro Executive Officer, will discuss the best way to ensure a solid future for the region’s bridges. Led by moderator Dick Feeney, panelists will address the pros and cons of a regional bridge authority, what actions might be needed to make this recommendation a reality and what other governance alternatives should be considered.

For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit Portland City Club’s website here.

This event is not an official PDX Bridge Festival event. It is produced and benefits Portland City Club. However, due to the relevant subject matter, it has been added to our event listings. Please note, proceeds from this event do not benefit PDX Bridge Festival.

Have Brunch with us….and take home the Picnic Table!

PDX Bridge Festival, in partnership with Whole Foods Markets, has worked with six local artists to create one-of-a-kind picnic tables for seating at Brunch on the Bridge. The tables will be located at Whole Foods Markets listed below in the Portland Metropolitan area, where you can bid on the table (or tables!) of your choice. Bidding open until August 1st at closing.

Jason Reynolds (Fremont market)

Opening bid: $100

Here’s what you get if you are the highest bidder:

• Attendance for four (4) at Brunch on the Bridge on Saturday, August 7th
• A picnic basket for your Brunch provided by Whole Foods
• A one-of-a-kind table to take home to your backyard!

Brandon Cheusy (Hollywood market)

Visit your local Whole Foods Markets to place a bid on the available tables!

Hollywood – 4301 NE Sandy Boulevard, Portland

Bridgeport – 7380 SW Bridgeport Road, Tigard

Portland – 1210 NW Couth Street, Portland

Fremont – 3535 NE 15th Avenue, Portland

Laurelhurst – 2825 East Burnside Street, Portland

Presented in partnership with:

An opportunity to get up close and personal with Portland’s bridges, there is at least one tour offered everyday! Experience a tour with”The Bridge Lady” of Portland, Sharon Wood Wortman, or take a trip with Portland Bicycle Tours and enjoy the bridges from the seat of your (or their!) bike! Bohemian Storytelling Tours offer an historic and theatric adventure. And there is nothing more exhilirating than whipping through the Willamette on a Jetboat Tour. Find out more about each tour, and the specific schedules by clicking the links below.

BRIDGE WALKS WITH SHARON WOOD WORTMAN

BRIDGES BY BIKE WITH PORTLAND BICYCLE TOURS

BOHEMIAN STORYTELLING TOURS

WILLAMETTE JETBOAT TOURS

The Renegade Minstrels deliver a panoramic musical and photographic narrative of Portland’s bridges. With original music and songs composed in Portland by Woody Guthrie, they share a variety of perspectives with the audience–from the Depression-era squatters’ shacks under the Ross Island Bridge to the soaring experience of crossing the Marquam Bridge in 2010.

Free/All Ages

Art Institute of Portland, 1122 NW Davis Street

Wednesday, August 4th at 6pm

Daniel Duford, artist and writer, presents “The Green Man of Portland”–a comic series of a faux legend, represented by public art installations around the city, that assimilates the various histories of Portland, the Willamette River and its bridges.

Free/All Ages

Powell’s on Hawthorne, 3723 SE Hawthorne Boulevard

Sunday, August 1st at 4pm

Using images collected over a span of nearly 40 years, Ed Wortman unravels the lore and history of the Fremont Bridge’s unique tied-arch design genesis, construction, cracking, and float-in off barges in the middle of the Willamette River (the largest bridge lift in the world at the time!). The show concludes with a video of Sharon and Ed’s climb through the arch ribs of the Fremont to stand at flagpole level in July 2009.

Free/All Ages (suggested $3 donation)

Mark Spencer Hotel Courtyard, 409 SW 11th Avenue

Friday, July 30th at 6pm

AN ARTFUL LEAP

Bob Hastings and DeeAnn Sandberg of Trimet discuss the first new bridge over the Willamette River in over 35 years! The structure is unique among American bridges because it will only serve mass transit, bicycles, and pedestrians. The bridge is scheduled to break ground next year, and will likely make history in the process! This is a chance to learn all about it.

Free/All Ages

Art Institute of Portland, 1122 NW Davis Street

Wednesday, July 28th at 6pm

What Does It Mean?

Spanning the most significant river in he western United States and forming the gateway between two states of the Pacific Northwest, the Columbia River Crossing is a bridge project of local and national relevance with far-reaching economic, transportation, land use, ecological, cultural and social significance. Two urban designers, Michael McCulloch and Carol Mayer-Reed, along with other members of the design collective PDXplore, will lead a forum that poses questions and alternatives while broadening a discussion intended for a wide-reaching audience within the Portland-Vancouver region.

Free/All Ages

US Bank Room at the Central Library, 801 SW 10th Avenue

Tuesday, July 27th at 6pm

Oregon Poet Laureate Paulann Petersen and others read works about the bridges of Portland and beyond! Beginning with a talk about how poetry serves as a bridge, this open-mic format invites people to read a poem they or another poet has written on the subject of bridges. Metaphors welcomed and encouraged! This is an opportunity to expand the definitions and limits of the roles bridges play in our lives.

Free/All Ages

Powell’s on Hawthorne, 3723 SE Hawthorne Boulevard

Sunday, July 25th at 4pm