Have You Seen The Big Bridge?

So as the $3.4 billion mega-project hurtles towards receiving the green light, what is the final product going to look like? We’re not totally sure. 

As BikePortand pointed out in a blog post this morning, visual renderings for the CRC are extremely hard to find. Strange considering it is Oregon’s biggest transportation project. Ever. 

Jonathan Maus, the author of the post and BikePortland’s publisher and editor, tried to crowdsource via twitter detailed images of the project: freeway lane expansions, interchanges, on-ramps and off-ramps—anything other than the bridge itself. They couldn’t find any. A simple google search didn’t help either. 

During a presentation for the project on February 18 by ODOT to the Legislative Oversight Committee, over half of the 17 images shown were of the bridge. None depicted the freeway expansion or the five new interchanges that will be constructed on either side of the river. 

In fact, probably the best visual approximation of the CRC comes from a youtube video made by one of its vocal opponents, graphic designer Spencer Boomhower. 

"When you look at it in comparison to what other DOTs put out there, it's obvious the omissions the CRC is making in its publicity materials. It's a project that doesn't want to be seen for what it is," said Boomhower in the blog post. 

Along with overhead layouts, large-scale freeway projects usually include street level renderings, even computer-animated videos from the commuter perspective. 

No similar visuals for the CRC exist at the moment. For now we’ll just have to use our imaginations. And this Nifty GIF.