The City of Wilsonville is hosting an open house this week to review initial design concepts for the proposed French Prairie ‘Bike-Ped-Emergency’ Bridge across the Willamette River. If the project is realized, the bridge would provide a safe connection for hikers, cyclists and emergency vehicles between Wilsonville and Aurora, Donald and Canby.
Just to be clear here, this project is different from the bridge concept that Clackamas County is currently studying at the Canby Ferry location.
Right now, the main option across the WIllamette River is the frequently congested Boones Ferry Bridge, which carries over 120,000 vehicles every day and provides cyclists and pedestrians with no separation from traffic due to substandard shoulder widths. The French Prairie bridge would be located nearby, connecting Boones Ferry Road in Wilsonville with Butteville Road in Aurora.
At the open house, project leaders will unveil five different bridge-type designs for public consideration. Each design accommodates daily use by cyclists and pedestrians as well as special use by emergency services vehicles as needed.
The French Prairie Bridge Project Advisory Task Force will review public testimony on the five design options later this fall. The Task Force is scheduled to make its final design recommendation to the City Council and County Board of Commissioners in early 2019.
The public meeting is being held from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 18, at Wilsonville City Hall. If you can’t make it, don’t worry: public testimony can also be submitted online until Oct. 29. You can find out more at frenchprairiebridgeproject.org.
For more information, contact Zachary Weigel at 503 570-1565; weigel@ci.wilsonville.or.us.