UPDATE and Portland's newest bridge over the Willamette

UPDATE: The appointment went fine with Dr. Da Graca. We talked about the fatigue side effect and how it is having more of an impact than it did between the other rounds of chemo. We've got a plan in effect which I will share later on this week; suffice it to say that I am pleased with what he decided. I got home, ate my leftovers and am headed to the recliner in a little bit. I hope that I am able to stay awake for all of Dancing With the Stars, but, if I don't, no skin off my nose. Thank you for your continued prayers, love, and concern.



I got to my work building early this morning so that I could rest a while before starting work. I sat outside on the rooftop garden for a few minutes and took a few photos of the Tilikum Crossing Bridge. I have yet to ride over it, but once I get back some stamina, I'll be riding over it on either the TriMet MAX Orange Line or the Portland Streetcar. I'm excited at the prospect!

Here's some info about the bridge that I'd like to share with you: Tilikum Crossing, Bridge of the People is a cable-stayed bridge across the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon. It was designed by TriMet, the Portland metropolitan area's regional transit authority, for its MAX Orange Line light rail passenger trains. The bridge also serves city buses and the Portland Streetcar, as well as bicycles, pedestrians, and emergency vehicles. Private cars and trucks are not permitted on the bridge.

Construction was begun in 2011, and the bridge was officially opened on September 12, 2015. In homage to Native American civilizations, the bridge was named with the local Chinook word for people.

Tilikum Crossing has its western terminus in the city's South Waterfront area, and stretches across the river to the Central Eastside district. In the 21st century, these two industrial zones have been evolving into mixed residential and commercial neighborhoods, and new transit accommodations are required by the growing populations. Both districts, however, are limited by antiquated road infrastructure that was deemed incapable of handling the increased traffic that could be expected from a conventional automobile bridge. The primary rationale for the bridge was thus "first and foremost as a conduit for a light-rail line."

The bridge is south of, and approximately parallel to, the Marquam Bridge. The west "landing" is mid-way between the Marquam and Ross Island Bridges, and the east landing is just north of Southeast Caruthers Street, with the east approach viaduct reaching the surface at the west end of Sherman Street, which the tracks follow to a new Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) MAX station located near an existing Portland Streetcar station and the Oregon Rail Heritage Center.



I cropped one of the photos so that you could see this MAX light-rail train, the MAX Orange Line, as it heads east--look toward the bottom of the photo at the right edge. The yellow truck you see above the MAX is on the Ross Island Bridge which is south of the Tilikum Crossing Bridge. The blurry bar across the photo is the guard rail around the rooftop garden at my work building.

The crossing opened for general use on September 12, 2015, becoming the first new bridge built across the river in the Portland metropolitan area since 1973. The first public access to the bridge was given on August 9, 2015, in the morning for the 20th annual Providence Bridge Pedal and in the afternoon with a three-hour period in which the bridge was open to everyone.