Bend’s “new restaurant syndrome” – a flood of folks wanting to check them out — apparently extends to bridges, too.

There were some backups at the new roundabouts Monday afternoon and evening after the $7 million to $14 million (depending on how you count) Southern River Crossing opened to traffic, nearly a month after its dedication.

Once the barricades came down at 3:30 p.m., a Honda Accord was the first car through the curving westward extension of Reed Market Road, through the two roundabouts on either side of the 480-foot span that was the focal point of sharp debate in recent years.

There’s quite a work left to be done over the next year or two by the Bend Metro Park and Rec District and volunteers on completing the city’s new riverfront green space, Farwell Bend Park. But a wide swath of lawn already was in place in the widest area north of the two-lane road, a new gathering spot for future park visitors beneath the towering rock cliffs of the Deschutes River Canyon, topped by office buildings.

The speed limit is 25 mph for the Bill Healy Memorial Bridge, dedicated in honor Mt. Bachelor’s founder and Bend’s first major new road span to cross the Deschutes in more than a dozen years. The multiple-curve design is aimed, in part, at keeping traffic close to that speed.

A novel, raised red bike path is separated from the travel lanes by a fairly graceful curb, which drivers must cross to maneuver into and out of one of the parallel parking pods along the route.

The signs and striping were in place and the bridge was ready to open on a cold, windy day – which is a key reason the formal dedication and “Log Jam” celebration (including a 15-bridge run and timber carnival) took place almost a month earlier, in relatively balmy mid-October.

Despite a couple of snowstorms over the intervening weeks, the span was ready to open on schedule.

“We could have opened it at noon – we were ready – but we told you guys (the media) it was going to be late afternoon,” said Bob O’Neal of the city’s Community Project Division, joined by project manager Ken Gould and Public Works Director Bob O’Neal to watch the first vehicles navigate the east-west link.

Many tall trees retained during construction stand in the median area between the two travel lanes, part of a design that grew out of a series of public workshops.

“I love it!” one driver shouted out the window, pulling to a brief stop in the westbound lane and quickly causing a mini-backup.

Winter weather will provide good test

Gould said he visited the bridge on a recent snowy day to see how it would work, including the unusual “inverted crown” design, and was pleased with what he saw. Usually, roads have a slight peak in the center, to drain off to the sides – but on this bridge, the drainage system is built into the median, so it’s a bit lower at that point.

With a notable grade to climb to the Century Drive end on the western approach, and all those curves, city officials have promised that the new span will be a top priority for plowing, sanding and-or deicing during the winter, depending on the conditions.

As night fell, the old-fashioned-style streetlights cast a soft, rosy glow across the bridge and reflected on the river below. A few critics had lodged early complaints about the lights, which appeared during the day to be unshielded, but Gould said they likely hadn’t seen them lit up and assured they had interior shielding to protect the night sky.

The bridge of stone and rust-colored metal was designed to blend as much as possible into the surroundings, and now, the citizens of Bend will get a chance to see just how that all works out, and whether the city’s new cross-town connection makes the positive difference its supporters have voiced.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 17th, 2003 at 9:10 pm and is filed under Top Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.