Tilikum Crossing: Bridge of the People

Such a great place to run! You get a gorgeous view of the city and the bridges. At night is my favorite, the bridge lights up and the backdrop is a sight to see. I definitely recommend walking the bridge or running it!

I love the newfound convenience for heading into SE from downtown. My only real complaint is minor: you have to keep your head up as a pedestrian or bicyclist, because the signaling and signage are not sufficient to keep either safely out of the way of the other, especially on the west end of the bridge.

Bridge of the people what a joke. How about «bridge FOR the people» No cars allowed really?

While it sure looks cool it’s not much of a «bridge of the future» compared globally. In the USA it might be a big deal but the trains move at a snail’s pace.
The configuration was off if you consider the angle it takes across the river. It should have passed under the ⁴⁰⁵⁄₅ interchange then across to the OMSI stop. Rather, it hooks around at a snail’s pace to SW Moody before crossing the river as fast as my 11 year old dog runs these days. The South Waterfront bend wastes 5 – 10 min leading up to the bridge. Then there is the bridge crossing itself — faster on a bus or a bike than the train.
So, like much of Trimet there was perhaps a better engineering solution out there.
It’s pretty and looks good and is a great place for a leisurely bike ride or to walk and snap a few pictures.
Once the Max starts speeding on dedicated tracks South of Portland the Max moves like better organized «rapid» transit trains do. Sadly, it has the feel of novelty.

Touted as the «largest car-​free bridge in the United States», Tilikum Crossing opened in 2015, and is a beautiful symbol of Portland’s value of, and investment in, public transit and non-​motorized personal transit.
This bright white cable-​stayed bridge is open to buses, the MAX lightrail, streetcar, emergency vehicles, pedestrians, and bicyclists. It is closed to private vehicles like cars, trucks, or motorcycles.
It also serves as a critical East-​West connection to the new South Waterfront neighborhood & OHSU, and the western border of SE Portland (near OMSI and the Portland Opera building).

On Unilocal pages, there are a number of boxes where we can start reviews. In each of those boxes is a phrase, «You’ve checked in here X amount of times! What keeps you coming back?» With Tilikum Crossing, the honest answer is because I have to cross it in a bus that uses only that crossing to get across the river (almost like why does the chicken cross the road joke) and no more Ross Island Bridge crossing.
And that is the honest truth, but there’s so much more to it than that. For the two places I work and use Tilikum Crossing (one property out in Gresham and one property out near Milwaukie), a significant amount of time is saved just by having Tilikum Crossing up and running.
Another thing to love about this bridge is that it is only for buses, trains, and pedestrians and that it has made history in our generation and is a real architectural gem in the bridge community in Portland. I wonder if Tilikum Crossing makes the other bridges jealous (who does she think she is?, humpph). I do take my eyes off whatever I’m reading and watch everything as the bus or train rolls across the bridge; it’s just inspiring and interesting. If you’re sitting in the Elephant’s Delicatessen or Starbucks’ outlets right there at the start of your journey from west to east, this panoply would make for some fabulous people watching inside and outside.
Other of my Unilocal pals have covered the history of Tilikum Crossing better than I, so please read their reviews for general excellence of coverage. I hope as Portlanders, we don’t lose our sense of awe about it and start taking it for granted. I’m certainly going to work on that in my case.

Love the look of this bridge. I went over it for the first time during the opening of the Orange line. It’s a smooth, quick ride over the bridge and has great views of downtown PDX and the river.
The walking/​bike lanes are nice and wide and on both sides of the bridge. The pedestrian part is free flow, but I think the biking part is supposed to be one way east/​west per side.
I think it’s a lovely addition to the many Portland bridges! And a more elegant one at that.

Yesterday, September 12^th, 2015 was a monumental day for Portland as the Tilikum Bridge was opened to the public.
I’d like to say that the bridge has some iconic features that sets itself apart from the others. The steel white cables that expand on either direction are beautiful.
I find however the pedestrian crossings very confusing and dangerous. It seems that there are too many variables going on; trains, buses, lights, bikes and people all trying to cross what is essentially an 8 lane freeway.
I question the true safety and functionality of these crossings.
Once you decide which side of the bridge you want to be on and the method to which you are going to cross, the bridge affords a great avenue to connect the SE to the SW.

Tonight, September 10, 2015, history was made with the first lighting of the Tilikum Crossing bridge.
The event took place Zidell Yards next to the bridge. The celebration party was complete with food carts, vendors, beer, wine, music, bubbles, freebies and prizes. Bridgeport released their new «Tilikum Crossing IPA».
It was a perfect summer evening for the outdoor event. The lighting was breath taking and was set to music.
FUN FACTS: Tilikum Crossing is a one of a kind bridge that spans 1720′ and is the longest spanning bridge in the country that doesn’t allow motor vehicles.
The aesthetic lighting system uses 178 LEDs to illuminate the cables, towers, and underside of the deck.
The speed, height and water temperature of the Willamette River determines the color and motion of the lighting of Tilikum Crossing so it changes continuously. Very Cool!
The grand opening event is officially this Saturday 9−12−15 from 11:00 — 6:00. There will be free rides, food, drink, vendors and so on. Enjoy!
2015-​107

Nice short walk across and back. Pretty view. Plenty of room for bikes and pedestrians.

Tilikum Crossing provides Portland with another tribute to the work of bridge building. Light rail, buses, bicycles and pedestrians, though unfortunately not cars will be able to use this new landmark to go from Southeast to the Waterfront, and vice-​versa. As with the Steel Bridge, light rail tracks have been placed in the center. Each direction has one lane for bicycles and another for pedestrians. The design has a beautiful cable, the kind that lots of famous bridges like the Golden Gate Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge have. White is an okay color for the bridge, since it can blend a bit with the clouds.
I walked here for the preview that they gave to pedestrians. It was great, but not excellent. The outer edges have narrower cables, and there seems to be a high potential for something bad to happen at some point compared to a full barrier. The lanes were fairly big, okay when things operate regularly, though it could still be wider, since people are bigger now. There is a nice scenery where plenty of trees and the Ross Island Bridge, as well as much of downtown can be viewed from it.
The Steel Bridge will continue to be unchallenged as the best bridge in town for now.

some see the world
and many see the city
the same tired way
through their steel and glass bubble
so park
the fossil spewing guzzler
at the curb
time has come today
get to the streets
get all the people
some are funny
some are straight
and some are not
some are a little bit funky
and some are way too weird
you name it
we got it alot
but hold on now
just hear me out
come on people now
hold hands across the river
we are Bridgetown USA
rise up the mighty Tilikum
listen to the spirit
Chinook WaWa
the people chant
we go-​by bike
we go-​by rail
we go-​by bus
we love to walk
come on people now
take that quantum leap
jump out of your clunky steel
and gawky glass bubble
get on those feet
and walk ya-​talk
strut with ya-​folk
dancing in the street
and hold up ya mother
her limbs are frail
get together right now
get in the street
get into to the music
show everybody, ya all
Portlandia leads the way
to a greener day
My tribute to the new Tilikum bridge, which opens for MAX, streetcar, bus, bike and pedestrain only use on the Providence Bridge Pedal ride & event on August 9, 2016. I have visited the bridge during construction and can not wait to ride by bike across!
Perhaps, Trimet can hang a plaque on the Tilikum bridge with this «clean» poem message! LOL!