The Clackamas River gave its best shot at an old bridge near downtown Gladstone, but the old iron hulk might not be down for the count.
That's good news for Tammy Stempel, a Gladstone community advocate who's been trying for years to advance a plan to extend the Trolley Trail over the old rail bridge, owned by Union Pacific at the far south end of Gladstone's main street, Portland Avenue.
"Here was this perfect bridge that would tie directly into the Cove project," Stempel said. "It was the perfect place for a direct route for people."
Stempel's efforts led to a $200,000 grant to study whether the bridge could be made safe for pedestrians and cyclists.
But those plans were torqued this week when a surging Clackamas River tore away at one of the bridge's in-water supports. The bridge has been slipping, possibly torqueing the structure. Stempel said Union Pacific was trying to stabilize the structure on Friday, but it was unclear whether it could be saved.
"I was just so disappointed," said Metro Councilor Carlotta Collette of the bridge's problems. "It looks pretty eerie when you get down there."
Collette said if the bridge were ever to be opened to pedestrians engineers would have had to certify it structurally sound, and would have done so even before this week's incident. She was hoping that Union Pacific would take the money it might spend demolishing the bridge, not an inexpensive prospect in itself, and grant it toward restoring it instead.
"It would have been a wonderful connection between Gladstone and Oregon City," she said.
There's another bridge about a half mile upriver, but for pedestrians, a full added mile makes a big difference in a casual afternoon stroll.
"I did a trails count in the summer, and a lot of people didn't even realize there was this other bridge there," Stempel said. "They just come to the end of the Trolley Trail and go 'OK, there's no place to go.'"
If the bridge can't be saved, Metro would have to approve any other use of the grant money, which came from its Regional Flexible Funds program.