Bridge council to mull Hayden Island options

PORTLAND — The shape of future vehicle access to Hayden Island may be resolved Friday when a high-level advisory committee meets in Portland.

The Columbia River Crossing’s 10-member Project Sponsors Council will meet from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Oregon Department of Transportation’s regional office at 123 N.W. Flanders St.

The committee has been chewing over a couple of alternatives, put forward by Portland-area officials to lessen the hulking footprint of the new bridge on Hayden Island.

One option would remove the interchange from the island altogether, connecting motorists via two smaller arterial bridges from the south.

The other would slim freeway lanes through the island with a smaller single interchange.

The sponsors council agenda also includes work group updates on transportation and land-use modeling, performance measures and managed lanes and transportation demand management.