SALEM, Ore. (AP) — After years of study and debate, officials have settled on a general site in Salem for a third bridge over the Willamette River.
The Salem Statesman Journal reports (http://stjr.nl/IU7PPp) that construction is likely to be at least a few years away, because a strategy to finance it has yet to emerge.
Planning, though, is under way. A draft environmental impact statement is out, and officials plan to choose a preferred alignment for the bridge later this year.
The statement identifies nine configurations for a bridge north of the existing pair of bridges that carry Oregon 22 across the river in downtown Salem. The new bridge would cross just north of McLane Island or directly across it.
