The Eastbank Esplanade (officially Vera Katz Eastbank Esplanade) is a pedestrian and bicycle path along the east shore of the

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward b ...

in Portland,

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. Running through the

Kerns Kerns may refer to: * Plural of Kern * Kerns (surname) * Kerns, Ontario, Canada * Kerns, Portland, Oregon, United States * Kerns, Switzerland, a village and municipality See also * * Kernstown, Virginia, United States ** Battle of Kernsto ...

, Buckman, and Hosford-Abernethy neighborhoods, it was conceived as an

urban renewal Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...

project to rebuild the

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...

bicycle bypass washed out by the Willamette Valley Flood of 1996. It was renamed for former Portland mayor

Vera Katz Vera Katz (née Pistrak; August 3, 1933 – December 11, 2017) was an American Democratic politician in the state of Oregon. She was the first woman to serve as Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives and was the 49th mayor of Portland, ...

in November 2004 and features a statue of her near the Hawthorne Bridge.

Description

The project, designed by landscape architects Mayer/Reed, cost $30 million, of which $10 million built a lower deck on the

Steel Bridge The Steel Bridge is a through truss, double-deck vertical-lift bridge across the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, United States, opened in 1912. Its lower deck carries railroad and bicycle/pedestrian traffic, while the upper deck carries r ...

. The

esplanade An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cl ...

extends from the Steel Bridge () to the Hawthorne Bridge (). The south end connects to the

Springwater Corridor The Springwater Corridor Trail is a bicycle and pedestrian rail trail in the Portland metropolitan area in Oregon, United States. It follows a former railway line from Boring through Gresham to Portland, where it ends south of the Eastbank Espl ...

, a

rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetc ...

that runs south to Sellwood, then east to Gresham, then south to Boring. The

includes a floating walkway, the longest of its kind in the

. Connected to this is a public dock. Thirteen markers along the esplanade correspond to the eastside street grid.

History

Construction began in October 1998, and the walkway was dedicated in May 2001. The esplanade was closed for 21 days due to high river levels in 2011, the first time it had been closed since it was built. On the same day in February 2015, two dead bodies were discovered along the esplanade. The events appear to be unrelated.

Public art

Public artworks installed along the esplanade include ''

Alluvial Wall ''Alluvial Wall'' is an outdoor 2001 sculpture by Peter Nylen and the architectural firm Rigga located along the Eastbank Esplanade in Portland, Oregon. Description The sculpture is made of mild steel, cast silicon bronze, cast iron and electr ...

'', ''

Echo Gate ''Echo Gate'' is an outdoor 2001 sculpture by Ean Eldred and the architectural firm Rigga, located along the Eastbank Esplanade in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was funded by the City of Portland Development Commission's Percent for Art pro ...

'', the ''Ghost Ship'' sculpture, the

statue of Vera Katz ''Vera Katz'', also known as ''Mayor, Vera Katz'', is an outdoor bronze sculpture depicting Vera Katz created by American artist Bill Bane. Unveiled in 2006, it is located along the Eastbank Esplanade in Portland, Oregon. Katz, a former mayor o ...

and ''

Stack Stalk ''Stack Stalk'' is an outdoor 2001 sculpture by Ean Eldred and the architectural firm Rigga, located along the Eastbank Esplanade in Portland, Oregon. Description The sculpture, designed by Ean Eldred and Rigga and completed in 2001, was funde ...

''.

References

External links

Portland Development Commission Eastbank Esplanade site

{{coord, 45.523718, -122.666149, type:landmark_region:US-OR_source:googlemapssatellite, display=title, name=Eastbank Esplanade midpoint 2001 establishments in Oregon Bike paths in Oregon Bridges completed in 2001 Bridges in Portland, Oregon Buckman, Portland, Oregon Hosford-Abernethy, Portland, Oregon Parks in Portland, Oregon Pedestrian bridges in Oregon Pontoon bridges in the United States Steel bridges in the United States Tourist attractions in Portland, Oregon Waterfronts Willamette River