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Northwest Region- Region 2

I-5 Willamette River Bridge | Design Enhancements
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Design enhancements
Design enhancements on the north and south banks of the Willamette River and in designated areas adjacent to Interstate 5 will be constructed as part of the Willamette River Bridge project. Community stakeholder groups continue to work with the design teams, ODOT and OBEC Consulting Engineers Inc. to finalize those enhancements. 
 
The design enhancements are intended to represent historical and natural features of the area. This includes the area’s first people, the Kalapuya. View the Kalapuya imagery provided by David Lewis, PhD, cultural resources manager for The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, and Esther Stutzman, Kalapuya elder.
 
The name Whilamut Passage (pronounced "WHEEL-a-moot") is the theme of the project and guides the design enhancements. The theme recognizes the unique setting of the bridge in the Whilamut Natural Area, a place of historic and environmental significance. The setting is also a transportation hub of bicycle, pedestrian, rail, waterway, and highway traffic. To the Kalapuya, Whilamut means, "Where the river ripples and runs fast."


ODOT has approved three design enhancements for installation adjacent to I-5 north and south of the bridge, and two design enhancements for the north bank of the Willamette River under the Canoe Canal Bridge and in the Whilamut Natural Area west of I-5. The enhancements focus on elements of the Kalapuya culture and efforts to restore native vegetation in the Whilamut Natural Area.
The three enhancements selected for installation adjacent to I-5 are:
 
  • “River” by Lillian Pitt team. Slated for installation in the I-5 median just north of the new bridges. This stainless steel sculpture depicts a canoe above a graceful wave pattern in a setting of large camas plants and cattails.
  • “Camas Basket” by rhiza A+D will be located on the west side of southbound I-5, north of the Canoe Canal Bridge. It is a large steel camas basket supported by four cantilevered steel columns, complete with camas stems topped with blue blossoms.
  • “Blue Camas Basket” by Devin Laurence Field. This enhancement will be placed south of the new bridges in an open space between the northbound I-5 lanes and the off-ramp to Franklin Boulevard. The cone-shaped basket design references the traditional burden baskets and camas root digging bags used to gather wapato and camas.
 
The two enhancements selected for the north bank are:
  • Individual blue stones depicting the lifecycle of the camas plant will be placed along the south side of the pedestrian path under the Canoe Canal Bridge. The camas plant is a historical food source of the Kalapuya.
  • The Community Involvement and Long-term Ownership Strategy (CILOS) will involve collaboration between students, educators and other community volunteers to achieve on-the-ground restoration and community stewardship goals in the Whilamut Natural Area.
 
Plans are also under way for additional design enhancements to be located under the Canoe Canal Bridge and the Willamette River Bridge on the north bank.
 
For the south bank of the river, design enhancements will include interpretative areas for The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and the historic Eugene Millrace. Any additional enhancements on the south bank will be designed to complement the two interpretative areas.