BRIDGE UPDATE.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Crews working on the repair and detour bridges on Interstate 5 over the Willamette and McKenzie rivers, as well as Patterson Slough, have made significant progress on the spans in the past month. And the public will have a chance to check out the sites during the monthly tours to be held this week.

The contractor has finished the footings in the river for the detour bridge over the Willamette. Workers also are working on the columns and crossbeams that will support the bridge spans.

Work also continues on footings and columns for the detour bridge from Franklin Boulevard to I-5, which could cause lane closures on Franklin as work progresses.

Cyclists and pedestrians using trails in Alton Baker Park should watch for trucks and other construction equipment. Also, motorists and others that use North Walnut Road, in Alton Baker Park near Autzen Stadium, should exercise extra caution as numerous dump trucks hauling fill material for the project travel that road.

The Canoe Canal Trail is open to traffic. The Riverfront Bike Trail, on the north bank of the Willamette River under the I-5 Bridge, is closed. Signs direct folks to the open paths.

At the McKenzie River bridge, the footings on the north bank of the river are complete and work has begun on the columns. Work continues on the footings on the south bank, in Armitage Park. Construction vehicles will be using McKenzie View Drive and Armitage Road.

Tours of both sites, held on the first Thursday of each month, are this week. To tour the Willamette River bridge site, meet at East Alton Baker Park/Eastgate Woodlands at the corner of Poltava and Walnut streets, at the west end of D Street in Springfield, at 9 a.m.

For the McKenzie River Bridge tour, meet at Armitage Park at 11 a.m.