Vista Bridge

“	Vista Bridge is "far and away the leader for people jumping from any land bridge."	”
	— Portland police Sgt. Pete Simpson

Vista Bridge as seen from Jefferson Street, looking east towards downtown.

Vista Bridge (officially, Vista Avenue Viaduct) is a bridge towering over SW Jefferson Street in the Goose Hollow neighborhood of Southwest Portland.

"Bench lights" highlight the occasional balconies or cloisters like this one along the bridge's pedestrian sidewalk.

Its striking profile, including old-fashioned "bench lights" rising above its massive arch straddling Tanner Creek Canyon, and expansive view of Portland from on top of it, earned it a listing in the US National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

Nicknamed "suicide bridge," its great height and great view seems to be particularly attractive to jumpers looking to end the cosmic game in a spectacular and disruptive way (though by no means original, as people have been diving off the bridge in droves since 1931). So much so that Portland City Commissioner Steve Novick approved an emergency request by the Portland Transportation Bureau to put up 9-foot-high black mesh walls on the bridge in July 2013. However, since the bridge is federally protected from permanent alteration under the National Register of Historic Places, current city government is having to work to convince the feds to permit this "temporary" wall installation to become a more permanent fixture.

Externals links

• Vista Bridge on Wikipedia