Thousands of people showed up on the Burnside Bridge on Saturday to celebrate the span’s centennial.
The bridge – one of Portland’s oldest – connects the city’s east and west sides and has been the backdrop to countless protests and other community events over decades.
About 35,000 cars per day typically use it to cross the Willamette River – as well as several thousand bicyclists.
On Saturday, though, cars were kept off the bridge so pedestrians could mark its 100 years of existence. People picnicked on blankets and at wooden tables, listened to a live brass band, lined up at food trucks, admired a collection of century-old cars and browsed community booths. Kids admired Lego replicas of the bridge and built their own mini-bridges.
Families and friends photographed themselves in front of the landmark Portland, Oregon stag sign, which hangs on an Old Town building just on the east side of the bridge…