The Failed Merger of Union Station and the Broadway Bridge

PATREON: www.patreon.com/exploreoregon LINK TO THE BENNETT PLAN FOR PORTLAND: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cg... The west approach to the Broadway Bridge in Portland, Oregon has long been the backdrop to its iconic Union Station where folks come to "go by train". But while placed close together, once upon a time there was a chance that they might have moved even closer. Looking to respond to the rapid growth the city had experienced between 1905 and 1910, they brought in an architect by the name of Edward Bennett to lay out a comprehensive plan for the city. One of the most popular aspects of this plan included rebuilding Union Station alongside the soon to be constructed Broadway Bridge. While this element of the Bennett Plan never happened it's another one of those fascinating "what ifs" in terms of how a city could have gone in another direction and how we see things today might have been drastically different. In addition to telling the story of the Bennett Plan, along with Portland's desperate need for another bridge, I go on site capturing video of the area while pointing out where certain things would have been located had this Broadway Bridge/Union Station hybrid actually occurred.