Readers respond: Build bike path before baseball park

Many of us are lucky to live along the greenway that follows the Willamette River near downtown Portland on an

11-mile loop

: across the Sellwood Bridge, along the Eastbank Esplanade, across the Steel Bridge, along Waterfront Park, past the former shipbuilding site at

Zidell Yards

, past South Waterfront, past the Old Spaghetti Factory and back to Johns Landing – a glorious, safe pathway with very little need to interact with cars.

The news that the Zidell family’s ZRZ Realty Co.

may sell the lot to build a new baseball park

under Ross Island Bridge is exciting, and would bring a new venue and economic investment to the area, (“

Oregon leaders go to bat for ballpark, but skeptics say ‘the finances don’t make a lot of sense,

’” April 22).

It will likely take at least five years before that dream could potentially be realized. In the meantime, why don’t the landowners do their part in completing the planned

Zidell Yards riverfront portion of the greenway

? The community would appreciate a paved riverfront path for bikes and pedestrians. It would be a neighborly gesture, considering we could be subject to years of significant construction in that area if a stadium is built. Perhaps the cost could be shared between the park developers and the landowners. I know the community would be very grateful. It would improve safety and show good will for the neighbors who use the path. Invest in a temporary path while we support new investment in our city.

Melissa Wood, Portland

To read more letters to the editor, go to

oregonlive.com/opinion

.