Southbound Interstate 5 through Portland’s Rose Quarter shut down Saturday for what transportation officials say will be a five-week repair project. The Oregon Department of Transportation began micro-milling work on the roadway, a process that removes the top layer of concrete before crews replace it and repair damaged rebar underneath.
ODOT spokesperson Rose Gerber said Saturday afternoon that the closure process went smoothly.
“We have three or four machines actively working out there, and all that will progress throughout the week,” Gerber said. “It’s not weather dependent, so if it rains, then we should be able to continue that.”
The Portland Bureau of Transportation reported minimal traffic impacts on local city streets Saturday. Backups were visible along Interstate 84 near Lloyd Center and where Interstate 405 and I-5 meet.
PBOT said the Rose City Comic Con at the Oregon Convention Center also contributed to the backups.
Gerber warned that travel times could double or triple during peak rush hours.
“Though this is nice to have a lower amount of traffic than expected maybe this weekend, people should be aware that it could jump up on Monday, and maybe especially Tuesday, as hybrid workers tend to travel more often those days as well,” Gerber said. “[Streets] do see an increase in volume on Tuesday, so just a reminder as we head into this week; be looking at your navigation apps before you head out the door, give yourself plenty of time to get to your destination [and] check, check, check to see what those conditions are out there.”
ODOT said drivers may notice that one lane remains open from I-405 to the Broadway exit. Gerber said that lane is meant for drivers heading to the Lloyd District and will stay open as long as it remains safe.
Local business owners are bracing for the closure’s impact on foot traffic downtown.
“As people know, going downtown you see a lot of local businesses kind of struggling since the post-pandemic time, and McMenamins is one of those business that we stuck through it, and we’ve been trying to recover, and right now we’re doing real well,” said Reed Altenburg, assistant manager at McMenamins Broadway Pub.
Dan Hart, owner of Prost!, called it a waiting game but said he is staying optimistic.
“[It’s] obviously something that needs to be happening because the traffic going down southbound has been really rough for a long time,” Hart said. “We’re excited to see the progress and hopefully it makes a dent moving forward, but having five weeks of traffic being stopped and diverted is a huge issue, but we’re hoping the neighborhood really embraces us and people stay a little bit more local ’cause they don’t wanna travel.”
Altenburg said the pub is trying to draw in drivers caught in gridlock.
“The I-5 closure is going to be hitting people hard,” Altenburg said. “They’ve been worrying about it, so we’re just trying to get people to know that they can come down and get happy hour, and wait out the wave, and get some good food.”
Hart said the restaurant is accustomed to serving commuters dealing with congestion.
“A lot of our customer bases come from Vancouver that work downtown or somewhere here in town, and they’ve always come here for a happy hour to fight the traffic, and so we’re familiar with that,” Hart said. “I-5 North has never been a great place to drive any day of the week starting at like 3 or 4 p.m., so people come by here, grab some cart food, grab a beer, hang out with some friends, and then they make their way home, so we’ve seen it before and we’re excited about it.”
Gerber said the work addresses long-standing safety concerns in the corridor.
“The Rose Quarter Project is addressing safety and congestion issues in this area where three major interstates merge together,” Gerber said. “It is the state’s top bottleneck, and it has the highest crash rate, so the larger project is looking to address that. This closure is just the start of that project where we are preparing the area for future construction.”
Gerber noted the original concrete was laid in 1985.
“The last time the concrete was laid was in 1985, so it’s well over its 25-year lifespan, going on closer to 40, and we’re seeing that age show,” Gerber said.
Leave a Reply