The full closure of Interstate 5 just south of downtown Portland this weekend could lead to long delays and big backups. Starting at 9 p.m.
Friday, all lanes of I-5 will close in both directions for 4 miles between Terwilliger Boulevard and the Capitol Highway exits. All lanes will reopen by 5 a.m.
Monday. “Any time you take I-5 out of action, it’s going to cause a ripple effect up and down the line,” said Don Hamilton, spokesperson for the Oregon Department of Transportation. Drivers can use major Portland-area highways as detours, including Interstate 205, Interstate 84, Oregon Highway 217 and U.
S. Highway 26. Southwest Barbur Boulevard will be available for local traffic.
Hamilton said drivers planning on using I-5 this weekend between Vancouver and Portland should consider taking I-205 instead. The closure is part of the construction of a new I-5 bridge deck over Southwest 26th Avenue. Work on the project began nearly a year ago using a construction method that builds the new bridge underneath the existing one.
This method allowed I-5 to remain open during construction for all but this weekend. This approach saves an estimated $5.5 million and six months of construction, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation.
The estimated project cost is $13 million. Other construction methods could have created major traffic impacts on I-5 for nearly two years , according to the department’s fact sheet about the project. The I-5 bridge over 26th Avenue was built i.
