Lower Macleay Trail Temporarily Closed August 17, 2021 Through December 2021

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The Lower Macleay Trail in Portland’s Forest Park will be temporarily closed beginning on Tuesday, August 17, 2021. The trail will be closed from the trailhead in Lower Macleay Park at NW Upshur Street and 30th Avenue up to the intersection with the Wildwood Trail, near the Stone House. The closure will last through the end of the year.

Environmental Services is closing the Lower Macleay Trail because of critical work currently underway to replace the Balch Creek Trash Rack in Lower Macleay Park. Crews have discovered that existing structures in the construction zone are in a more deteriorated condition than expected. To protect the public and our construction crews while they complete this complicated work, the project site needs to be closed entirely, including the portion that the Lower Macleay Trail passes through.

Closing the trail is a last resort, but it is necessary to complete the project in a timely manner, protect the health and safety of the public and of our crews, and complete the work before the rainy season begins and while in-water work is permitted. The staircase down to the park from the Balch Gulch Bridge will also be closed for the duration of the project.

Trail users are asked to use alternate routes, obey flaggers and signs, and stay out of the construction zone at all times.

The Balch Creek Trash Rack Replacement Project is part of Environmental Services’ mission to protect public health and the environment. The trash rack collects debris washed down by Balch Creek from Forest Park. It is an important piece of infrastructure that protects a large stormwater pipe that carries water from Balch Creek to the Willamette River. It also helps to protect the park and local neighborhood from flooding. 

For more information about the project, including a map of alternate routes around the trail closure, please visit the project webpage at: www.portland.gov/bes/construction/balchcreek.