As of Thursday Oct. 12, crews have made progress on rebuilding SW Main Street between SW First Ave and SW Second Ave. A complete rebuild of the pavement and realignment of the bike lane are in progress, thanks to the voter-approved Fixing Our Streets Program. (Photo by Dylan Rivera, Portland Bureau of Transportation.)
(Oct. 12, 2017) Southwest Main Street, a key entrance into downtown Portland for people biking, walking and driving, is getting a facelift that will require the closure of the intersection of SW Main St and SW First Ave this weekend.
The intersection will be closed from 7 p.m. on Friday Oct. 13 to midnight Sunday night.
Westbound traffic on the Hawthorne Bridge will be directed to make a left turn, going south in the slip lane at SW First Ave.
The public is advised to use alternate routes and expect delays in the area this weekend. We ask the public to travel cautiously, observe all signage and directions by reader boards and flaggers.
This work is weather-dependent and the schedule may change.
Intermittent daytime lane closures resume after 9 a.m. on Monday Oct. 16, through Oct. 27 on SW Main St, between SW First Ave and SW Second Ave.
The project will greatly improve a section of failing roadway that serves as a main entrance to downtown Portland from the Hawthorne Bridge. The pavement is cracked, buckling and sagging. The roadway is being completely rebuilt.
People riding bicycles westbound on the bridge, one of the busiest bike routes in North America, find it difficult to navigate the road surface. A new bikeway design will provide a bike box to increase visibility of people on bicycles at SW Main St and SW First Ave.
Funding for the reconstruction and bicycle safety improvements comes from the Fixing Our Streets program, which results from the voter approved Measure 26-173. In May 2016, Portland voters approved the measure, which provides a 10-cent tax on motor vehicle fuels and Portland’s first local funding source dedicated to street repair and traffic safety projects.
The Multnomah County Courthouse, Multnomah County Morrison Bridge Closure, and PBOT’s Fixing Our Streets Program have been coordinating through the Get Portland Moving effort to limit the effects of construction projects in the right-of-way on the general public.
This image from early September shows the intersection of SW Main St and SW First Ave, where pavement has been buckling and failing. A Fixing Our Streets project started to rebuild SW Main St on Sept. 18. The intersection will be closed this weekend for repaving. (Photo by Portland Bureau of Transportation.)
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The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) is the steward of the City’s transportation system, and a community partner in shaping a livable city. We plan, build, manage and maintain an effective and safe transportation system that provides access and mobility. Learn more at www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation