(Aug. 5, 2022) The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) will repave NE 33rd Avenue between NE Sandy Boulevard and NE Brazee Street at Grant Park starting Monday, Aug. 8, with work continuing through the end of the month. NE 33rd Avenue will be closed for several days at a time during the work period, with work zone closures for a few blocks at a time starting at the north and moving to the south through Aug. 31.
During the work period, travelers are advised to avoid the area, and expect delays if they do need to travel in the corridor. Go slowly when using alternate routes. Most of the north-south streets nearby are narrow, residential streets where slow speeds are critically important.
The parts of NE Broadway and NE Sandy that pass NE 33rd Avenue will not be repaved during this project, so there will no lane or road closures on these busy roads.
Repaving the surface of NE 33rd Avenue will extend the road’s lifespan by up to 20 years. Work hours for this project are expected to be 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. Weekend work for this project is possible, but not anticipated.
This preventive maintenance work will be done in three phases to minimize disruption to the traveling public. The first phase involves repaving NE 33rd Ave from Brazee Street to US Grant Place. Once crews have completed this work, they will continue repaving NE 33rd Avenue from US Grant to Broadway.
The final portion of the work will improve road conditions on NE 33rd Avenue from Broadway to Sandy Boulevard. This work will temporarily close the Interstate 84 west on-ramp from southbound NE 33rd Avenue. During this phase of the project, drivers will be detoured to the on-ramp at NE 37th Avenue. The off-ramp from I-84 to NE 33rd will also be closed. Travelers will be diverted to the off-ramp at NE Cesar E Chavez Blvd.
In addition to the road repaving, during construction other city agencies are performing utility work in the area. Nearby side streets will be closed, while preserving local access to people who live in the neighborhood, to ensure neighborhood streets are not used as a cut-through by drivers.
The traveling public is advised to expect delays while repairs are being made. PBOT crews will keep one lane of traffic open during construction. We ask the public to travel slowly and cautiously in our work zones, observe all detours and directions by reader boards and flaggers, and use alternate routes if possible. Watch this video for tips on how to keep yourself and city workers safe when traveling through our work zones: National Work Zone Safety Awareness Week - YouTube
Increased neighborhood outreach helps travelers learn about project
PBOT crews will put down informative yard signs near the construction area, so travelers can learn more about how PBOT is improving the road and adding safer crossings to this stretch of NE 33rd Avenue. People can access a QR code on the yard sign that will provide them information about the project, its benefits, and timeline. These yard signs have the additional benefit of giving the public valuable information while allowing PBOT crews to focus on their primary job, improving the roadway.
Electronic message boards, alerting drivers of the repaving project and traffic impacts, were deployed along NE 33rd Avenue last week.
Learn more about Grind & Pave
In the drier months, crews from PBOT perform regular, preventative maintenance on our roads by grinding down the asphalt surface and repaving the street with inches of fresh asphalt.
How do PBOT crews repave a street and extend its lifespan? In this short video, PBOT crew members explain how they grind and pave roads to extend the lifespan of city streets:
Majority of ADA curb ramps have already been installed.
Curb ramps are critical for people with disabilities so they can safely access routes to important destinations. PBOT is committed to upgrading existing sidewalk corners to better serve the public. The bureau plans to build or upgrade nearly 170 corners along this corridor, and 85 percent has been completed since the work started last year. For more information, please visit PBOT’s ADA page.
This work is weather-dependent, and the schedule may change.