First New Highway in Metro Area Set to Open

For the first time in more than 30 years, a new highway is opening in the Portland metro area.

Governor Brown and others marked the occasion Thursday with a grand opening for the new Sunrise Expressway.

Traffic will start moving through on Friday morning.

The new expressway is expected to ease congestion through the Clackamas Sunrise Corridor by taking traffic off of local streets.

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The four-lane, 2.15 mile expressway extends the Milwaukie Expressway east to connect the Clackamas Highway.

It also has bicycle lanes and pedestrian pathways.

The expressway, which is the first new Portland area highway since the Glenn Jackson Bridge opened in 1982, is the culmination of more than 30 years of planning and three years of construction.

The project cost $13o million - $100 million of which came from the 2009 Jobs and Transportation Act passed by the Oregon legislature.