The Broadway Bridge is Closed to Traffic for the Next Three Weeks

If you are one of the many who cross over the Broadway Bridge across the Willamette River - forget about it.

The bridge closed at 12:01 Monday morning and will remain closed to motor vehicles until the morning of April 11th.

You will be able to walk ro ride your bicycle - the north sidewalk will remain open.

And ships will be able to continue to pass under the bridge as the drawbridge will remain operational.

Multnomah County, which operates the bridge, says it is the most complicated of the Willamette drawbridges to open.

The bridge opened in 1913 and is 70 feet long. Some 30,000 vehicles a day pass over one of its four lanes every day.

The closure will allow a contractor to remove the scaffolding, which has been used for a painting project that began in June 2015.

TriMet’s 17-Holgate/Broadway bus route will detour to the Steel Bridge during the closure (for details, visit www.trimet.org/#alerts/). From March 27 through late April the Steel Bridge will be closed nightly from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Buses that normally use the Steel Bridge, including Line 17, will use the Burnside Bridge during those times.

Portland Streetcar will serve both sides of the river during the closure, via the Tilikum Crossing. For details, visit www.portlandstreetcar.org/.

The NW Lovejoy ramp at the west end of the Broadway Bridge will remain open for eastbound traffic to access the NW Broadway ramp to Old Town and downtown