SW Main Street Improvement Projects To Close Lanes Downtown

PORTLAND, OR — The Portland Bureau of Transportation on Friday announced the beginning of major road improvement projects that will cause lane and road closures periodically along Southwest Main Street in downtown Portland starting Monday, Sept. 18.

The improvements will continue for roughly one month as crews perform repaving and bike lane realignment operations between Southwest First Avenue and Southwest Second Avenue.

Nighttime road closures will begin Monday at 7 p.m. with all Southwest Main Street travel lanes and the bike lane. Closures will last until around 6 a.m. every day. Sidewalks will remain open to pedestrians during the closure periods.

When daytime road closures begin Thursday, Sept. 21, commuters can expect to see only two travel lanes open between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. on the weekdays with occasional increases that restrict traffic to only one lane. The portion of Southwest Main Street that will be affected currently has two lanes for through traffic, a right-turn lane, and a bicycle lane.

Weekend closures that will affect all lanes of travel are scheduled to run from Sept. 30 through Oct. 1, and during the weekend of Oct. 14 and 15. For those two periods of work, all lanes on Southwest Main Street will close from 7 p.m. on Friday to 6 a.m. Monday.

"The project will greatly improve a section of failing roadway that serves as a main entrance to downtown Portland from the Hawthorne Bridge," Transportation spokesman John Brady said in a statement. "The pavement is cracked, buckling and sagging. People riding bicycles westbound on the bridge, one of the busiest bike routes in North America, find it difficult to navigate the road surface. The road striping has bus and bicycle traffic weaving in the middle of the intersection."

To fix this, Brady explained, "A new bikeway design will provide a bike box to increase visibility of people on bicycles at (Southwest Main Street) and (Southwest First Avenue). It will provide new green striping to highlight areas that are bike only, as well as areas where bike traffic and vehicle traffic intersect. Green boxes will also mark places at intersections where people riding bikes are recommended to change direction."

Green bike boxes are used heavily throughout the main streets around the University of Oregon and downtown areas of Eugene.

For cyclists affected by the closures, bike detours include allowing bicycles in the westbound travel lanes on Southwest Main Street during the construction period. Cyclists uncomfortable with riding in the same lane as cars are welcomed to exit the Hawthorne Bridge ramp into Waterfront Park, crossing Southwest Naito Parkway at the crosswalk to head south.

Bus routes will also be affected, Brady said.

The stop at Southwest Main Street, between Southwest First and Second avenues, will be temporarily relocated to Southwest First Avenue, between Southwest Madison and Jefferson streets. Routes 4, 10, 14, 15, and 30 will be affected.

Riders can receive service alerts at trimet.org, or by calling 503-238-RIDE (7433).

WATCH: Bureau of Transportation video shows dangers of riding a bicycle along Southwest Main Street in downtown Portland.

The repairs and improvements are the result of Measure 26-173's passage on May 17, 2016, which initiated a 10-cent tax on motor vehicle fuels that would be used to provide funding for street repairs and traffic safety projects, Brady said. The new tax is expected to raise upward of $64 million over the next four years.

Photo Courtesy: Portland Bureau of Transportation