downtown Portland.
(Photo: Ben McLeod)
Heavy rains have caused a landslide that’s just a few feet away from the paved Springwater on the Willamette trail. Reader Ben McLeod sent us a photo of the situation a few hours ago. McLeod tells us the slide is located just about 300-500 feet south of the Ross Island boathouse.
Portland Parks spokesperson Beth Sorensen says their staff is already aware of the slide and a geotech engineer with the Bureau of Environmental Services is “continually monitoring the situation.” Sorensen adds that “People should exercise caution” in the area. Signs saying, “Unstable banks – Stay on paved trail” have already gone up, but the trail is not closed at this time.
The Springwater Trail provides a crucial link between downtown and Southeast Portland and the Sellwood neighborhood. A closure of the trail for any length of time would be a major inconvenience. We’ll keep you posted if any closures are announced.
I’d ride that, CX
I’m still sad about the Milwaukie Ave/Springwater connector being closed. Every time I go by I hope that the caution tape will be down, but it’s still looking pretty grim. The “closed until [very ambiguous] further notice” sign certainly does not inspire hope. [http://www.carfreerambles.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/IMG_3439.jpg]
Anyone know anything about future plans? Or is it more of a wait-until-it-stops-raining kind of thing?
they should fix all these problems when they close the trail for the Oaks Bottom culvert work, is that still happening next summer? Most of these slides are a result of the combination of the oversteepened bluff slope and faulty drainage.
As far as the new landslide goes, from the picture it looks like a pretty minor surface slide, unless it is spreading east and cracks are forming in the trail there, I wouldn’t worry about it too much.
According to the Sellwood Bee for May (neighborhood newsletter section, p. 3), Parks doesn’t expect to reopen the connector until late May or June.