Concrete barricade partially blocking I-5 bridge bike path

View of I-5 bridge bike path
looking south from Vancouver.
(Photo: Doug Merritt)

A concrete barricade in the shoulder of the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 on the Columbia River bridge is partially blocking the bike path. Doug Merritt shared a photo of the situation with us this morning and we’ve found out that it’s the result of a motor vehicle collision that occurred over the weekend.

The Washington State Department of Transportation says crews will fix the obstruction, “as soon as they can stop chasing storm drains.”

John Kangas is a Portland resident who commutes into Vancouver. He shared via Facebook this morning that, “This happens a lot this time of year” because people misjudge the onramp onto the bridge and “nudge” the barrier over. Kangas says it’s the third time he’s noticed the barricade hit this year.

WSDOT spokesperson Heidi Sause told us via telephone this morning that maintenance crews know about the situation and they will likely get to it “early next week.” In order to fix it, she says, they must close a single lane and plan traffic detours around it. “And we don’t like to close lanes on the bridge unless we have to.”

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car owner and driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, feel free to contact me at @jonathan_maus on Twitter, via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a supporter.

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Will Radik
12 years ago

They should get some of those plant embankments up there so they don’t have to worry about storm drains that much.

Nick
Nick
12 years ago

That last line is highly ironic…

peejay
peejay
12 years ago

Sounds like we need an Occupy the I-5 Bridge action.

rain bike
rain bike
12 years ago
Reply to  peejay

Or maybe just a new bridge with bike access that isn’t an afterthought.

Paul Johnson
Paul Johnson
12 years ago
Reply to  rain bike

Great! Get support for tolling the Minnesota Freeway and a design that doesn’t suck, and we’ll get on that.

jeff
jeff
12 years ago

better than being hit by the colliding car, eh?

eli bishop
eli bishop
12 years ago
Reply to  jeff

this times one million.

Tom M
Tom M
12 years ago
Reply to  jeff

Having been hit by 2 cars I can vouch for this sentiment wholeheartedly!

Glen Bolen
Glen Bolen
12 years ago

I think moving the barrier may be more important than clearing storm drains. While it isn’t really a barrier for a bike, imagine if you wheelchair bound and for some reason have to cross the i-5 bridge. That wet grass could trap a wheel.

dmc
dmc
12 years ago

If the barricade were pushed out the other direction Id bet it would be fixed by now.

Carl
Carl
12 years ago
Reply to  dmc

It’d just take a “nudge” to move it back!

In other news from last night:
-The county health building got nudged. http://twitpic.com/7ifo18

-A pedestrian was nudged to death on Powell. http://bit.ly/rVqJEU

Oopsy-daisy! Those wacky wacky cars.

peejay
peejay
12 years ago
Reply to  Carl

The Police report about the Powell “nudge” says the woman was not in a crosswalk, but says it was at the intersection of 31st and Powell. I thought all intersections were crosswalks, even if unmarked? Will the PPB correct this?

Paul Johnson
Paul Johnson
12 years ago
Reply to  peejay

Looks like a crosswalk on both sides of the intersection, east side is marked, west side is unmarked. Unless there’s a CROSSWALK CLOSED sign I’m not aware of. http://mapq.st/rzY04u

9watts
9watts
12 years ago
Reply to  dmc

I think this would be a good test of our theory. Anyone up for a bit of guerilla nudging?

Paul Johnson
Paul Johnson
12 years ago
Reply to  9watts

Curious what one of those things weighs and what the drag coefficient is.

Carl
Carl
12 years ago
Reply to  dmc

Another nudge from last night: http://bit.ly/vKA0hA (Nudged a tree at 75mph. Passenger dead. Oregonian headline gives equal weight to street closure.)

Champs
Champs
12 years ago

For one reason or another, I’ve had to take the grass on every one of my trips along the west side of the bridge. This would just be a new one.

J-R
J-R
12 years ago
Reply to  Champs

You must not take many trips across the bridge. I ride this as often as five days per week (including today) and this week is the first time I have had to ride on the grass this year in this section. I am grateful for the good, usually prompt response I get from maintenance at the DOTs. It’s not a job I’d care to do.

Dillon
Dillon
12 years ago

How about the Occupy fence barricade that’s almost completely blocking the bike lane on Madison.

Adams Carroll (News Intern)
Reply to  Dillon

Hasn’t that been removed? It was supposed to be. Please let me know if it’s still there.

rain bike
rain bike
12 years ago

The fences and supports were on the sidewalk yesterday (11/22) afternoon when I rode through. Bike lane was clear – except for leaves and the usual debris.

q`Tzal
q`Tzal
12 years ago

I was going to propose a bunch of people just shove the barriers back; not so much now.

A quick search shows that these are 10’~12′ long linked concrete barriers.
Standard weight for these is about 400lb a foot or around 4000 to 4800 for a single barrier.
Add starting friction and the weight of the linked barriers and I gotta ask:
How’s the other guy?

Spiffy
Spiffy
12 years ago

strangely I never hear of a bicycle crash that cripples automobile lanes…

Zac
Zac
12 years ago

Makes you wonder why people continue to insist that a thin stripe of paint is usually all we need to protect us from cars.

Paul Johnson
Paul Johnson
12 years ago
Reply to  Zac

Because at non-freeway speeds (or on modern freeway designs), it essentially is. This segment (technically not part of I 5, but a part of OR 99) lacks 20-foot paved shoulders (or any shoulder at all here!) and bike-gapped rumble strips that make a modern freeway, (or even current interstate freeway design), requirements (which is why the segment between WA 14 and MLK is technically OR 99 and not I 5).

J_R
J_R
12 years ago
Reply to  Paul Johnson

It is true that this section of Interstate 5 does not meet modern interstate standards. After all it was constructed over 50 years ago.

The claim that the road between SR 14 and Marine Drive is not I-5, but rather Highway 99 is completely BOGUS!.

It is Interstate 5. You can verify this on ODOT’s website. Check Appendix D of the State Highway Plan or the Portland map found in the “map” library on the ODOT website.

Your “tecnically” claim is completly untrue.

Paul Johnson
Paul Johnson
12 years ago
Reply to  J_R

Look for the sign like this http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3211/2884516690_16db44707c_s.jpg on the Interstate Bridge, and you’ll see it indicates RTE OR 99, HWY 1. That’s not I 5.

J_R
J_R
12 years ago
Reply to  Paul Johnson

The resolution is so poor I can’t read any of the sign.

My references proving that the Interstate Bridge is I-5 include:

http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/TD/TP/docs/orhwyplan/hwyplan/D.pdf

See page 216. That shows that Highway 001, the Pacific Coast Highway, is I-5 for its entire length from MP 0.00 to 308.38. Some sections are also designated OR99, OR99E, US30, and OR138. MP308.38 is the Washington/Oregon border in the middle of the Columbia River.

The ODOT map showing the mile posts and other features including the Interstate symbol can be found at:

http://egov.oregon.gov/ODOT/TD/TDATA/gis/docs/citymaps/Portland.pdf

jim
jim
12 years ago

Is there something under the barrier that is pushed out also? It’s a little hard to tell from the photo. Is it safe there? Perhaps they should make this a higher priority?

Devin
Devin
12 years ago

If the barricades were moved to block I5 traffic, I am sure they would drop everything to move them back, one again proving cars take precedence over anything else.

Paul Johnson
Paul Johnson
12 years ago
Reply to  Devin

The bike lane is a traffic lane, too.

Ian
Ian
12 years ago

it’s fixed…