The following is an excerpt taken directly from TriMet’s website:
Tips for Bike Commuters During MAX Steel Bridge Service Interruption August 2-24
The Steel Bridge will be closed to cars, buses and MAX trains August 2-24, 2008, as crews connect existing tracks to the new MAX Green Line tracks on 5th and 6th avenues. Shuttle buses will be carrying MAX riders across the river between the Old Town/Chinatown Station and the Rose Quarter/Convention Center stations, via the Burnside Bridge. The lower deck of the Steel Bridge will remain open to bikes and pedestrians.
If you bring your bike on MAX…
Please plan ahead and allow extra time for your trips.
We strongly encourage you to ride your bike across the bridge rather than using the shuttle bus to reach the MAX stop on the other side of the river. (The ride across the bridge will take about 7 minutes compared to 15 minutes on the bus shuttle.) Follow the signs to the bike route on the lower deck of the bridge. Stay on the marked path, and be considerate of pedestrians.
Riding MAX from the east side
Yellow Line riders
Get off at Interstate/Rose Quarter station and ride your bike to your destination. You can follow the signs to the Steel Bridge and re-board MAX at Old/Town Chinatown Station. Or, stay on the Esplanade to cross the Hawthorne Bridge.
Blue/Red Line riders
Get off at Rose Quarter TC and walk your bike along the marked path to Interstate Avenue. Then, follow the signs to ride across the Steel Bridge and re-board MAX at Old/Town Chinatown Station.
Riding MAX from the west side
Yellow Line riders
There will be no Yellow Line service on the west side of the river. Bike to Old Town and follow the signs on Davis Street to cross the Steel Bridge and connect with northbound Yellow Line trains at Interstate/Rose Quarter Station or eastbound Blue and Red line trains at Rose Quarter TC.
Blue/Red Line riders
Please allow extra time for your trips. Fewer MAX trains will be running between Old Town and Hillsboro. Get off at Old Town/Chinatown Station, follow the signs on Davis Street to cross the Steel Bridge and connect with eastbound Blue and Red line trains at Rose Quarter TC or northbound Yellow Line trains at Interstate/Rose Quarter Station.
* Travel outside of rush hour to avoid crowding. The farther away from 8 a.m. or 5 p.m. you make your trip, the more room there is on the trains.
* Try parking your bike at a MAX platform instead of bringing it on the train. Additional bike parking will be available during this time.
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Will the west side sidewalk still be open to bike on (if the Esplanade gets crowded)?
a good excuse to fool around on the waterfront more.
The south (west?) sidewalk on the upper deck is being listed as intermittently open:
http://www.portlandmall.org/news/steelbridge.htm
It may be filled with spectators, (or at least, that is why I\’ve started going over the top of the bridge,) so it may be easy to get across the lower deck…
1) If you are trying to cross the steel bridge on a bicycle: Don\’t. Go to the Burnside or the Broadway, but if you want to cross the steel you\’ll probably see so many pedestrians that you\’ll be forced to walk… (Not that I\’m complaining: I\’m glad people are walking and getting exercise and it is nice weather for it and all that, but the steel bridge path is only so wide, and…)
2) If you are trying to ride MAX on the west side of town: Don\’t. With the lack of red line trains, even during non-rush hour you\’ll have trouble getting on. (It might be better past Beaverton TC…)
Yesterday morning: Bridge lift at around 9am. Tug goes through. Nothing.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Bridge still up.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Not a Tri-met supervisor in sight to explain to all the half-lost peds what was going on.
Still, nothing.
Nothing.
I gave up after 23 minutes and took the east side. Heard it coming down as I hit the floating walkway.
Hawthorne riders are a breed apart IMHO. Man I hate that bridge.
Rode through here yesterday and almost died due to the impatence of a Trimet bus driver. Here is what happened.
1. At app. 5:50 yesterday I was in the North-bound bike lane on N. Interstate heading down hill at at a speed of app. 25 mph.
2. I saw two busses at the stop sign of NE Wheeler, with their left turn signals on. The first bus proceeded to make a left turn with a reasonable amount of space between my self and other traffic.
3. I looked to the second driver (Bus # 1444) to ensure that he was looking for me. He was. Despite the fact that I had the right of way, he proceeded to pull out into the intersection, the whole time watching my approach.
4. He finally slammed on his breaks, stopping the bus in the middle of the intersection forcing me to fully lock up both my front and rear breaks. I skidded to a stop about five feet from the bus.
5. The driver then leaned out the window and yelled \”you fucking idiot\”. He then left the scene.
One question & one comment
\”Hawthorne riders are a breed apart IMHO. Man I hate that bridge.\” – What does that mean? Are all the cyclists the same who ride that bridge? Is it simply a crowded scene? OK, not one question but a few questions.
Comment for Red Hippie. While you certainly had right of way, it sounds like you would benefit from riding a bit more defensively. That old expression, \”You can be right and dead.\” plays well here. I ride hyper aware when rolling in the grid and I have right of way. I can usually sense when the driver is going to blow the stop sign. If I wanted to crash into cars and collect insurance money from the driver, there are daily opportunities for that to happen.
Just be safe out there.