Emergency repairs will close Hawthorne Bridge tomorrow

just another day on Hawthorne

Closed from 9-4 tomorrow.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Multnomah County has just announced that the Hawthorne Bridge will be closed to all users tomorrow (10/28) from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.

According to Mike Pullen in the Public Affairs Office, the county needs to close the bridge to all users to repair a damaged, one-inch diameter wire cable that was discovered as being “nearly severed” on Sunday.

The county recommends using other river crossings (like the Burnside, Morrison, Marquam or Ross Island bridges) during the repair.

According to PDOT, bicycles accounted for 18% of all trips taken across on the Hawthorne Bridge in 2007 and today it serves well over 6,000 average daily bike trips.

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.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

13 Comments
oldest
newest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Martha R
Martha R
15 years ago

Arrghhh! That’s the problem with my post-rush hour commute. Thanks for the heads up, Jonathan.

Jason
Jason
15 years ago

This will be interesting to see the affect on all modes of transportation.

Racer X
Racer X
15 years ago

Will the county be posting an emergency bike detour for this work…and working with PDOT to allocate additional lane space across the nearest bridges for this peak hour bike traffic?

(I assume Multnomah County has an emergency detour plan for this type of controlled emergencies?)

Mark Allyn
15 years ago

Perhaps this would be a good time to see if those signs that say no bicycles on the Morrison bridge really mean it.

I posted a question about those signs in the forums a while back (Did anyone ever got cited for riding on the Morrison bridge) and got no responses.

Perhaps those signs are just baloney and that we can go ahead and use the Morrison bridge, especially during Tuesday’s Emergency on the Hawthorne bridge.

Besides, those signs look like they’re from another era. After all that brige is not an interstate; I wouldn’t think that any laws currently prohibit bicycling on the Morrison bridge.

I have ridden that bridge on occasion and had no problems with cops.

Luv

Cleara
(Mark Allyn)

joel
15 years ago

i ride the sidewalks on the morrison all the time. never had a problem.

but the sidewalk there is not suitable for anything remotely approaching the traffic the hawthorne, or even the burnside, gets.

the roadbed itself, thats a different story. its doable, but just plain unpleasant, especially for anyone not really up to speed on fairly aggressive in-traffic riding. between the on and off ramps, and the giant cheese grater center section, i wouldnt recommend it for any but the most experienced traffic riders. hell, id put myself in that category, and i wouldnt ride across the morrison roadbed except if i HAD to.

G.A.R.
G.A.R.
15 years ago

At 23rd and Vaughn it says ‘no bikes’ as you head east toward Thurman. But the STP goes this way! I go this way every day! No problem. Yes, if you were to continue up onto I-405 it would be an issue, but there are actually additional signs at that point as well. I suspect the Morrison signs are the same. You’re being warned that you are heading *vaguely toward* a place where motors are required. Don’t get onto I-5 and you’re fine. Just my opinion, mind you, but this is an ambiguous, nonstatutory circumstance, so opinions are valid.

Paul Manson
Paul Manson
15 years ago

I’ve ridden the Morrison a few times and its a bear. The deck is dicey, but cool to look down through. Then there is the merge lane off of I-5 south as you cycle east, that adds an element of surprise and speed.

Not recommended.

Moo
Moo
15 years ago

Sounds like a good time for a mass ride over the Morrison.

Jeff
Jeff
15 years ago

It only takes a few minutes to ride the waterfront down to the steel bridge and cross there. You’ll hardly notice the difference unless you’re a whiner.

KWW
KWW
15 years ago

Damn you all, I will be crossing the Willamette, Evel Knievel style with a biodiesel powered rocket bicycle.

Racer X
Racer X
15 years ago

So any comments from post 9AM bike commuters – how did the alternative bike routes go today? Were they well signed and logical?

How were the drivers reacting to the glut of bike traffic shifting to other [over capacity] bridge routes? Did they share well?

Martha R
Martha R
15 years ago

Morning commute was no big deal. I rode my usual route north along the esplanade. There were “bridge closed but ramps to Grand Ave. open” signs at the onramps to the Hawthorne Bridge. Continued on to the spiral ramp up to the Morrison where there was a steady stream of westbound cyclists on the sidewalk. I followed the sidewalk to exit onto Naito Parkway where I then headed south. The Morrison ramps were in the right places for my particular commute, but it would have been a bother if I wanted to continue west after the bridge. Damn that sidewalk is narrow! Good thing that I didn’t encounter any eastbound cyclists; it was hard enough to pass pedestrians without squeezing them too much.

I didn’t see any bicyclists on the roadway during my ride. I can see the Morrison Bridge from my office, and it looks like bicyclists are sticking to the sidewalk.

Craig
Craig
15 years ago

Some days I take the Steel Bridge as an alternate so I wasn’t really affected.

The signs at Grand were clearly marked that the route to the esplanade was still open.

It was a bit of a clustered mess of cars all trying to get into the right lane prior to Grand however. I had to slow down and snake though the cars at the bike lane. This spot is bad during a normal day anyways (parked cars, stopped buses, cars turning across a bike line, etc) , so this was nothing new.