approach SE Grand Ave.
(Photo © J. Maus)
Several readers have emailed with questions about the cement barricades and other barriers on the eastbound Hawthorne Bridge viaduct as it approaches Grand Ave. Some of you thought it might be a pilot project for a new separated bikeway. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. But to find out more, I asked Multnomah County spokesperson Mike Pullen.
Here’s what the barricades are all about…
On September 30th, a semi-truck carrying heavy equipment struck a girder of the viaduct while traveling on SE Martin Luther King Jr., Blvd. Pullen says the truck was simply too tall and the collision did extensive damage to the underside of the bridge structure. Due to concerns about the structural integrity of the viaduct in the area above the damaged girder, the County does not want heavy vehicles traveling over it. People walking and biking over it are fine. Pullen says “it will take months” for County engineers to repair the weakened girder.
Now you know!