Steel Bridge lower deck closed since Saturday – UPDATED
Posted by Michael Andersen (Contributor) on August 12th, 2013 at 4:32 pm

sidewalk is one way to cross this evening.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)
Update:: The lower deck reopened before the evening rush hour on Aug. 13.
Update 6:30 a.m., Aug. 13: The lower deck remains closed on Tuesday morning. “I haven’t heard of any change yet,” spokeswoman Diane Dulken wrote. We’ve had no reply to our request for information from Union Pacific. Watch PBOT’s Twitter account for possible updates. Original post follows.
Update 6:30 a.m., Aug. 13: The lower deck remains closed on Tuesday morning. “I haven’t heard of any change yet,” spokeswoman Diane Dulken wrote. We’ve had no reply to our request for information from Union Pacific. Watch PBOT’s Twitter account for possible updates. Original post follows.
People crossing the Steel Bridge by bike and foot Monday evening should take the upper-deck lane or sidewalk or reroute to another bridge, Portland Bureau of Transportation spokeswoman Diane Dulken said Monday afternoon.
The lower deck has been closed since Saturday evening, when a set of cameras that monitor the crossing stopped functioning, Dulken said. The cameras are owned and controlled by Union Pacific Railroad, she said, which has not informed the city of the cameras’ status.
“We don’t manage the cameras, so we’re not quite sure what’s going on,” Dulken said.
The cameras need to work, she said, because they prevent the Steel Bridge’s controller from closing the lower deck’s gates and activating a bridge lift while people are still between the gates.
The Steel Bridge is jointly operated by the city, ODOT and Union Pacific Railroad, with the city handling the gates and approaches, an on-site ODOT worker controlling the bridge lifts and Union Pacific controlling the cameras.
“We want to open up that pathway as soon as possible,” Dulken said.
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