Morrison Bridge bike path set to reopen by Oct. 22 (updated)

Detour signs on the east landing direct people walking and biking to the Hawthorne Bridge.

The Morrison Bridge’s biking and walking path should reopen three weeks from Sunday, a Multnomah County said Tuesday.

The path has been closed to walking and biking for much of the summer, as have various travel lanes. It’s related to a deck replacement that’s a do-over from a 2012 replacement job that didn’t prove nearly as durable as it was supposed to.

The physically separated path along the south side of the Morrison connects Water Avenue on the Central Eastside with Naito Parkway and 2nd Avenue downtown.

On Monday, the county had tweeted that the path would reopen Oct. 16, but county spokesman Mike Pullen said in an email Tuesday that another six days would be required.

“There is a one-week delay in pouring the last concrete for the new deck, due to some additional work they discovered this week,” he said.

A two-week total bridge closure begins next Monday.

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At last count, the bridge has carried about 800 bike trips per day since opening its sidepath in 2012 after a 12-year citizen-led activism campaign.

— Michael Andersen: (503) 333-7824, @andersem on Twitter and michael@portlandafoot.org

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Michael Andersen (Contributor)

Michael Andersen (Contributor)

Michael Andersen was news editor of BikePortland.org from 2013 to 2016 and still pops up occasionally.

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Chris I
Chris I
6 years ago

This entire project was unnecessary. There were a few crashes because people were driving too fast on the steel grating when it was wet. They should have dropped in jersey barriers to prevent head-on crashes and kept the old steel deck. Tens of millions wasted…

maccoinnich
6 years ago
Reply to  Chris I

In order for the Morrison Bridge to open the operable portion needs to weigh the same as the counterweights (which are in the piers). If Jersey barriers were added then the bridge would no longer open.

Chris I
Chris I
6 years ago
Reply to  maccoinnich

They have built a barrier protecting the bike lane on the south side. Could the same barrier be used to separate the east and westbound lanes?

maccoinnich
6 years ago
Reply to  Chris I

That’s a good question that I don’t know the answer to. Looking at streetview, I see that they changed from concrete to steel at the operable portions of the bridge, presumably to minimize weight. I don’t know how much more weight they could add before it would be a problem.

X
X
6 years ago
Reply to  Chris I

Jersey barriers : bridge : : cast iron skillets : back pack

bikeninja
bikeninja
6 years ago

Bridge decks are like bikes. If you want it to last, steel is superior to fiber-reinforced polymer.

rick
rick
6 years ago

Cool

Teddy
Teddy
6 years ago

Sad to see the detour signs have graffiti already.

Loran
Loran
6 years ago

Anyone know when work starts on Burnside bridge? Was supposed to be after Morrison was done?

KTaylor
KTaylor
6 years ago

Has anyone else been ignoring the signs and riding or walking across? I’ve done this a few times (not bragging – – was just desperate and late, and didn’t want to bike or walk all the way down to one of the other bridges to get to something right on the other end of the Morrison). There was nothing blocking the path, nothing wrong or dismantled – – did they close the path just because they wanted parking and a place for the port-a-potty?

Dan
Dan
6 years ago
Reply to  KTaylor

I did it once because the signs just said “sidewalk” closed, not “bike path” closed, and I thought there would be a valid route. Traveling from west to east, I found that just before the corkscrew, there were several sections of chainlink fence secured across the path with padlocks that made the bike path and sidewalk 100% impassible. I had to take the lane to ride down to Water St.

KTaylor
KTaylor
6 years ago
Reply to  Dan

Wow! They must have done that to thwart the cheaters. There were quite a few people walking and biking across the bridge when I went. Could you see if there was any real reason for the path and sidewalk to be closed?

John Liu
John Liu
6 years ago

What’s status of Broadway Bridge and Burnside Bridge work, anyone know?

This has really been a tough year for people crossing the river, with Broadway, Burnside and Morrison Bridges all being worked on. No surprise the traffic on Hawthorne Bridge has been bad.

Next year will be a lot better. I think.