ODOT project means five nights of carfree St. Johns Bridge for walkers, bikers

Moonset from the St. Johns Bridge on April 8th, 2020.
(Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

Starting Monday night next week, the Oregon Department of Transportation will begin a routine maintenance and inspection project on the St. Johns Bridge.

The work will require ODOT to close the bridge to car and truck drivers for five nights between 10:00 pm and 5:00 am. According to a statement this week, ODOT will keep the bridge open for bicycling and walking.

That means it’ll be possible to bike and walk on this magnificent bridge in a carfree environment. If you’re a night owl, you might want to make plans to enjoy this rare opportunity.

Advertisement

We initially thought it would be fun to plan a get together on one of the nights, but I’ve decided against it. An ODOT spokesperson reached out to us after some social media posts we shared on Monday. They said there will be equipment on the bridge and that work crews will be present to flag any riders or walkers through. I don’t think it’s cool to add to the workers’ stress just for a little fun, so we’ll have to do this some other time.

I do plan on heading out there one night to check it out. Yes it will likely be very cold, but I love this bridge and cannot resist the chance to ride across it without the usual stress, noise, and toxic emissions from cars and trucks.

See you out there!

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, contact me 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 paying subscriber.

Thanks for reading.

BikePortland has served this community with independent community journalism since 2005. We rely on subscriptions from readers like you to survive. Your financial support is vital in keeping this valuable resource alive and well.

Please subscribe today to strengthen and expand our work.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

5 Comments
oldest
newest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Alexander
Alexander
2 years ago

Perhaps one day we’ll get a safe, protected way to bike across the bridge during daylight hours. There’s something about the sharrows that makes drivers lose their minds. Especially now, they are madder than ever that they have to share a lane, even on quiet Sunday mornings. That the bridge doesn’t have some kind of MUP connecting to the Ridge Trail and 30 is such a missed opportunity for Portland.

ivan
ivan
2 years ago
Reply to  Alexander

#BetterBridge

Watts
Watts
2 years ago
Reply to  Alexander

TriMet mastered the fine art of the Missed Opportunity, but ODOT has proven itself an apt student.

Suburban
Suburban
2 years ago

Klatch!

Allan
2 years ago

I still can’t believe we don’t have a 3-lane vehicle configuration at the ends and a 2-lane configuration in the middle. This could be done without reducing vehicle throughput AT ALL!

We could have narrow bike lanes at the ends and nice wide ones in the middle of the bridge.