Road construction projects will put a serious crimp in popular bike routes near the Sandy River and Columbia River Gorge for at least the next few months.
Last week Multnomah County announced that the Stark Street Bridge was in need of serious repairs. This bridge over the Sandy River is an important connection between Troutdale and the Historic Columbia River Highway (U.S. 30). About 12 miles south of the more well-known Sandy River Bridge, the Stark Street Bridge is one of very few crossings of the river between I-84 and Sandy (Lusted Rd bridge near Dodge Park being another one).
Multnomah County hasn’t released a firm date for re-opening, but they expect retaining wall repairs and other work to take at least several months.
Further complicating your Gorge cycling adventures in the months ahead is a closure of the Historic Highway west of Multnomah Falls. The Oregon Department of Transportation says they need to close the Historic Highway adjacent to Benson Lake to all users from this coming Tuesday, October 1st until Memorial Day (May 26th) of 2025. The closure is necessary to repair one of the viaducts.
The closure also applies to bicycle users. I followed up with ODOT to confirm. According to ODOT Public Information Officer Ryan McCrary, “There will be no bicycle access due to the nature of the construction on the Historic Columbia River Highway. Although we do not recommend it, I-84 is an alternative route for bicyclists during the closure.”
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But the parallel hiking trail is open, so you could use that. Bikes are prohibited, but you could certainly walk your bike for the ~1/2 mile, right? I’ve endured worse…