Be aware of a significant closure of the Springwater Corridor Trail path in southeast Portland early next month. Portland General Electric tells BikePortland there will be two sections of closures that will begin in early September.
A reader sent us an image of a sign and said when she called the Portland General Electric number, no one she spoke to could share any details about how the closure would impact the path. “This will have a big impact on lots of people’s morning commutes (mine included) so I thought more investigation may be warranted.”
I reached out to a spokesperson at the Portland Parks Bureau, who connected me with PGE Community Engagement Manager Alex Cousins. Cousins said PGE crews are scheduled to replace four transmission poles along the Springwater between September 8th-12th. Since they are high voltage lines, the path will be closed in two sections on those days from 7:00 am to 4:00 pm. Here are the exact details of the closures, according to Cousins:
Going east to west, the first closure will be from SE Stanley to SE 55th. That detour utilizes SE Firwood St. The second closure will be from SE 55th to SE Johnson Creek Blvd. That detour utilizes SE Rainbow Lane, SE Brookside Drive and a short segment of SE Johnson Creek Blvd. There are bike lanes and crosswalks on that segment of Johnson Creek.
As for why PGE customer service reps didn’t know anything about this? The contractor put up the signs before the reps were notified. It happens sometimes!
If this is your commute route or if you ride here and you experience the detour, please keep me posted on how it goes. And thanks to reader Shyla O. the heads up and the photo.
NOTE, 8/28 at 8:05 am: This post was initially published with incomplete information from PGE that described one, longer closure. Sorry for any confusion.
Thanks for reading.
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Last time they shut down part of this section they used Brookside Dr as a detour, though iirc the closure ended at 55th Ave and you could get back on the path there. Might work again if the closure doesn’t span the entire section of Springwater at once. Otherwise my recommendation would be taking Harney Dr to Clatsop St. If you cut through the neighborhood to Alberta St, it’ll put you right at the Johnson Creek & Bell entrance to Springwater. Alternatively you could take Brookside Dr to Firwood St, south on Wichita Ave to King Rd, and back north on Bell Ave, though this is much more indirect and Wichita Ave has no bike lane.
Thanks for putting the time in and sharing the details they provided you. I too hope there will be a safe alternate route. I plan on taking SE Wichita and weaving through the neighborhoods south of the trail before reconnecting to the SWT where Johnson Creek intersects near the public restrooms. Hopefully there will also be cones and clear wayfinding signage for cyclists (and alerts for drivers).
Can we ask PGE for clearer signage in the future?
In my opinion the font sizes focus on the wrong pieces of information, and the hierarchy should match the continuum from general to more specific (larger to smaller).
For example, the dates are more general than the times. So that should be written first, and larger than (or as large as) the times.
And the dates should use text for the month rather than the month number. I use dates in many varying formats in my work, so 09.08.25 could mean Aug 9 or Sep 8. Using text here is clearer, more intuitive, and avoids confusion. If this was the first day on the corridor for me, I would be unsure if I should expect imminent closures or if it’s a future closure a couple of weeks from now and should discard.
So I recommend it say “Sept 8-12, 2025” or something similar. It provides the same information with simpler text for someone to interpret. This makes it easier for a fast biker or someone with a more limited education to understand the signage.
I also think adding days of the week are helpful because that’s how people think of their schedules and can easily determine if this would impact them. So it could say “Mon Sep 8 – Fri Sep 12, 2025.” Or “Mon-Fri Sep 8-12, 2025” to avoid duplicating the month name.
Simpler and more direct language makes it more accessible (i.e., useable/actionable) for people.
Sorry, not very important. But wanted to share a recommendation that I hope could be implemented easily in the future.
Hi, Paul. This is Alex at PGE. I appreciate your comments and suggestions. The signs that are currently up were created by the contractor but the detour signs that we are currently developing will incorporate your suggestions. Thank you for your recommendation.
Will this closure stop the RVs?
I’m sure the “residents” of the path won’t be inconvenienced.