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Drivers: Beware of weekend lane closures on the I-205 bridge

Replacing deck joints may cause big delays

By Erik Robinson
Published: May 7, 2010, 12:00am
2 Photos
An aerial view of the I-205 Bridge.
An aerial view of the I-205 Bridge. Photo Gallery

A project to replace 20 deck joints on the Interstate 205 bridge across the Columbia River contributed to a monster traffic jam in the Portland area Saturday afternoon.

Oregon transportation officials don’t expect a repeat of the mileslong backup that choked all three major freeways in Portland, but they do warn motorists to avoid the Interstate 205 bridge during the next weekend-long two-lane closure scheduled to begin at 10 tonight.

Rotating two-lane closures will continue on weekends through Sept. 27 as workers replace the huge deck joints.

“There are likely going to be periods when weekend travelers are going to find congestion on the Glenn Jackson Bridge,” said Brad Wurfel, a spokesman for the Oregon Department of Transportation in Portland. “We’re encouraging people, whenever possible, to use the I-5 bridge.”

o Metal bridge joints effectively stitch together separate sections of the bridge deck, allowing the deck to sway slightly with traffic and wind.

o The joints typically last 25 to 30 years, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation. Construction of the Glenn Jackson Bridge began in 1977 and was completed in 1982. Joints on the twin spans south of Government Island were replaced eight years ago.

o The bridge was named for Glenn Jackson, Oregon's longest-serving highway and transportation commissioner. Jackson, a businessman and newspaper publisher who died in 1980, served on the state transportation commission from 1959 to 1979.

As it turns out, that wasn’t an option for thousands of motorists stranded for as long as two hours last Saturday.

Wurfel attributed Saturday’s freeway paralysis to a cascading confluence of events, including a major accident on Interstate 84, two crashes on the northbound span of I-205, topped off with a bridge lift on I-5.

Cumulatively, it created a traffic nightmare.

o Metal bridge joints effectively stitch together separate sections of the bridge deck, allowing the deck to sway slightly with traffic and wind.

o The joints typically last 25 to 30 years, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation. Construction of the Glenn Jackson Bridge began in 1977 and was completed in 1982. Joints on the twin spans south of Government Island were replaced eight years ago.

o The bridge was named for Glenn Jackson, Oregon’s longest-serving highway and transportation commissioner. Jackson, a businessman and newspaper publisher who died in 1980, served on the state transportation commission from 1959 to 1979.

It started with the DOT closing two of the four northbound lanes on the I-205 bridge north of Government Island, so that workers could chisel out the hulking steel deck joints a foot below the road surface. The $5.2 million project will continue with rotating closures every weekend — from 10 p.m. Friday through 5 a.m. Monday — except during the Fourth of July and Labor Day holidays.

“We recognize that this impacts folks, and we are working as quickly as possible to get this project done as efficiently as we can,” Wurfel said.

Gary Wellman, a retired sales representative who lives in Vancouver, ventured south last Saturday afternoon with a friend and her mother to check out the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden in southeast Portland. He noticed a backup on the I-205 bridge at about 2:30 p.m., but didn’t think much of it.

Two hours later, he headed back toward Vancouver by way of I-5.

He headed north through city streets to the point where 33rd Avenue intersects with Marine Drive, with the idea of taking in the scenery along the Columbia River. Instead, he found gridlock to the west toward I-5. Turning east, it took over an hour to get five miles to 122nd Avenue, where he gave up on the idea of crossing into Washington and instead headed south to drop off his companions in Salem, Ore.

He said the backup extended all the way south to Foster Road — a distance of seven miles.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Wellman said. “Somebody should be taken to task over this fiasco.”

Wurfel re-created the timeline of events.

At 3:10 p.m., a crash on I-84 closed all westbound lanes near the freeway’s convergence with I-205. When police cleared the freeway lanes two hours later, a huge backlog of traffic surged onto I-205. Workers had dug out trenches in the concrete bridge deck, so it was impossible to open all four lanes.

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“Whenever possible, we will suspend work on a project when traffic gets to a point where people are no longer able to get around,” Wurfel said. “We can’t do that with the Glenn Jackson because we’ve got these massive trenches of open concrete.”

It was about that time — around 5:30 p.m. — that a passing boat required a drawbridge lift on the Interstate 5 Bridge over the Columbia, eliminating the only alternative for idling motorists headed toward Vancouver.

As if all that wasn’t enough mayhem for one afternoon, two separate fender-benders constricted traffic to one lane on the I-205 bridge.

“A perfect storm,” Wurfel said.

Erik Robinson: 360-735-4551, or erik.robinson@columbian.com.

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