Lanes of I-5 reopen after closures due to Portland police shootingFree

A fatal police shooting on Interstate 5 in North Portland closed both directions of the freeway for about 6½ hours Monday, causing traffic headaches throughout Clark County. Southbound I-5 reopened at the Interstate 5 Bridge by 5 p.m., and the northbound lanes reopened about 45 minutes later.

The I-5 Bridge closed in both directions around 10:30 a.m. The Washington State Department of Transportation routed southbound traffic from I-5 to state Highway 14 east onto Interstate 205.

Traffic on I-205 and Highway 14 was a parking lot for much of the day, and there wasn’t a highway in Clark County or the Portland area that wasn’t seeing delays or closures. The backups spilled onto surface streets, including East Mill Plain and Fourth Plain boulevards in Vancouver.

Throughout the day, traffic maps showed backups on southbound I-205 past the junction with I-5 in Salmon Creek and as far north as Northeast 179th Street, on southbound I-5 to Hazel Dell and eastbound state Highway 500 past St. Johns Boulevard.

C-Tran said on Twitter several routes were either significantly delayed, detoured or dropped.

During the closure, northbound traffic was directed to leave the freeway at North Greeley Avenue and southbound traffic was directed to exit at Victory Boulevard in Portland, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation. Interstate 405 north was also closed at I-5.