Wet weather forces ODOT to cancel I-5 closure this weekend
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PORTLAND, Ore. – If you were bracing for another traffic nightmare around I-5 in Portland this weekend, you can rest easy. Wet weather forced the Oregon Department of Transportation to cancel their closure, at least for this weekend.
An ODOT spokesman said the polymer concrete that was going to be applied on the freeway is sensitive to moisture, which means work can’t be done this weekend.
Crews had originally planned to close the southbound lanes of I-5 between the Fremont and Marquam Bridges starting at 11 p.m. on Friday.
The rain could prevent the polymer to bond correctly before traffic was scheduled to re-open on Monday morning.
Weather permitting, ODOT still plans to close the same southbound stretch July 27 through the morning of July 30.
Closures are also scheduled for the these dates:
• 11 p.m. Friday, Aug. 3 to 5 a.m. Monday, Aug. 6: I-5 northbound will close
• 11 p.m. Friday, Aug. 17 to 5 a.m. Monday, Aug. 20: I-5 northbound will close
It’s not clear if any more dates will be added to make up for the scrapped days.
For the latest traffic information, visit KATU’s traffic map or check ODOT’s tripcheck.com website.
Map of the area that was previously scheduled to be closed this weekend:
Bad news on the big picture here - when an earthquake takes out a major freeway in this area, we're screwed. If we can't temporarily close a stretch of one freeway without causing this much gridlock, it's a sign that freeway system is poorly designed and severely undersized.
Sincerely, one who experienced the Northridge and Loma Prieta quakes that took out infrastructure.
Wonder where ODOT gets their weather information. National Weather Service never forecast more than a 6 - 8% chance of rain in Portland over the weekend. Maybe after the last episode, they are being ultra cautious. Or are blaming it on weather while they are really trying to get their act together.
It's raining?
What rain?! Friday AM we got all of . . . . . . wait for it! . . . . . . . . . a trace.
                                                                                                                  a trace!
"Itâs not clear if any more dates will be added to make up for the scrapped days."
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Of course it's clear. Â If a project timeline has 4 weeks scheduled to complete the work and you scrap one of those 4 weeks, yes, you will have to add a week to the end of your timeline. Â If not, they wouldn't have scheduled it for 4 weeks to begin with.
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This isn't brain surgery.
I can not wait to see all the folks on TV complaining that no one told anyone about the closure. People in Portland are at least entertaining!!