About the Project
News
Three weeks of progress during the I-5 shutdown
Construction progress: Concrete pouring continues
Construction work is on schedule.
Crews and concrete equipment on the I-5 overpass.
Since the end of last week, crews have been pouring concrete nightly. Each section of new concrete goes through a four-day curing period immediately after it is poured.
You may be asking, “why are the pours only happening at night?” It may be nearing the spooky season, but we promise this has nothing to do with vampire activity and everything to do with temperature! The new concrete overlay will be relatively thin at approximately two inches, which means it could heat up and cure too quickly under warmer daytime conditions. Because temperatures are lower at night, this is the best time for the pours to occur. This will help the concrete cure properly and achieve the required strength.
Construction crews pour a section of concrete on I-5 southbound.
As sections of concrete cure, crews are moving onto the next task: joint nosing and saw-cut deck texturing. Joint nosing involves the placement of durable material along the edges of the bridge’s expansion joints to support and protect them, create a smoother transition for vehicles, and prevent water and debris from damaging the surrounding concrete. Saw-cut deck texturing creates shallow, parallel grooves in the cured concrete surface. These grooves improve tire traction and help move water away from the roadway surface.
Crews saw-cutting texture into the concrete on Sept. 29, which improves traction and water drainage.
Visit our Construction Travel Impacts page or sign up for text alerts to stay up to date with the latest news on traffic impacts and active closures.
Traffic Report: Traffic times have stabilized
During the closure, midday travel continues to have longer travel times than usual. In other words, sometimes travel at the lunch hour looks like rush hour did before the closure. The congestion that builds during the morning rush hours remains heavy enough that we aren’t seeing it drop much by noon, even when most of the commuter traffic has passed. In some cases, travel times drop and then go right back up during evening rush hour. On Fridays, there is no indication of a break in congestion at any point in the day.
|
AVERAGE HOURS OF CONGESTED CONDITIONS |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
|
AM hours |
|||||
|
Pre-closure |
7 - 9 a.m. |
6:30 - 10 a.m. |
6:30 - 10 a.m. |
6:30 - 11 a.m. |
9 a.m. - 6 p.m. |
|
During closure |
6 - 11 a.m. |
6 a.m. - 12 p.m. |
6 - 10 a.m. |
6 - 10 a.m. |
7 a.m. - 7 p.m. |
|
PM hours |
|||||
|
Pre-closure |
1 - 6 p.m. |
1 - 6 p.m. |
1 - 6 p.m. |
2 - 6 p.m. |
9 a.m. - 6 p.m. |
|
During closure |
12 - 6 p.m. |
1 - 7 p.m. |
12 - 7 p.m. |
12 - 7 p.m. |
7 a.m. - 7 p.m. |
Travel Times
I-5 southbound: Average travel times on I-5 southbound are essentially unchanged when compared to last week. During the morning rush hour, travel times are reaching up to 2 times longer than before the closure began. During afternoon rush hour, travel times improved compared to last week but are between to 2 to 2.25 times as long as normal, especially when there are incidents in the corridor such as a disabled vehicle or crash.
Morning and afternoon rush hour is longer than usual, with morning travel congestion beginning as early as 6 a.m. and afternoon continuing until 7 p.m.
Alternate routes: I-405 southbound, I-205 between the Columbia River and I-84 junction, and I-84 westbound are all seeing travel times stay roughly the same or slightly decrease at rush hour over last week.
|
Average travel times in minutes: 5 a.m. - 8 p.m. |
I-5 southbound (SR 14 to I-405) |
I-205 southbound (SR 14 to I-84) |
I-84 westbound (I-205 to I-5) |
I-405 southbound (I-5 to US 26) |
|
Typical Trends |
Slowest time: AM peak |
Slowest time: PM peak |
Slowest time: Similar AM/PM peaks |
Slowest time: PM peak |
|
August 2026 |
9.3 |
6.5 |
9 |
4.2 |
|
Week 1 |
15.1 |
9.2 |
11.5 |
5.8 |
|
Week 2 |
16.5 |
9.0 |
13.1 |
6.1 |
|
Week 3 |
16.7 |
10.3 |
12.3 |
6.2 |
Local streets: Compared to before the closure, there continues to be increased traffic on some local streets, notably the St. Johns Bridge, N Interstate Avenue, N Going Street, N Greeley Avenue, N Vancouver Avenue, NE Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, and N Mississippi Avenue. Traffic seems to have settled into a pattern on most corridors, so travel times have stabilized. A notable exception is N Interstate Avenue which has seen higher travel times each week. The City of Portland is continuing to monitor and adjust signal timing on N Interstate Avenue between N Going Street and NE Broadway in an effort to reduce delays.
Your questions, answered
Here is the top question we’ve received in week three of the closure— again!
Q: What’s the best route for me to get from point A to point B?
A: Congestion will be hard to predict day to day during the closure, so navigation apps like Google, Apple, and Waze will be your best tools for figuring out the best and quickest routes for daily travel during the closure. We also encourage you to shift to alternate modes of transportation during the closure whenever possible. This can include carpooling, using public transit, or taking that bike out of storage. Finally, adjusting your travel time may help you avoid delays. We have created a travel resources page to help people plan their trips.
Translation/Interpretation Accommodations
For ADA Title II or Civil Rights Title VI accommodations, translation/interpretation services or for additional information call 503-731-4128, TTY (800) 735-2900 or use the statewide Oregon Relay Service: 7-1-1.
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For 24/7 road conditions and traffic alerts visit tripcheck.com or call 5-1-1.
Visit the Portland Area Construction Information website for more information about projects in construction.