TriMet closes Powell; weekend of ramp demolition jams traffic

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Although the closure of S.E. Powell Boulevard on the weekend of July 21-22 was widely promoted, many drivers appeared puzzled, and others were irritated, when they were detoured off S.E. Powell Boulevard onto side streets, as overpass removal work proceeded around the clock.

The project was the removal of the flyover ramp which drivers and cyclists had used to transition from S.E. 17th northbound to westbound Powell Boulevard. In about a year, a similar ramp will be rebuilt — after a new bridge for the upcoming Inner Southeast MAX light rail line is built where the ramp has been.

Demolition workers used heavy machinery, concrete-cutting saws, and jackhammers to demolish the overpass. They finished by the promised 5 am hour on Monday, July 23rd, so commuters could resume use of State Highway 26 — S.E. Powell Boulevard — to cross the Ross Island Bridge into downtown Portland once again.

Although TriMet personnel, in an abundance of caution, made THE BEE keep its distance from the demolition, a telephoto lens and a modicum of patience resulted in some photos for BEE readers to show just what it was that scrambled this particular weekend’s traffic in the area around the east end of the Ross Island Bridge.