Work on the bridge will be fairly slow through the holidays to accommodate the shopping traffic and holiday travelers. They’ll make up for it in January with the first full closure of the bridge for the Shoo Fly. What’s the Shoo Fly, you ask? This is the process in which the crews will cut the existing bridge, scoot it over 40 feet to the north, and then build on-ramps and off-ramps to it where it will serve as the temporary bridge during the rest of the construction process. Anyone planning to come to our shop during this time should plan on using either the Ross Island bridge or the I-205 bridge as an alternate. The closure should last one week, and we’ll be giving you more information in our January newsletter.
Here is an update regarding the bridge work during the holidays:
- Flaggers will continue to hold traffic at times during the holiday season, because construction continues and flagging is needed safeguard the public and workers.
- There should be fewer traffic delays on the west side of the bridge during the holidays because most of the west approach to the detour bridge and utility relocates on Hwy 43 will be done.
- If crews get a permit to excavate the hill on the west side of Hwy. 43, that work could begin in December. It would involve night work to blast the slope and remove soil. We still don’t know when they will have a permit to do this work. Traffic impact would be mostly at night.
For Project Information: For project information, contact Mike Pullen (mike.j.pullen@multco.us, 503-209-4111) or visit www.sellwoodbridge.org. View live construction from our two web cams at www.sellwoodbridge.org/?p=construction-camera.
Don’t forget …
Multnomah County is set to keep you updated on the bridge construction 24/7. Their website at SellwoodBridge.org has full project information, archives, and other resources. Probably the most interesting thing on the site is the cameras set up to cover the new bridge construction. This link takes you to the live camera, and there’s also a time-lapse video that will condense the each day’s construction progress into just a few minutes.
We appreciate your patience!
We know that this construction can cause headaches for everyone with business in Sellwood. We appreciate your patience during this time, and we want to make it as easy as possible to use our service while the project continues. If you find yourself inconvenienced by the bridge construction in any way please tell us… we’ll do something to show how much we appreciate your support during the construction disarray.
And here, for your holiday enjoyment, are some images from the current bridge construction…
Ramp coming from the East
Ramp going toward the West
Demolition on one last condo
