The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) recently held the groundbreaking ceremony for the I-205 Improvements Project.
The project will increase safety, reduce congestion and upgrade or replace nine bridges to make them seismically resilient in the event of a major earthquake. It begins with seismic upgrades to the Abernethy Bridge spanning the Willamette River. A deeper foundation will be dug for the bridge.
“For decades, the freeway network in the Portland metropolitan area has largely remained frozen in time, even as our population, and congestion, have steadily grown,” ODOT Director Kris Strickler said. “With the support of the legislature and the local community, this project will reduce congestion and make the Abernethy Bridge a lifeline route in the event of a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake.”
More than 100,000 people travel this section of I-205 daily, and annually there are 150 crashes.
Motorists experience nearly seven hours of delays daily. This figure was expected to increase to 14 hours if the project was conducted.
Construction will take approximately six years.
The project is part of ODOT’s Urban Mobility Strategy, a plan to make travel safer and more efficient in the Portland metropolitan area.
Community leaders and residents also attended the ceremony.