Early Monday morning commuters were able to zip through southwest Portland as Interstate 5 reopened to traffic following a weekend-long closure for road work.
The Oregon Department of Transportation said the roadway reopened around 3:30 a.m.
The freeway had been closed to all travel in a 4-miles stretch between the Terwilliger Blvd exit and Capitol Highway. Crews were rebuilding a freeway overpass over Southwest 26th Avenue. Traffic was made to detour onto areas streets or to metro-area freeways including interstates 84, 405, and 205 and U.S. 26 or OR 217. Barbur Boulevard was also a much-used alternate route.
Several on-and-off ramps were also closed during the work. All ramps have reopened.
Following the last weekend’s closure, I-5 travelers will now see nighttime single lane closures in both directions from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. on various weekdays and from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. on various weekends.
Within 90 days of the weekend closure, I-5 in and near the project area will have up to 30 nights of double lane closures in both directions from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. for prep work, striping, and placement of shoulder barrier.
ODOT shared a cool time-lapse video of the work on its Facebook page: facebook.com/share/v/mDMuApwpQ6MBDXp8/.
To read more about the project visit this page: oregon.gov/odot/projects.