PORTLAND, Ore. — North Going Street is the route onto and off of Swan Island. Portland traffic officials say more than 35,000 vehicles a day cross the Going Street Bridge. With lane closures still in place (six lanes down to two, one in each direction), we’ll be faced with a real traffic crunch.
Exhibit A: During Monday's morning commute, one viewer said, "You could walk to Swan Island from Interstate Avenue faster [than driving]."
Swan Island is home to many businesses, like Daimler Trucks and Vigor. No doubt you've also seen the scores of FedEx and UPS trucks running in and out of busy distribution centers on Swan Island.
"The impact is simply immeasurable at this time," said the Portland Business Alliance. "We hope city engineers are able to find a way to fix it fast. This is an important route not only for those who work on Swan Island, but the many businesses that support our region, moving goods and services throughout."
Most of the traffic is coming from I-5, either via the Going Street exit, or from the Greeley Avenue exit, and both of those commutes were backed up this morning. By the way, the latest PBOT traffic count in the area shows a little over 12,000 vehicles per day on North Greeley Avenue at Going Street.
North Going Street was closed entirely for more than 24 hours this past weekend due to a train derailment that damaged supports to the Going Street Overpass. PBOT was able to reopen two lanes Sunday afternoon, but it's possible the others remain closed for days, or longer.
So expect the gridlock on Greeley and Going to be ongoing. And the usual backups on those I-5 exit ramps are likely to be compounded until PBOT can safely, fully reopen the road.