A major traffic closure is on the way for one of the most important highways on the West Coast. Officials are warning drivers to plan ahead for a significant increase in travel time.

Starting Sept. 11, all southbound lanes of Interstate 5 in Portland’s Rose Quarter will be closed for up to five weeks. The Oregon Department of Transportation is using this time to conduct critical repairs on a 2-mile section of the highway.

According to ODOT, the closure will stretch between Interstate 405 and Interstate 84. Officials say the Broadway/Weidler exit in the Rose Quarter will remain open, allowing drivers to access the area and event facilities nearby.

Officials say congestion on southbound I-5 is expected to extend into Vancouver, Washington during the morning and afternoon rush hours.

ODOT is encouraging long-distance travelers to take Interstate 205 through the region. Local traffic will be diverted to southbound I-405.

During this closure, ODOT predicts travel times on I-5 near the construction site will take up to three times longer than normal.

“If you live in the area and can avoid the interstate during this time, you’ll save yourself a headache and help people who must commute get where they need to go,” David Kim, ODOT’s statewide project delivery manager, said in a press release.

The one-month closure is part of the state’s multiphase Rose Quarter Improvement Project, which aims to improve an area of the highway that has the highest crash rate of any urban interstate in Oregon and is the state’s No. 1 bottleneck.

According to ODOT, crews will work 24/7 to repair weak areas by fixing cracks, potholes and ruts, as well as retrofitting the interstate south of the Moda Center to withstand earthquakes. The agency says the damage is from decades of heavy use and weather.

“[In] this particular area, we’re talking 120,000 vehicles on average per day, including almost 12,000 trucks a day,” said David House, a spokesperson with ODOT. “That’s a lot of weight, that’s a lot of wear and tear and although they’re built to last decades, they need regular maintenance in order to stay in that good condition.”

House said the concrete structure underneath the travel surface of the highway hasn’t been replaced in more than 40 years. Crews plan to remove the concrete surface layer, repair the structure underneath then replace it. These essential repairs will mitigate further decay of the roadway and cut down on costly emergency fixes, according to ODOT.

“This five-week closure will get a lot done with the least impact and the lowest cost and will enable us to get most of the construction for this phase done by the end of this year,” House said.

Next month’s construction will also include improvements to stormwater drainage near the intersection of I-5 and I-405. Crews will also work to extend the I-5 southbound auxiliary lane between I-84 and the Morrison Bridge/OMSI exits.

In addition to reducing congestion and improving safety, the project also aims to reconnect the historically Black Albina neighborhood by building a cover over part of the highway.

The reconnection comes decades after hundreds of families in the Albina community were displaced in the 1960s and 1970s after construction began on I-5. The proposed highway cover will feature green spaces, bike routes, wider sidewalks and land for future building development. That portion of the project is expected to be completed later in another phase as funding becomes available, according to ODOT.

ODOT says the total project has received about $480 million in funding so far. That includes money from state, federal and local agencies, grants, taxes and more. Construction for September’s closure will cost $75 million. House says the total cost of the overall project is currently estimated up to $2.08 billion.

While House is hopeful next month’s construction will take several weeks to complete, he says it will depend on weather.

“If we’re really, really lucky, we think it’s about 5 weeks, but [crews will] be working 24/7, and they’ll open it as soon as they can,” he said.

The closure, House says, is the biggest full highway shutdown of the project for the foreseeable future.

“The I-5 corridor isn’t just important to Portland, it’s a regional West Coast arterial for freight and people,” he said. “It’s an extremely important corridor in this part of the country, so it’s extremely important to maintain it and to address areas where we could improve traffic flow. It helps everyone individually and it helps the economy too.”

On average, about $115 million in goods travel through the Rose Quarter corridor every day, according to ODOT. The cost of congestion regionally is estimated to be $250 million annually.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/08/14/interstate-five-highway-closure-oregon-portland-rose-quarter/