Five-Week Southbound I-5 Closure Underway at the Rose Quarter

September 30, 2026

A 24/7 closure of southbound I-5 between Exit 302A/Broadway and the I-84 westbound on-ramp to I-5 southbound began September 11 and is expected to continue for up to five weeks as part of ongoing I-5 Rose Quarter Improvement Project construction. Some ramps and lanes began closing as early as 9 p.m. the night before the closure took effect.

The closure is one of several active work zones across ODOT’s Region 1 this fall. Crews are also replacing the aging I-84 bridge over McCord Creek near Warrendale, work that began in 2025 and continues through 2026, and realigning I-205 interchanges at OR-43 and OR-99E in Oregon City, which includes safety improvements for people biking, walking, and rolling and construction of a new sound wall. That work began in spring 2025 and is planned to run five years. Additional local impacts this month included a closure of SE 154th at Powell through mid-September and NE Lombard Street reduced to one lane in each direction during bridge construction.

Why this matters for contractors: The Rose Quarter closure is a visible sign that Phase 1A construction, stormwater work, bridge deck repair, and the southbound auxiliary lane extension, is in an active, disruptive stretch. Trucking and material delivery schedules into the central Portland construction corridor should build in buffer time through the closure window.