Rose Quarter Project Moves Into Active Construction — But $2 Billion Funding Gap Still Looms Over Future Phases

Construction on the I-5 Rose Quarter Improvement Project is picking up pace in 2026, with crews now drilling deep foundation shafts — two 5-foot-wide, 20- to 25-foot-deep holes on each side of the highway — to support a new overhead sign bridge, while overnight lane closures continue on I-5 northbound and southbound as weather permits. The most disruptive work is still ahead: all southbound I-5 lanes through the Rose Quarter will close around-the-clock for up to five weeks starting September 11, as ODOT crews work to replace concrete surfacing — last installed in 1985 — on a deteriorated elevated 2-mile stretch south of the Moda Center, with the agency citing the full closure as faster, safer, and ultimately less costly than extended partial closures. The project’s current cost estimate sits between $1.96 billion and $2.08 billion, with Hamilton/Sundt — a joint venture in association with Raimore Construction LLC — serving as the contractor, and ODOT, the City of Portland, Metro, Albina Vision Trust, and the Portland Trail Blazers all committed to completing the project in its entirety. The funding picture, however, remains genuinely uncertain — Phase 1A began construction in summer 2025 and is scheduled to conclude in late 2026, but funding for future phases has not yet been secured, meaning construction will be sequenced to match available funding as it materializes. In parallel, the city’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability is working with the Albina Vision Trust on a separate but related initiative — examining how the highway cover being built as part of the project can be integrated into the broader district to reconnect local streets and create new opportunities for community wealth-building and public space in Portland’s historic Albina neighborhood.

For NW contractors, the Rose Quarter remains a complex but active jobsite — Phase 1A work is real, funded, and underway, while the larger reconnection vision tied to Albina redevelopment depends on funding that still isn’t fully secured. Worth watching closely heading into 2027.

Source URL: https://www.i5rosequarter.org/news/construction-picks-up-pace-in-2026/