PORTLAND, Oregon — Heads-up for anyone who uses the Lewis and Clark Bridge connecting Rainier, Oregon and Longview, Washington — it will be closed for up to eight days, starting at 8 p.m. Sunday.
The bridge carries an average of 20,000 vehicles each day. It's an important route for anyone in the Metro area headed to the coast, a crucial link for industry in Longview and Rainier and vital for those that need medical treatment.
The bridge will be closed so work crews can replace two finger joints and a fractured floor beam. Preliminary work started last month with night and weekend lane closures — but starting this Sunday night, the bridge will be closed to all motor vehicles. Only emergency vehicles, bikes and pedestrians will be allowed access.
During the eight-day closure, people have a couple of options, but they all add hours to a normally very short trip. Taking either I-5 through Portland or U.S. 101 through Astoria, both of these are approximately 100-mile detours.
The third option is the ferry which runs from Westport to Cathlamet. However, the Wahkiakum County Ferry — or Oscar B ferry, as it’s known — has a maximum capacity of about 23 vehicles. It will run twice an hour, round the clock, during the closure. WSDOT is covering the standard $6 ferry fee during the bridge closure.
And before you daydream about a lovely ferry ride across the Columbia, know that priority will be given to emergency responders and medical staff who normally commute over the bridge, as well as those with necessary medical travel. For everyone else, you could be waiting hours for the ferry, and it may be best to postpone travel.
Importantly, the annual Seattle-to-Portland bike ride (or STP) crosses the bridge at 2 p.m. on Sunday. While the bridge closure has no impact on the actual event, WSDOT wanted to remind cyclists that there is a 10-hour window Sunday night in which no one will be allowed to cross- that window begins at 8 P.M.