PORTLAND, Ore. — A day of sunshine and temperatures just above freezing helped thaw many roads in the Portland-metro area, but there are still plenty of icy spots.
Drivers found an unpredictable mix of packed snow, ice and some bare spots on local freeways. On Interstate 84 in Northeast Portland, conditions changed dramatically within just a few hundred feet, from wet pavement to a washboard like surface of ice.
“It’s really slick,” explained one truck driver. His double trailer truck got stuck on the icy off ramp along I-84 at Cesar Chavez Boulevard.
As of Friday afternoon, more than two dozen streets in Portland were closed due to unsafe conditions or because vehicles were blocking the road, according to the Portland Bureau of Transportation website.
At Northeast Columbia Boulevard and 82nd Avenue, a string of abandoned cars prevented road crews from clearing the on-ramp.
PBOT used de-icer and salt to clear the main city roadways — those most critical for emergency responders, hospitals or bus routes. Many residential streets went untouched.
“This is Portland. We’re not built for this kind of snow, so I don’t ever expect this to be cleared and that’s okay,” said resident Tyler Bullen of the Beaumont-Wilshire neighborhood.
The Oregon Department of Transportation focused on using sand and gravel on freeways, because deicers don’t work as well in current conditions, the state agency explained on social media.
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