North Portland's N Columbia Boulevard can't seem to catch a break. Despite city crews working around the clock, the bridge overpass demands more time under repair. The busted sewer line beneath the major thoroughfare sparked an emergency response last month, and although the sewage spill has been corralled, folks will need to stick to the detours till the flowers bloom in late May.
On a day in late March, the whiff of disaster was literal as officials caught wind of a pressurized sewer pipe gone awry. Environmental Services, masters of the subterranean concrete veins, reported that the mess, which began on March 21, was contained with quick precision. By March 27, they'd located and patched the offending rupture, completing the job on April 3. Newly planted road signs warn travelers that their go-to routes will remain a memory for a bit longer as the bridge demands extra TLC.
According to the City's announcement, the bridge is still under the weather. Sure, the Environmental Services engineers, alongside the Portland Bureau of Transportation, and a private contractor, have patched up the sore spot on the pipe, but just like a patient in recovery, the bridge above is still under observation – for any other signs of wear and damage. Thus, delay.
Amidst the emergency surgery of our city's infrastructure, Environmental Services ensured the heart of North Portland's commercial and industrial lifeblood – roughly 3,800 acres of it – stayed pumping. Despite the tumult, not a single beat was skipped in servicing sewer lines. Keeping calm and carrying on, lab coats have confirmed that E. coli levels in Columbia Slough’s waters are sufficiently squashed, fitting within Oregon's health standards, giving the green light for water contact post-advisory.
So, for now, Portland's commuters will need to navigate this extended bump in the road, as the bridge over Columbia Boulevard demands its due diligence. But take heart – with the recent nod from Environmental Services – the flow of life and commerce will go on unimpeded, beneath the streets and over the bridges, even as steel and stone are mended above. And by late May, with repairs complete, perhaps in step with the world in bloom, normalcy will make its timely return.
