Portlanders who have been crawling across the river on detour routes can finally see the finish line. After six months shuttered for heavy repairs, Portland’s Broadway Bridge is scheduled to reopen on Sunday, April 12, 2026, restoring a key crossing for vehicles, the Portland Streetcar, cyclists and pedestrians. The span was closed on Oct. 13, 2025 so crews could replace the lift-span deck and rails after inspectors found the existing deck holding water along with other structural problems. The reopening is expected to ease months of detours that have pushed extra traffic onto neighboring bridges.
Multnomah County’s timeline was confirmed in local reporting, with KGW reporting the bridge is set to reopen to "all motorized vehicles, the Portland Streetcar, cyclists and pedestrians" on April 12. According to that coverage, crews plan to run final checks this week to prep the lift spans for normal operation.
What crews replaced
As outlined by Multnomah County, the bridge closure that began Oct. 13, 2025 allowed crews to remove the fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) decking on the lift spans. The county reports the FRP decking was retaining water and the supporting beams had begun to show failure, so contractors are installing concrete-filled steel panels and new beams intended to reduce maintenance needs and keep the movable spans functioning.
Traffic and transit impacts
Riders and drivers have been detouring around the closure for months, and local reporting indicates that normal bus and streetcar routing should largely return after the April 12 opening. KGW also notes that crews plan intermittent lane and lane-closure windows for punch-list work the weekend of April 18–19 (starting at 5 a.m. April 18 and running through 11:30 p.m. April 19). That means travelers should still expect occasional hold points even after the official reopening.
Price tag and funding
The repair work comes with an estimated price tag of about $21.8 million, with the county covering design costs and roughly 10% of construction while federal funds pick up the rest, according to Multnomah County. County officials say the heavier, concrete-filled deck should cut recurring maintenance and extend the bridge's service life.
