A motorcyclist died early Saturday after a collision at Southeast McLoughlin Boulevard and Southeast 17th Avenue in Portland, police said. The rider struck a van and then hit a pole, dying at the scene, KOIN reported.
The van driver remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators. Police had not identified the motorcyclist or announced an arrest or citation at the time of the report. Authorities also had not released details about what led to the collision.
McLoughlin closure affected morning travel
Investigators closed Southeast McLoughlin Boulevard between Southeast Harold Street and Southeast 17th Avenue for several hours, with the roadway closed until 10 a.m., KOIN reported. The closure covered a busy stretch of the southeast Portland arterial while police examined the crash scene.
What broader traffic records show
The crash occurred on a boulevard that the Portland Bureau of Transportation recently included among locations where it reduced speed limits. PBOT listed Southeast McLoughlin Boulevard from Franklin Street to the city boundary, but the agency has not linked that policy change to this collision. The agency reported that Portland recorded 39 traffic deaths in 2025, while traffic deaths declined for a second consecutive year and were 38% below the average of the previous four years.
There was also a separate motorcycle fatality on Southeast McLoughlin Boulevard in February 2025. In that case, near Southeast Umatilla Street, 36-year-old Richard Headley was traveling southbound and later died at a hospital; police said alcohol and speed were factors in that investigation, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. That earlier crash involved different circumstances and does not establish what caused Saturday's collision.
