News

Get ready for five weeks of southbound closures on I-5

Have you heard? There’s a big closure coming to I-5 starting at 10 p.m. on September 11, 2026. Critical repairs are needed to make your travel smoother and safer for at least the next 25 years.

Here are the facts:

• We expect this closure to last up to five weeks, through roughly mid-October. The closure will be continuous, so 24 hours a day, all seven days of each week.
• Only southbound lanes will be closed. I-5 northbound will remain open.
• The closure will be active between I-405 and I-84. Local traffic coming south on I-5 will be detoured to I-405, and regional traffic will be detoured to I-205.  
• Local traffic needing access to the Moda Center area will be permitted to use one lane to exit at NE Broadway from southbound I-5.
• I-84 westbound to I-5 northbound and southbound will remain open.

Learn more about the closure by seeing it from a driver’s perspective

We’re encouraging everyone to consider where they have flexibility in their daily travel. If you have the option to shift your travel times, use a different travel mode (carpool, transit, or bike), or even to work from home, do it! The more people shift the way they travel on I-5 during this closure, the easier it will be for everyone, including those who need to drive like bus drivers, delivery drivers, and emergency responders.

Visit our Construction Travel Impacts page to view maps and additional details. Sign up for email and/or text alerts to stay informed with the latest news on traffic impacts and active closures.

An introduction to our construction team: Meet Egami Construction!

We’re excited to introduce you to another member of the I-5 Rose Quarter construction team: Egami Construction. Sakurako Egami Thatcher’s company may be small, but it has experience with big sign structure installations—now including the I-5 Rose Quarter’s own recent sign structure installation this past July. “Hamilton/Sundt Joint Venture and Raimore placed great trust in us. Great opportunity comes with great responsibility, [and] I will not take it for granted,” Thatcher said in a recent interview about Egami’s work and how they ended up in such a key role in the I-5 Rose Quarter’s workforce.

Learn more about Egami Construction in the video below.

Egami is one of several small local construction businesses working alongside the I-5 Rose Quarter team. 

Updates on local street closures and other ongoing construction

Crews continue to work on seismic resiliency, striping, and rail replacements in the area, with much of that construction happening overnight to reduce daytime traffic impacts.  

Here’s a reminder of ongoing traffic impacts in the Rose Quarter:

Visit our Construction Travel Impacts page or sign up for email or text alerts to stay up to date with the latest news on traffic impacts and active closures.

We continue to be in the community

The I-5 Rose Quarter team is still popping up at events around Portland to make sure everyone knows about the big September closure. Recently, we spoke with over 400 people about the closure at Portland Sunday Parkways in St. Johns. Check out photos from the event!

I-5 Rose Quarter team at summer tabling events.

Haven’t seen us yet? Come find our team at one of the events below. 

August Oregon Transportation Commission meeting

The I-5 Rose Quarter team presented updates to the Oregon Transportation Commission (OTC) at its meeting on August 13, 2026. 

You can watch the meeting on the ODOT YouTube Channel, where all OTC meeting recordings are hosted.