Many major roads in upper Northwest and Southwest Portland remained closed Wednesday to clear downed trees and power lines, the Portland Bureau of Transportation said following the record-setting April 11 snow storm. Some are expected to be closed for days.
"The first substantial April snow in Portland in more than half a century has felled more than 400 trees across the city, felling power lines and blocking major Northwest and Southwest Portland routes that will remain closed for several days," PBOT said Monday afternoon.
According to PBOT, 14 roads around the metro area remain closed. Most of the roads are in the hills of Portland and are closed due to trees that have fallen:
• Northwest 18th Avenue from Flanders Street to Glisan Street
• Northwest 22nd Avenue at Flanders Street
• Northwest 22nd Avenue at Glisan Street
• Northwest Cornell Road at Miller Road
• Northwest Germantown Road from Skyline Boulevard to Bridge Avenue
• Northwest Glisan Street at Park Avenue
• Northwest Newberry Road at NW Skyline Boulevard to NW St Helens Highway
• Southeast Harrison Street between Mulberry Avenue and Ladd Avenue
• Southwest Fairmount Boulevard at Mt. Adams Drive
• Southwest Fairmount Boulevard from McDonnell Terrace to Mitchell Street
• Southwest Fairview Boulevard from Bennington Avenue to Cascade Drive
• Southwest Fairview Boulevard from Cascade Drive to Kingston Avenue; local access is permitted
• Southwest Humphrey Boulevard from Scholls Ferry Road to Patton Road
• Southwest Skyline Boulevard from West Burnside Street to Southwest Montgomery Street
"The Portland Bureau of Transportation is coordinating road closure information and response. When it comes to downed power lines and trees blocking roads, the bureau depends on the efforts of partners who specialize in those emergencies. On Monday, road crews were not able to reach some areas to clear snow and ice because of downed trees and power lines blocking the way," PBOT said
The count of trees that broke and fell in the Rose City climbed throughout Monday as Portland thawed out from the latest snowfall it's seen in recorded history.
"Our Portland Parks & Recreation, urban forestry crews are responding to more than 200 tree emergencies citywide," said Mark Ross, the public information officer with Portland Parks & Recreation.
Hundreds of branches fell, saturated with spring moisture with some sprouting leaves, leaving more surface area for wet, heavy snow to land. The weight was too much for the limbs to bear and the result crippled the network of roads around the Portland metro area.
When it comes to the city, nearly nothing has been done to identify trees at risk of falling until this year.
In 2020, voters approved a Mill-Levy override to fund a list of projects within Portland Parks & Recreation to fund things, "including safety checks, hazard removal, replacement of damaged trees, and other such work to some trees in PP&R parks and natural areas," said Mark Ross, the public information officer for the department.
"For the first time, we're getting parks levy funds to care for Park trees, and the levy funds will in part go to some of those trees and parks and natural areas to do some proactive maintenance and assessments like that," Ross said.
Storm cleanup for trees in streets is funded by the city's share of the Oregon Gas Tax. Trees fallen in parks are paid for by the City's General Fund.
Storm cleanup itself is likely to take weeks, Ross said. Forestry crews were working throughout Monday to clear trees from city streets and thoroughfares, and in many cases, left behind log piles to get to the next job.
"With dozens and dozens of issues, we want to make sure that those crews are freed up as soon as possible to go to the next emergency. And within a few weeks, they will come back. It could take up to a few weeks for them to remove the wood" Ross said.
Any downed trees that are outside of a private property can be reported to 503-823-TREE (8733). Trees fallen on private property are the responsibility of the property owner.
Updated information on Portland road closures can be found here.
is a news partner of the Portland Tribune and contributed to this story.
