Hi everyone-

Well, I'm back with another update . . . we'll be mostly finishing up the Northern Crossing Project this update, taking a look at the construction improvements on the west side of the river.

This update will mostly bring the Northern Crossing Project to a close, before we head back over to the east side of the river to look at the remaining Chemeketa Parkway work along Highway 219. As you've seen from the previous updates, the bridge over the Willamette River on 52nd Avenue (Highway 221) was twinned into a expressway-grade structure. However, between the interchange with Wallace Road and the bridges, there lies one "holdover"--the intersection of 52nd and Greenwich Avenue. This final phase of the project will upgrade the remainder of 52nd Avenue NW from the bridge to Wallace Road to a full, 4-lane, mostly elevated expressway, replacing the intersection at Greenwich with an interchange.

Here's the current end of the expressway segment, with the temporary alignment of 52nd from a prior phase of the project still partially in place below (facing west).

The old temporary alignment has now been kind of torn out to make way for cranes. The eastbound lanes will actually be shifted 50 feet to the south, to eliminate a "jog" in the existing alignment (facing west).

Here's the aforementioned 52nd/Greenwich intersection (facing west). Both are just 2-lane roads right now here, and with the development to the south along Greenwich, the traffic coming from Wallace Road and the rest of Vivien Heights, and the long-term plans to develop land north of 52nd, it just doesn't cut it anymore. You can see the cranes, ready to put the elevated expressway in place.

Work continuing on the shift of the shift of the eastbound lanes (facing west).

The ramp from Greenwich to 52nd eastbound is going in place (facing west). The stretch of 52nd/Highway 221 west of Greenwich has temporarily been closed off to allow the elevated portion to be connected into the Wallace Road interchange. The old ground alignment is being "sandwiched" between the new elevated roadways to maintain access.

More alignment shifting (facing west). The westbound lanes are temporarily being shifted to allow access to Greenwich while the rest of the elevated structure is extended over Greenwich.

Here's the temporary westbound alignment connecting into Greenwich, with work on the ramp from westbound Highway 221/52nd to Greenwich.

The shifting between the bridge and Greenwich is now largely complete (facing west). The temporary shifted westbound lanes have been disconnected from and the new alignment opened, as it now has a ramp to access Greenwich.

The Wallace Road interchange has now been connected into the eastbound lanes of the new elevated section (facing west). There will be no direct access from eastbound 52nd/Hwy 221 to Greenwich, at least for the time being, due to the close proximity of the Wallace Road interchange.

Here is the process of connecting the westbound lanes to the Wallace Road interchange (facing west).

The partial diamond interchange with Greenwich is now largely completed (facing west). The westbound ramp from Greenwich actually bypasses the Wallace Road interchange entirely and joins Highway 221 just west of the interchange.

In order to better handle the existing traffic volumes and to prepare for the eventual extension of Greenwich north of Hwy 221/52nd Ave, Greenwich is being widened to 4 lanes in the vicinity of the interchange (facing west).

A final image here . . . the old temporary alignment has been temporary reconstituted as a gravel roadway to provide access to CPUD's (Chemeketa Public Utility District) new Greenwich Substation.

Hope you enjoyed this update! We'll be heading east of the river again to look at the Chemeketa Parkway upgrades to the Highway 219/39th Avenue intersection, following with the anticipated "mosaicfest" that will show all the improvements of the Northern Crossing and Chemeketa Parkway Phase I projects.

-Alex (Tarkus)