Historic Highway & Gorge news
Visiting the Gorge
Increased visitation puts incredible pressure on the Gorge’s limited resources. Please help keep our communities safe by following safety guidelines and respecting businesses.
Check ReadySetGorge.com to see if your first choice destination is open before and have a plan B in case it is too crowded. Avoid crowds by coming early (before 9 a.m.) or mid-week.
As of the time of sending, the Historic Columbia River Highway is closed 24/7 between Bridal Veil and Ainsworth State Park and closed between Larch Mountain and Angel's Rest from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. The Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail is closed between John B. Yeon and Cascade Locks.
Wa Na Pa improvements
 Construction is underway to improve the operations, accessibility and safety of Wa Na Pa Street, a section of the Historic Highway, in downtown Cascade Locks. Crews are constructing new sidewalk curb ramps and will update crosswalk markings and pave the roadway as work continues.
Historic Highway maintenance
 Above: Damaged guardrail at Shepperd's Dell and the same guardrail after repair work.
Below at right: Crews repaired railings on the viaducts near Multnomah Falls.
The Historic Columbia River Highway “Waterfall Corridor” (the section of Historic Highway between Larch Mountain Road to Ainsworth State Park) has been closed since the end of March. During that time, our maintenance crews have been hard at work catching up on annual and deferred maintenance activities without travelers on the highway.
Our crews have completed many maintenance activities during the closure, including:
- Our bridge crew completed their regular inspection of a number of bridges on the Historic Highway, including Latourell and Bridal Veil Bridges.
- We repaired the sections of damaged railing on the I-84 overpass on exit 28 (Bridal Veil).
- We repaired damaged concrete railings and walls on the viaducts on either side of Multnomah Falls, and crews were careful to match the color of the concrete to reduce visual impacts of the work (shown to right).
- Crews rebuilt a section of masonry wall at Shepperd’s Dell that was damaged by hazard tree removal earlier in the spring (shown above) and replaced the decorative spindles on the Highway bridge at Shepperd’s Dell.
- We completed regular brush removal and mowing.
- Crews replaced and enlarged a culvert near the location where we closed the Historic Highway last winter for a mudslide. The existing culvert was undersized and damaged, and the new culvert will help reduce future incidents.
- We installed speed limit signs and length limit restriction signs between Corbett to Ainsworth, and the slower speeds and length restrictions are now enforceable. Speeds starting east of Corbett are now 40 mph, and the length limit for all vehicles has been reduced from 50 feet to 35 feet between Larch Mountain Road and Ainsworth State Park.
- We added guardrail to reduce illegal parking and camping along the Historic Highway south of the Troutdale Bridge over the Sandy River and at exit 18 off I-84 near the Sandy River Delta.
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Congestion and Safety Plan Implementation
ODOT and project partners at the U.S. Forest Service, Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, and Multnomah County completed the Historic Columbia River Highway Congestion & Transportation Safety Improvement Plan in mid-2019. In the past year, ODOT and project partners have made significant progress in identifying funding for and implementing the short-term projects identified in the Plan, including:
- Establish a forum for agency partners to collaborate on major issues: The Gorge Forum was meeting every other month to move projects forward. Since March, it has been meeting bi-weekly to address the COVID-19 crisis and work toward safely re-opening the recreation sites along the Waterfall Corridor.
- Traffic (flagger) team at Multnomah Falls: Piloted in summer 2019 and is on hold due to COVID-19 public health restrictions and guidance.
- Coordination with existing programs: Staff from all affected agencies have continued to coordinate with Ready, Set GOrge and other programs to improve access to the Waterfall Corridor.
- Dynamic and Variable Messaging Signs: ODOT continues to deploy signs to inform of lane closures, heavy congestion and other safety concerns.
- Large Vehicle Restriction: Signs installed and restriction was implemented in June 2020.
- Reduce Speed Limits: Signs installed and limits changed in June 2020.
- Develop long-term Columbia Gorge Express transit funding and governance strategy: Columbia Area Transit took over inter-city service in November 2019. The Rooster Rock shuttle is funded through summer 2021.
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