Sunrise Expressway

Commercial and residential traffic on the busy eastside industrial part of the Portland metro area, to and from I-205, led to congestion, limited business access, and cramped multimodal options. DOWL led a large, multidiscipline team through an accelerated, iterative design process to create the first new highway in the Portland metro area in almost 30 years. The project was aimed at reducing business and access impacts, minimizing right-of-way acquisition, avoiding industrial sites with significant hazmat issues, and satisfying the concerns of the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and area stakeholders. The completed project created major interchange/intersection improvements that streamlined freeway access and significantly reduced back-ups on neighboring arterials.

Now that the roadway is open, ODOT estimates that the Sunrise Expressway reduces congestion by more than one million hours each year while also increasing safety and creating opportunities for new economic development.