Late Thursday, the Oregon Department of Transportation told The Oregonian that a road joint slowly splitting apart on the flyover ramp connecting northbound Interstate 5 to Oregon 217 in Tigard has likely caused several crashes in recent days.

On Thursday alone, there were three traffic-jamming crashes within eight hours on the freeway off-ramp, including a rollover that left a motorist with minor injuries. On Monday morning, police ticketed a man who crashed into a wall while taking the ramp too quickly. In fact, in the past three weeks, at least nine crashes have caused traffic approaching the flyover to freeze up.

Update: Two drivers spun out and crashed on the ramp during Friday morning's commute, bringing the tally to 6 crashes in the past 2 days and at least 11 in three weeks.

Readers who drive on the steep, curvy freeway ramp, which carries about 51,000 vehicles a day, were alarmed but didn’t seem surprised.

In fact, on Twitter, some commuters said the faulty joint has felt out of whack under their tires:

Someone has also created an I5FlyOverRamp Twitter account.

Readers responding to the story on OregonLive were critical of everything from the ramp's design to commuters who refuse to slow down on the ramp linking two of the state's busiest highways:



When you see an accident here and there it is usually ad divers, but when you see a whole bunch in one place it comes down to POOR ROAD DESIGN, do not care what signs the put up to warn people to over their rears it is just a bad flyover, we will see how the one in Eugene does also -- dkf435 And what's really sad is that this "flyover" is only part of an incomplete project to remove all of the traffic lights from the interchange... that started a decade ago. Why are there traffic lights on a freeway-to-freeway interchange in the first place? ODOT still continues builds them (the new 224/205 interchange under construction has two traffic lights planned). Most other states figured out "cloverleaf" and "stack" interchanges 50 years ago. -- Akoni Do use the flyover ramp from northbound I-5 to Oregon 217? Have you had problems driving over the bridge joints? Hwy 217 isn't really a freeway. And it doesn't make much difference if the ramp is a 35 mph ramp or not since oftentimes there's a bottleneck ahead that causes traffic to slow to a crawl anyway. And until they add the 3rd lane on 217 that'll be the way it is. It shouldn't take a transportation engineer to know the reason the flyover ramp was done the way it was: If the state took any other approach it would've required buying and tearing down a lot of expensive already-developed real estate. In case you hadn't noticed, it's all fully developed right up to the rights-of-way, except the property near the Tabernacle. -- oswego62 This curve was poorly planned from the get go. No competent designer plans a curve that tightens up as you get into it. It is BS design. Unfortunately, not sure what can be done about it other than a start over. -- sawdusty So this is why so many Oregon drivers travel at 35 in the left lane up and down I-5, Oregon road conditions. I'll take back all the names I've called them over the years and use them for ODOT. -- jalek The seam has unsettled cars from day one. Just straighten out a little as you're going over it and you will be fine. -- Grimm Sounds to me as if this is a driver speeding problem. -- Choctaw1952



“The teeth are slightly out of plumb,” Hamilton said. “It’s not a problem for motorists who are slowing down and following the advisory speed of 35 mph on the ramp.”

But the tires of vehicles trying to take the steep, curvy ramp at highway speeds are in danger of hitting the dislocated section of the joint the wrong way. “They’re spinning out,” Hamilton said.

The faulty section of the joint, which seams together a section of the soaring structure, is on the right side of the left lane, he said.

The discovery of the misaligned teeth shouldn't have come as a shock. The joint, located just prior to the curve, has "occasionally" come out of plumb in the past, Hamilton said.

He said ODOT crews will need to close a lane on the ramp as they tear up the asphalt and bring the joint into alignment. "Obviously, we hope to do the work at night," he said.

Crash statistics for the northbound Interstate 5-Oregon 217 flyover ramp from 2008 to 2012.

Between 2008 and 2012, the full year that data is available, crews responded to 37 crashes on the ramp,

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In 26 of the crashes, someone suffered an injury, the data show. Most of them happen on rainy days.

Looking at the statistics, Hamilton said it's hard to know if any of the past crashes could be linked to problems with the bridge joint. He also didn't know why the agency hasn't been able to find a permanent fix for the faulty section of bridge.

ODOT engineers are also trying to determine if they need to install additional signs advising drivers to suddenly slow from 55 mph to 35 mph on the ramp.

Pehaps it’s time for ODOT to add a large speed advisory warning with flashing amber lights, similar to the one that greets motrists approaching the Terwilliger Curves. What do you think? Do you have any questions you would like me to ask ODOT about the flyover ramp's joint problems?

-- Joseph Rose