The Eastbank Esplanade will reopen on Friday, March 29, 2019 by 3 p.m., after eight weeks of repair and maintenance work - and a few days before the planned reopening of “early April.”

Portland Parks & Recreation, the Portland Bureau of Transportation, the Bureau of Environmental Services, and the Regional Arts and Culture Council partnered to spruce up the Vera Katz Eastbank Esplanade and make needed safety repairs. The path had been closed between the Steel and the Hawthorne bridges since Feb. 1, 2019.

The route sees some 2,400 daily bike commuters during summer months, and about 1,200 pedestrians daily. Those numbers fall about 50 percent during the winter months according to officials. During the closure some of that traffic used the “Better Naito” route along the northbound lanes of Southwest Naito Parkway.

The city will celebrate the reopening on 12:30-1:30 p.m. Friday, April 5, 2019 with a party at the Southeast Salmon Street Plaza.

Portland Parks and Recreation had a laundry list of items that needed replacing or upgrades including:

• repairing concrete

• repairing lights

• removing graffiti and trash

• planting native plants

• power-washing hard surfaces and repairing irrigation

• BES removed dead trees and invasive plant species

• RACC restored art installations along the route.