To cross on the Hawthorne Bridge, you’re going to get to travel with a lot of other Portlanders! Just like the Steel Bridge, this is a popular way for us to get to and from work, so if you’re tootling around be aware that folks may be moving quickly around you on their bicycles.

This bridge has fairly wide sidewalks on both sides, which then convert to bike lanes on the viaduct over inner SE Portland. The sidewalks will also be shared with the pedestrians, and you should plan on cycling on the side that is with the direction of traffic.

You can drop off the bridge just before the Eastside viaduct onto the Eastbank Esplanade (or cycle up to the bridge from the Esplanade) on these funny spiral sidewalks. Pedestrians will also use these, and you will need to merge at both the top and the bottom of the sidewalks. Don’t forget to get on the one that will be going with traffic in the direction you want to travel.

Hawthorne Bridge map

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To cross on the Hawthorne Bridge, you’re going to get to travel with a lot of other Portlanders! Just like the Steel Bridge, this is a popular way for us to get to and from work, so if you’re tootling around be aware that folks may be moving quickly around you on their bicycles.

This bridge has fairly wide sidewalks on both sides, which then convert to bike lanes on the viaduct over inner SE Portland. The sidewalks will also be shared with the pedestrians, and you should plan on cycling on the side that is with the direction of traffic.

You can drop off the bridge just before the Eastside viaduct onto the Eastbank Esplanade (or cycle up to the bridge from the Esplanade) on these funny spiral sidewalks. Pedestrians will also use these, and you will need to merge at both the top and the bottom of the sidewalks. Don’t forget to get on the one that will be going with traffic in the direction you want to travel.

Hawthorne Bridge map

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So, you’re thinking about going for bicycle ride in Central Portland? Excellent! There are lots of bike lanes and multi-use paths to easily get from point A to point B.

One of the first questions when biking around central Portland is how to get across the river (assuming you need to). At this point, there are two bridges that are best suited to crossing on a bicycle, particularly if you are not a very assertive bicyclist: the Steel Bridge and the Hawthorne Bridge. In a year or so, we’ll have another bridge for alternative transportation just to the south of the Hawthorne Bridge.

The Steel Bridge has a multi-use path (MUP) on the lower deck. Be aware that there may be pedestrians and confused bicyclists who are not using this path as a high speed commute route (or conversely, be aware that there may be cyclists using this path as a high speed commute route).

From the west, you get onto this path from Waterfront Park, not from the on ramp. You’ll want to be by the water with the cherry trees.

From the east, you get onto the path from this funky turn off of the sidewalk on the west side of NE Lloyd. If you are riding west on NE Lloyd, you will need to get onto the sidewalk on the left around NE Grand or do a maneuver at NE Oregon and NE Lloyd to get left onto the path down the lower deck. However, there is more decent signage if you drop down on NE Multnomah heading west and then jog through the Rose Quarter transit center. Often you’re travelling with a bunch of bike traffic.

You can ride with traffic on the upper deck, but you do have to get up a fairly significant hill on either side. The sidewalk on the upper deck is extremely narrow, and while you can bike on it, you may run into pedestrians who are not inclined to yield to a bicycle. If you’re in a hurry and don’t want to deal with dropping onto the lower deck, you might consider biking with the cars.

Want to try another bridge? How about crossing on the Hawthorne Bridge?

Central Portland bridges:

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