Fender-bender causes huge I-205 backup

Here’s why northbound freeway traffic was backed up from Oregon City to Parkrose on Saturday afternoon …

Freeway traffic along I-205 in outer East Portland comes to a near standstill, after a three-vehicle crash closes the outer lane near the Parkrose exit.

A multi-vehicle crash on Interstate 205 at the northbound NE Killingsworth Street exit on July 13 was dispatched as a “Crash with Injuries” at 12:45 p.m. that afternoon – causing a massive backup on the freeway.

Portland Fire & Rescue paramedics were dispatched, but after arriving and making a brief evaluation of the situation, waved off ambulances and other emergency medical providers.

Although three – perhaps four – vehicles had crashed, it appeared that no one was seriously injured in the pile-up.

Soon, a lone Portland Police Bureau officer arrived at the scene, and blocked the far right lane, soon assisted by an ODOT Emergency Response Vehicle.

A camper who called himself “Chucklehead” said he was watching the incident unfold from his tent on the bluff overlooking the exit. “It looked like at least one driver was trying to get off the freeway, but construction work there had the exit blocked off,” Chucklehead told East Portland News.

Construction workers pull aside barriers to let the most-damaged vehicle, this blue Hyundai, off the freeway.

“I heard a crash – not a big one, mind you, then tires squealing – and looked up; someone wasn’t watching, and crashed into the back of a car that had stopped at the blocked-off exit,” he said.

The result, however, was that northbound traffic on the freeway was backed up all the way to Clackamas County.

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