Personal Work

An Empty Highway

— Tim Trautmann

Remember those scenes of an empty road in The Walking Dead? Or the deserted streets of your city in the first few weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic? These eerie settings rarely appear without a road closure permit or an unexpected global event.

The weekend of June 29th offered another rare chance to see this kind of quiet void: the Oregon Department of Transportation shut down both directions of Interstate 5 in Southwest Portland for a major bridge demolition and reconstruction project over Southwest 26th Avenue.

A completely empty multi-lane freeway curves through a green, tree-lined corridor in Portland, Oregon. A green highway sign for the South Waterfront exit (299B) is visible on the right. Modern high-rise residential towers rise above the vegetated hillside in the background under an overcast sky.
A deserted Interstate 5 Freeway near South Portland on Sunday, June 30, 2024.

The Corbett Avenue overpass is among the few remaining bridges crossing Interstate 5 without tall safety fences, providing clear views of the road below. Since this section of highway wasn’t closed entirely, I waited patiently for the right moment to take a photo without any cars. I aimed my camera north toward the South Waterfront neighborhood, creating a beautiful backdrop for the empty freeway surface.

A completely empty freeway passes beneath the Terwilliger Boulevard overpass in Portland, Oregon. A yellow warning sign depicting a tipping truck flanked by turn arrows hangs from the bridge deck. A green highway sign on the right reads "To Route 10, Bertha Blvd, Keep Left." Evergreen trees and an overcast sky are visible in the distance.
Standing in the middle of Interstate 5 southbound lanes near Terwilliger Boulevard in Portland, Oregon.

A few miles south on Terwilliger Boulevard, the road was now closed and guarded by construction workers, who kindly allowed me brief access to the empty stretch of highway. I stood in the middle of this normally busy road, low to the ground with my camera, capturing a rare and unusual shot.

A completely empty multi-lane freeway curves beneath a concrete overpass with chain-link fencing and graffiti on its supports, surrounded by dense green trees in Portland, Oregon. Green jersey barriers line the median. An overcast sky sits above the lush tree canopy.
Lanes are devoid of cars on Interstate 5 in Southwest Portland, curving through the city.

As I prepared to leave the deserted road, I took one last photo of the curves and lines while listening to the sounds of the city without the usual hum of engines. I look forward to my next rare photo opportunity.