Portland's aerial tram connects Oregon Health and Science's campus with the South Waterfront.
Bill Forster
South Portland commuters will face more traffic over the next five weeks as OHSU’s aerial tram closes for maintenance.
Specialist crews from the Austrian-Swiss company Doppelmayr will be servicing the four thick cable ropes that carry the gondolas from Portland’s South Waterfront district up to Pill Hill and back.
Ray Gardner, who manages the tram, said those ropes have been sitting in one place since the tram opened 12 years ago and thus it's time for maintenance work.
At a cost of $300,000, it’s the most extensive regular maintenance project the tram faces.
The closure is a significant disruption for thousands of staff and students at Oregon Health & Science University. They're being asked to take buses, carpool, bike or walk up the steep hill to get back and forth to work while the tram is out of action.