Update: At about 7:20 a.m., officers were able to take the man in crisis into custody without incident. He was taken to a Portland hospital for treatment.
Traffic is now open and moving through the area, although WSDOT maps showed stop-and-go traffic backed up well past the state Highway 500 interchange in Vancouver.
And commuters hoping to avoid the stall on I-5 appear to have tried heading south on Interstate 205, but traffic backed up to the freeways’ interchange in Vancouver.
Police thanked drivers who are stuck in traffic for their patience as officers worked to resolve this situation peacefully.
Original story: A man threatening to jump from an overpass to Interstate 5 near the Interstate 84 interchange in Portland is causing traffic to back up into Vancouver.
The Portland Police Bureau said in a news release that crisis officers are talking with the man. The incident began around 4 a.m.
Traffic on I-5 in both directions is closed at I-84, and I-84 westbound to I-5 southbound is closed due to this incident.
Police report that passing drivers called 911 to report a naked man on the ramp of the overpass near the railing.
Officers arrived and have been in communication with them man for more than three hours, learning that he is in a mental health crisis.
The ramp to I-5 northbound is closed due to construction, so drivers in Portland have been encouraged to avoid I-84 altogether past I-205 and I-5 in the inner city until the situation is resolved.
Further stalling the Thursday morning commute in Vancouver, there were two separate crashes on westbound state Highway 500 at Milepost 4.8 near I-205 shortly before 7 a.m., according to Washington State Department of Transportation.
The crashes blocked portions of the left and right lanes, and drivers were weaving between them.
Those crashes were cleared within an hour.
