It is also the busiest bicycle bridge in Oregon, with over 8,000 cyclists[4] and 800 TriMet buses (carrying about 17,400 riders) daily.

[1]: 62  While the river is at low level, the bridge is 49 feet (15 m) above the water, causing it to be raised an average of 200 times per month.

[1] In 1985, the lift span sheaves, the grooved wheels that guide the counterweight cables, were replaced.

The bridge went through a $21 million renovation from 1998 to 1999, which included replacing the steel grated deck and repainting.

Due to the replacement of the steel deck during this project, the channels which used to carry the rails for streetcars and interurban trains were also removed.

[16] The 2003 film, The Hunted, included a scene set on MAX on the Hawthorne Bridge.

Since MAX does not cross the bridge, the movie company connected two articulated buses remodeled to resemble a MAX train, complete with fake overhead lines and a sprinkler system to simulate rain.

[19] The new deck put in place in the outer lanes during the 1998–99 renovation was designed to be strong enough for possible use by modern, heavier streetcars or light rail trains in the future,[20][21] which was proposed at that time,[20] and TriMet was still considering a Hawthorne Bridge routing for its future MAX Orange Line, to Milwaukie, in 2002.