Over the past 3 years, a construction project at the corner of NE Monroe and NE Martin Luther King, Junior Boulevard (MLK) has blocked the sidewalk on the west side of MLK. This has created a situation where people can either walk 1200 feet out of direction by going to Rodney and back, cross MLK twice or just walk in the road.
Here is a construction update from Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) regarding the Williams Traffic Safety Operations Project. Although the project has met several milestones, it will continue to be an active construction site for several weeks.
By Stuart Malkin –
You may have already noticed the speed bumps being installed on NE Rodney. The Portland Bureau of Transportation is converting NE Rodney into a family friendly bike route, known as a Neighborhood Greenway. Neighborhood Greenways are a type of street treatment that provides a safe shared-use environment for bicycling. The road conversion will run south to north from NE Broadway to NE Killingsworth and offer a calmer alternative bike route to the soon to be improved Williams street bikeway.
On Monday, the transformation of Williams will begin as construction starts on the North Williams Safety Project. There are a lot of changes, but the biggest on Williams is that most of it will be one lane and the bike path is moving to the left side. Rodney will also see the addition of speed bumps and a diagonal traffic diverter at Ivy.
The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) has contracted with Dirt & Aggregate Interchange for preventive maintenance and rehabilitation of North Vancouver between Russell and Monroe. Work includes a 3” grind and 3” asphalt pavement overlay, digouts in the roadway to repair failed areas, and re-building several sidewalk corners that do not meet ADA standards. The sequence of work will generally be:
Last night Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) held an open house for the “Rodney Bikeway Project” at Immaculate Heart Catholic Church community room. In summary, PBOT wants to make Rodney, from Broadway up to Killingsworth a “Bikeway”. The idea is to give bikers a calm and safe route up and down Rodney. It was a well-attended event.
Looking at the designs, there are three problems to be concerned about.
To those who missed the Grand Opening on September 22-23, and are otherwise unaware of it, by the time you read this the Portland Streetcar should be alive, reasonably well, and operating on the southern fringe of Eliot.
You may have noticed the ‘Now Renting’ sign at the Albert just north of Fremont street or the dirt being pushed around just south of Fremont on the west side of N Williams for the future New Seasons Market. But these aren’t the biggest changes coming to our neighborhood avenue. The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) is in the process of applying for a $1 Million grant to make large changes in the right of way.
At our last Eliot Neighborhood Association Meeting we had students from Catlin Gabel who are looking at how I-5 affects the health of the city. They will be presenting their findings to City Council soon. Please fill out the survey!
Here is the online link to the survey http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SZJST7D
Over the past 14 months, a large group of citizens have spent 20-60 hours each planning and discussing the future of North Williams Avenue. This is a major thoroughfare through Eliot and inner North and Northeast Portland for people riding the bus, walking, bicycling and driving in motor vehicles. The street has historically been home to a dense urban neighborhood and is becoming that once again. In the interim, urban renewal projects and highway construction projects have demolished buildings on the street, displacing many residences and community businesses. Members of the community have spent significant time and energy rethinking the neighborhood with several key goals: encouraging a full-service grocery store, more employment centers for neighborhood residents and dense residential development to replace lost housing. In the coming period of housing and commercial development along N. Williams Avenue we are seeing many of these goals achieved.
Since it was platted by Edwin Russell, William Page, and George Williams in 1872, the city of Albina (now Eliot) was set up with a Manhattan-style grid with long east-west blocks that are 2.5 times as long as the north-south blocks. This, combined with the steep cliffs separating the neighborhood from the river made all the north and south streets important connections for a huge area north of Eliot over the last 140 years. In 1888, the Steel Bridge opened and life on the east side was booming. Electric streetcars started running over the bridge in 1889 on the original Albina line. In the early 1900s, streetcars ran up and down Williams and Union (now Martin Luther King, Jr.) Avenues. The speed limit before cars came along was 6mph, with streetcars allowed to go 12mph. Crossing the street was no big problem for the early residents of Albina.
The Central City plan process is in full swing in N/NE Portland. The process will re-examine and rezone the entire “central city” which includes the Lloyd District, Convention Center, Broadway/Weidler corridor, and portions of Eliot south of Russell. Our area of town is the first of the four central city “quadrants” to plan. The effort in this quadrant is unusual in that it includes the participation (and funding) of the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT). ODOT’s interest is in improving the freeway between I-84 and I-405. Improvements to the freeway mainline will require changes to the freeway ramps as they intersect Broadway and Weidler. ODOT’s preference is for a conventional freeway interchange, which will take up a much larger part of the neighborhood than the current ramps do. In order to minimize property condemnation and demolition many of their options make use of existing surface streets. In Eliot, this includes Flint and Hancock, which ODOT’s plans envision as part of the freeway access system. As a result, traffic on these streets will increase significantly.
A contractor for the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) will start work soon on a project to replace the original I‐405 Fremont Bridge’s upper deck asphalt pavement. Due to the complexity of the work and the unique, long‐lasting pavement material that will be used, the project will:
The Broadway Bridge is scheduled to be closed from July 6 to Sept. 3 to all motorized vehicles due to streetcar construction. The south sidewalk of the bridge will remain open to bicyclists and pedestrians.
Eliot Neighborhood 