Powell Boulevard paving project in Portland straddles worlds
Daily Journal of Commerce (Portland, OR), Oct 30, pioneer vsx 1019ahk 2009 by Justin Carinci
Walking south from his home, Jonah Paisner, president of the South Tabor Neighborhood Association, soon reaches the edge of a road with three separate identities.
To the state, it’s Highway 26, carrying traffic from the Oregon Coast to Mount Hood. To the city, it’s Powell Boulevard, one of few major east-west routes through east Portland. But to neighbors, it’s a place to shop, walk along and, sometimes, even cross, Paisner said.
“We don’t act like we live in a place that has a prison wall to the south that is not permeable,” Paisner said. “People do travel across the street.”
The Powell Boulevard paving project, scheduled to begin construction early next year, will bridge these overlapping worlds. Construction is expected to cost $4 million, on a total project cost of $6 million. The bid closing date is Dec. 10.
The Oregon Department of Transportation often works in at least two different worlds. Most cities have state highways running through them, said spokesman Dave Thompson. Often, that state highway is also called Main Street.
“By definition, the uses can be in conflict,” Thompson said. Typically, ODOT wants traffic to move smoothly; city and business officials want it to move slowly and provide pedestrian access.
“Those conflicting uses might not always be compatible,” Thompson said. “That’s why it’s absolutely critical to find a compromise that serves both needs.”
While ODOT maintains Highway 26 from curb to curb, the city is responsible for the sidewalks. That sets up a complicated series of exchanges for the paving project, the first repaving east of 50th Avenue since 1983.
The city Bureau of Transportation will pay $100,000 for ODOT to help make curb ramps accessible.
ODOT will build eight vegetated basins along Powell to catch and treat storm water. The basins require ongoing maintenance, typically four visits per year. Under an agreement with the city, ODOT will pay the city Bureau of Environmental Services up to $50,000 to keep the storm water basins in good shape over their 40-year life.
“(The basins) sit behind the curb, but they’re managing or treating ODOT state highway runoff, so that was the rub,” said Dave Nunamaker with Environmental Services’ transportation interagency program. “The city didn’t want to appear to be, out of the goodness of our nature, taking on an obligation to treat the state highway runoff.”
Nunamaker said future project teams can look to the Powell agreement as an example of how to meet both agencies’ needs. “It was a way we could set a good precedent for getting vegetative storm- water treatment along a state highway that runs through the city,” he said.
Recognizing neighborhood concerns, ODOT will build two new pedestrian crossings, near Southeast 57th and 75th avenues