Every week, the Bureau of Development Services publishes lists of Early Assistance applications, Land Use Reviews and Building Permits processed in the previous week. We publish the highlights. This post covers February 15th, 2021 to February 21st, 2021.
Early Assistance has been requested by Baysinger Partners Architecture for a project at 1946 NE 122nd Ave:
Demo existing former Shari’s pad building. Construct new ~3,028 sf bank building and parking within ground lease area.
Early Assistance has been requested by Lever Architecture for a project North of 253 N Broadway:
The project is the development of an existing parking lot into an affordable housing residential building (111 units) as well as a 99 seat theater and a pedestrian path connecting Wheeler and Flint.
Early Assistance has been requested by Jones Architecture for a project East of 208 NE Hancock St:
New 3-story, 18-unit multi-family, micro-unit residential building. Stormwater management TBD.
A project at 6335 SE 92nd Ave has been submitted for building permit review by Fosler Portland Architecture:
PDOX PS – new 3-story 19 unit apartment building with associated site work
A project at 9243 SE Holgate Blvd has been submitted for building permit review:
PDOX PS – construct new 3 story (30) unit apartment building with associated site work
The “North of 253 N Broadway” project, as shown in the rendering, would be a great project, and would also preclude the extension of Dixon St that is in the plans for the I-5/Rose Quarter project. I had hoped that this would throw another obstacle to that project. However, I’ve since also seen a rendering that cuts down that site to allow the Dixon extension, with ODOT contributing some land east of the current Flint ROW. (don’t know how that would affect the supposed bike path along the Flint ROW). Do we know what the discussion was in the EA?
ODOT is cooperating with AVT and Edlen to make sure the highway project accommodates 253 N. Broadway. Why are you hoping for obstacles to the I-5RQ project that proposes to cap the freeway, restore the street grid, provide new active transportation connections and new development opportunities for the historic Albina community?
Most folks want all of the surface street improvements, freeway capping, and restoration of the street grid WITHOUT the I-5 freeway widening below.
Personally, I’m opposed because the pedestrian infrastructure will be worse, and people will die, because many of the intersections, which now have 5′ to 10′ radius corners, will have giant 40′ radius corners, where drivers will speed around the corners and hit people trying to cross the street. PBOT (who’s doing the surface designs) says they need those corners for expected truck traffic. Yet the existing truck traffic uses the 10′ radius corners now. They just have to swing wide, using all the lanes in the street they’re turning on to. Which is fine, since traffic is stopped for them anyway. But PBOT doesn’t want to do that, saying that the trucks might damage the far curb (they don’t now).
The “new active transportation connections”, like the crossing south of Broadway, are out of the way, and less direct than a safe sidewalk path on Broadway. The loss of Flint connection is not made up for the zig-zag bike/ped path that has to climb to a higher point than the Flint bridge was at. Yes they need the switchbacks for ADA, but they could also put a straight path for cyclists, if it wasn’t so steep.
ODOT is not “cooperating”, on 253 N Broadway, they’re making the site more difficult by cutting off the west frontage at a 45 degree angle. Yes, they’re giving up some land east of Flint, but it’s not clear how the switchback ped/bike path will then go there.
And of course, why is ODOT widening the path under the bridge to enough space to put a 10 lane freeway, when they say they’re only building 6 lanes. They’ve come up with barely believable excuses, like “we need 12′ shoulders, and a 12′ bus lane (which trimet didn’t ask for), plus room to evacuate on foot from the tunnel. All of which could in the future be converted to travel lanes. Don’t believe that? They don’t see the need for shoulders on the southbound side where it would overhang the Greenway and they’d be subject to an environmental review. Political expediency to them was more important than they’re supposed shoulder width standards. My impression is that ODOT will say anything to get this project through, and has no integrity, and their word cannot be trusted. I don’t trust that the caps will be buildable, either.
Plus, should we be encouraging vehicle traffic at this point in history? I was on the advisory committee for the Rose Quarter component of the Comp Plan, and I opposed this whole project then, and I oppose it now. If ODOT has all this money, they should address the safety issues on their facilities where people are getting killed, like SE 82nd Ave., and not worry about the few fender-benders in this stretch, where no one has died in over a decade.
And the Historic Albina community is not with them either. ODOT already disbanded one advisory committee because they wouldn’t rubber stamp ODOT’s plans, and formed another which they hope will go along with their line.