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About The Southwest Portland Post. (Portland, Oregon) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 2011)
August 2011 NEWS The Southwest Portland Post • 3 Multnomah Boulevard paving and construction projects continue By Stephen Sykes Thank you for your patience during the past year of sewer infrastructure projects on Southwest Multnomah Boulevard. The construction that began in June 2010 on Multnomah Blvd was a sewer replacement project. That project impacted the water delivery system in the same areas and required the replacement of water main and services. The sewer component of that project was completed in Decem- ber 2010 and the water component was completed in March 2011. Based on a change in the pavement restoration scope, the roadway between Southwest 31st and 45th avenues will Virginia Stromer Indicted (Continued from Page 1) without a hitch due to our volunteers.” The non-profit developed new finan- cial policies and practices. Some board members, especially Baack, Buhler and Sharon Keast of Arnold Creek, put in hours at the office that helped to offset the loss of a staff member. “From the very first minute the board came together and worked as hard as they could,” Bogert said. “Every board member put in additional hours. No one walked away from the table. Their commitment to maintain the livability of Southwest remained strong.” Of his own work Buhler said, “Things were in a shambles, and someone had to do the work. It was an awful thing, but all the people bringing support – I did enjoy that.” Marianne Fitzgerald said, “We tried to turn a tragedy into an opportunity. be repaved full width before this proj- ect is fully completed. Currently the contractor is preparing the pavement for grinding of the existing asphalt and installation of new asphalt. The current work involves lower- ing the tops of utility heads in prepara- tion for asphalt grinding. The contractor expects to grind asphalt the week of Au- gust 1 and repave the week of August 8. The construction activities that you are seeing between Southwest 31st Av- enue and Barbur Boulevard are related to an upcoming sewer reconstruction project that is related to the one men- tioned above. The Burlingame Trunk sewer recon- struction project will officially begin next week with signing of the project’s 12-month contract. In advance of the sewer work that will replace a 50-year- old trunk line, a variety of utilities will be relocating their facilities to accom- modate the sewer work. The Portland Water Bureau has been working in the vicinity of the 2600 block recently. This sewer project will also impact utility lines owned by Northwest Natural Gas, PGE, and Level 3 (telecom- munications); each of these companies will spend time in the near future relo- cating their facilities. This project will include the closure of the Interstate 5 on/off ramps to Multnomah Boulevard for 45 days. The ramp closure is necessary to accom- modate sewer bypass equipment and construction equipment and is expected We learned our lesson – we had done so well with our staff that we really weren’t paying attention. Being on a board like this is a responsibility, and we all have to pay attention.” For Baack, it was too much, too late. “The board was largely responsible for this,” he said. “On two occasions I strongly suggested a financial review, in 2009 I called for an audit, and noth- ing was done.” According to Baack, “Companies go broke because they fail to do these things. Now the board’s gone over- board on financial controls. There are all kinds of new rules that are largely problematic. Energy will go into bean counting, not projects.” Baack did concede, “A lot of people did step forward to right the ship, to support Sylvia, and that’s fantastic.” Amalia Alarcon is executive director of the Portland Office of Neighbor- hood Involvement, principal funder of SWNI. “As soon as SWNI knew what was going on they took swift and very aggressive action,” said Alarcon. “We’re working system-wide to help all coali- tions manage themselves effectively and implement some best-practices.” Massage Light Rail Line (Continued from Page 1) the transportation system we need for the future, as an alternative to the car,” she said. Acterman also said she liked the fact that the train will be designated the Orange Line, and noted that Orange is both a combination of green and yellow (part of the route to Vancouver) and the color of her alma mater, Portland State University. to begin in mid-September. The Burlingame Trunk project will upsize the gravity segment of sewer that takes wastewater flows from the Fanno pressure sewer. Finally, a smaller third project got underway on Multnomah Boulevard this week. The Multnomah Boulevard Stormwater Facilities project will install five stormwater facilities at various loca- tions on Multnomah Boulevard between Southwest 40th and 69th avenues. The contractor began working at Southwest 45th Avenue this week. Comparatively, this project will mini- mally impact traffic as each facility will be constructed within a few weeks and much of the work will be performed off of the roadway. Nonetheless, there will be impacts to travel lanes at times. The contractors, and the city staff that are managing these projects, are coordinating the construction and traffic control plans accordingly. Here is the website that contains the most information about the Fanno Basin Sewer Improvements projects: www. portlandonline.com/bes/fanno. I am in the process of updating this site to incorporate information related to the paving restoration, upcoming stormwater projects on Southwest Multnomah Boulevard and the Burlin- game Trunk Sewer Replacement. Please let me know if you have additional ques- tions about these projects. Contact: Stephen Sykes, Portland Bureau of Environmental Services, 503-823-7898, stephen.sykes@portland- oregon.gov. PoSt ClaSSIfIED aDS Just $32 per column inch or $2 per word. 503-244-6933 PAID ADVERTISEMENT A BIG hole on SW Naito Parkway To Advertise Call Don or Harry at 503-244-6933 During July, Portland Water Bureau construction work near the inter- section of SW Naito Pkwy. at SW Harrison St. dug a huge boring pit -- more than 16 feet wide and 40 feet long -- to insert a protective pipe casing under the Portland Street Car tracks. The two northbound traffic lanes on SW Naito Pkwy. had to be closed around the clock as the pit was too large to place a steel plate over it. With these lanes closed, traffic was channeled – with the help of flaggers stationed 24 hours – into one of the south bound lanes to get around the work zone. The work caused some commuters to have to wait five minutes or longer to get through the intersection. Mo- torists blocked the intersections of SW Market and SW Clay streets causing delays in other directions. The Water Bureau engaged more traffic flaggers to help keep intersec- tions clear and had left turns restricted to further improve traffic flows. The boring work was part of the second phase of the Portland Water Bureau's Westside Header Project that will install 5,000-feet of large diameter steel water mains to replace a critical but aging supply pipeline. The new pipe installation is slated to start in mid-September on SW Naito Pkwy. at SW Clay St. This work will take place at night. Crews will lay pipe south, about 100 feet per day in a rolling work zone. Day work will occur on other affected streets: SW Caruthers St., SW Water Ave., SW Baker St., SW Hooker St., and SW 1st Ave.. The project will be completed by January 2012. The Portland Water Bureau encourages commuters and bicyclists to find alternate routes, if possible, to avoid delays to their destinations. The public’s patience and cooperation are appreciated as the bureau works to upgrade the city’s century old water system.