INSIDE:
SERVING
Burlingame • Capitol Hill
• Garden Home
• Glen Cullen • Hillsdale
• Multnomah Village
• Raleigh Hills • South Portland
• Vermont Hills
• West Portland
Sewer construction
closes Interstate 5 ramp
at Multnomah Blvd.
through mid-November
Southwest Portland’s Independent Neighborhood Newspaper
Volume No. 19, Issue No. 12
www.swportlandpost.com
Portland, Oregon
– Page 6
Complimentary
October 2011
Speed bumps play starring role in
new Maplewood pedestrian plan
TRAFFIC CALMING
By Lee Perlman
The Southwest Portland Post
Portland Bureau of Planning rep-
resentatives last month unveiled a
draft Maplewood Greenway plan
detailing traffic calming projects.
About 40 people attended the meet-
ing at Multnomah Arts Center and,
while some questioned the details,
there seemed to be general support
for the plan as a whole.
As shown by City of Portland
transportation planner Greg Rais-
man, the plan would place a total
of 30 speed bumps, and some pe-
destrian improvements where they
don’t currently exist, on parts of
Southwest Maplewood Drive, 51 st ,
52 nd , 54 th and 60 th Avenues, Custer
Street and Miles Court.
These are intended to slow traf-
fic and make bike and pedestrian
traffic safer to such destinations as
Maplewood School, the Southwest
Community Center, Gabriel Park
and Southwest Vermont Street com-
mercial destinations.
Also on the agenda is providing
improved pedestrian facilities on
Southwest Vermont Street between
45 th and 52 nd avenues. A scheme
that would provide sidewalks on
both sides of the street would cost
$750,000 and is “outside our bud-
get,” Raisman said. A modified plan
that would sidewalks in only on
the north side of the street would
cost $350,000, which Raisman said
is “also outside our budget, but not
by a ton.”
In some cases, the City proposes
to use gravel rather than asphalt
for pedestrian facilities. Trails ad-
vocate Don Baack objected to this,
saying it would be dangerous for
bicyclists who would also use
the path. “Gravel would be a big
improvement over what exists in
(Continued on Page 7)
Volunteers work to “depave” Capitol
Hill School playground
By Don Snedecor
The Southwest Portland Post
On July 9, more than 120 school and
community volunteers worked together
to remove nearly 5000 square feet of
6-inch thick asphalt from Capitol Hill
Elementary School’s playground.
This cleared the way for two new
swing areas, a climbing log and rocks,
and a story circle. Thanks to some
hard-working parent volunteers, the
new playground additions were ready
for play by the first day of school in
September.
This November, benches and trees
(Continued on Page 5)
Local environmentalist wins Spirit of Portland award
NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS
By Lee Perlman
The Southwest Portland Post
Terri Pre-
eg Riggsby,
longtime
head of the
Tryon Creek
Wa t e r s h e d
Council and
m e m b e r
of the West
Multnomah
Soil and Wa-
ter Conservation District, has been
named winner of this year’s Sandy
Diedrich Spirit of Portland Award.
Spirit of Portland Awards honor
individuals, businesses and groups
that contribute to the city’s livability.
Award winners are selected, from
nominations submitted by the public
at large, by a citizen jury under the
direction of the Portland Office of
Neighborhood Involvement, plus
awards bestowed by members of the
Portland City Council.
The Diedrich award, now in its
second year, specifically honors envi-
ronmental stewardship. Riggsby and
the other winners will receive their
awards from City Council members at
a ceremony from 7 to 9 p.m. October
27 at the East Portland Community
Center, 740 S.E. 106 th Ave. All are
welcome, and refreshments will be
served.
Transportation committee
questions Safeway access plan
The Southwest Neighborhoods,
Inc. Transportation Committee has
examined the transportation and
access plans for the proposed new
Safeway grocery on Southwest Barbur
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The Southwest Portland Post
4207 SE Woodstock Blvd #509
Portland, OR 97206
Boulevard, and has some concerns,
committee chair Roger Averbeck told
the Post last month.
Most of the concerns involve the
proposed use of Southwest Capitol
Hill Road as part of access routes,
especially for large delivery trucks,
Averbeck said. “Capitol Hill Road
is designed for the homes on it and
the streets that branch off of it, not
regional traffic,” Averbeck said.
The Committee would also not
like to see freight use Southwest
Multnomah Boulevard, where there is
a lack of good connections to Barbur
Boulevard, Averbeck said. Instead, he
said, truck traffic should go directly
onto and off of Barbur.
Neighborhood grant applications
due October 31
The deadline for applications for
Southwest Neighborhood Grants
is October 31. Available this year in
amounts ranging from $200 to $2,000,
the grants are awarded to local com-
munity groups and non-profits for
projects that “increase the capacity” of
such groups, encourage participation
by “under-represented communi-
ties,” and “encourage partnerships.”
The funds are allocated from the
City General Fund, through the Of-
fice of Neighborhood Involvement,
to Southwest Neighborhoods, Inc.
(SWNI) and the city’s six other neigh-
borhood offices and coalitions.
SWNI’s total allocation for the pro-
gram this year is $22,000, and based
on past grant cycles they expect appli-
cants to request far more than this. For
more information or for application
forms contact SWNI at 503-823-4592.
Stromer trial rescheduled
As The Post went to press last
month, the trial of former Southwest
Neighborhoods, Inc. Operations
Manager Virginia Stromer, originally
set for September 6, had been resched-
uled to October 31 at the request of her
attorney.
Stromer, free on her own recogni-
zance since July, has been charged
with the theft of $130,000 in SWNI
funds over the course of seven years,
prior to her abrupt resignation last
fall. She has pleaded not guilty to the
charge.
City schedules new Portland Plan
hearings
The Portland Bureau of Planning
and Sustainability is about to publish
a draft of the proposed Portland Plan,
which will set policy for City action
and private development. The draft
should be available beginning in early
October at www.pdxplan.com.
The Portland Planning and Sustain-
ability Commission will hold public
hearings on the draft on the following
dates: November 8 at Jefferson High
School, 5210 N. Kerby Ave., Novem-
ber 15 at Parkrose High School, 12003
N. Shaver St., and November 29 at
1900 S.W. Fourth Ave. All three hear-
ings are scheduled to be held from
5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.