4 • The Southwest Portland Post
NEWS
July 2014
Tempers flare as Portland participants find out they don’t get a vote
SOUTHWEST CORRIDOR PLAN
By Erik Vidstrand
The Southwest Portland Post
As the Southwest Corridor Port-
land workgroup came to order last
month, word circulated that a pe-
destrian had gotten struck by a car
at Southwest Capitol Highway and
Terwilliger Boulevard.
One of the main reasons most
citizens attend these ongoing meet-
ings is to address just this issue, pe-
destrian safety; that and increased
congestion, bicyclist access, and
making it easier to commute with
rapid transit.
The workgroup met on June 2 one
last time before the June 9 meeting
with Metro, the city of Portland, and
Southwest Neighborhoods, Inc.,
commonly known as SWNI.
“We’re hoping to come up with a
clean line drawn in the sand,” said
Joan Frederiksen of the Portland Bu-
reau of Planning and Sustainability.
“Some issues still need to be
looked at,” she continued. A few
proposed items during the scoping
stages of the drafts will be presented
to the executive steering committee
firmly moving forward with the
environmental impact study.
The workgroup has been pro-
viding input on the high capacity
transit alignment alternatives, and
associated roadway and active
transportation projects for the past
12 months.
“The (workgroup) does not vote
on proposals or products,” Frederik-
sen explained, “however, all (work-
group) perspectives on (high capac-
ity transit) alignment alternatives
and associated transportation proj-
ects will be shared with decision
Spring Garden Park
(Continued from Page 1)
proactive efforts and diligent fo-
cus towards a much-needed new
neighborhood park in an under-
served part of the city,” said Fritz.
Spring Garden Park neighbor
Lori Howell said, “I look forward
to watching our kids grow up in
this park. And to passing down the
legacy of nature play from genera-
tion to generation.”
The Spring Garden Park Master
Plan calls for features designed to
create connections with neighbors
and park visitors.
When complete, the park is
planned to have: a picnic area and
lawn; a new playground and places
to sit; and park paths for walking.
A grassy meadow with native
grasses for picnics or free and
unstructured play like tossing a
Frisbee and such are planned. The
park’s upgrades will provide new
trees for shade, cleaner air, rest and
reflection. Park entry points with
signs, and other amenities are
planned to build on the land’s fea-
tures and existing improvements.
The Bureau of Environmental
makers for their consideration.”
Frederiksen stated that an as-
sortment of appendices, including
reports, minutes, and public com-
ments, would be put together as
well. The committee heard public
comments at the beginning of the
hearing that lasted about 30 min-
utes.
“All minutes of the meeting will
be sent out to workgroup mem-
bers,” Frederiksen promised. “All
comments will be read, coded, and
analyzed.”
“Will there be opportunity to
comment in the future?” Roger
Averbeck, SWNI transportation
committee chair asked.
A nod of heads by all bureaus
and organizations was in the af-
firmative. Averbeck reported that
comments from the SW corridor
forum on April 29 were posted on
the SWNI website. SWNI’s recom-
mendations were then sent to the
transportation committee and all the
neighborhood association chairs.
A brief overview of the draft en-
vironmental impact statement was
then provided.
“What’s next?” the workgroup
wanted to know.
A decision on the June 9 meeting
deemed further study, and federal
transportation folks must review
the mandated DEIS.
“All MAX lines have been built
with this (DEIS) statement, except
the Red Line,” stated Denver Igarta
of Metro. “After the federal guide-
lines are reviewed, then everything
is reopened back up for consider-
ation by public involvement in late
summer.”
Another part of it will be looked
at in early fall with detailed profiles
being reopened for additional com-
ments.
Don Baack of SW Trails requested
Cartoon by Karl Vidstrand
Services built a stormwater basin
and wildlife habitat area last year
in part of the park.
The bureau also re-established
an above-ground creek located
towards the bottom of a hill in the
park. The creek previously flowed
underground. The park’s final de-
sign will incorporate those changes
as well.
“I am thrilled that the Friends
of Spring Garden Park, and their
many community partners, will fi-
nally see their vision of connecting
children to nature realized,” said
Sylvia Bogert, executive director
of Southwest Neighborhoods, Inc.
“It is heartwarming to know
future generations will be able to
enjoy this special park and learn to
cherish the natural world. We are
grateful to Commissioner Fritz for
finding a way to fund our dream,”
said Bogert.
Currently, Spring Garden Park
is the site of a temporary nature-
based playground, installed at
the park November 2011 thanks
to collaboration between the park
bureau, Friends of Spring Gar-
den Park, and Umpqua Bank’s
Multnomah Village branch.
The nature play area was de-
signed to be temporary, and lies on
the site proposed for the new play
area in the park’s master Plan.
According to Ross, “It is possible
that Portland Parks & Recreation
could look at incorporating part of
the nature play area, the existing
climbing boulders, into the new
park’s design. However, we will
review the feasibility of this as part
of the community conversations
during project planning.”
A park bureau project manager
will be touching base with the
neighborhood coalition, neighbor-
hoods and the Friends of Spring
Garden Park this fall on project
timeline and specifics. Further de-
sign work is expected to begin in
2015, with construction expected
to begin in 2016.
The Spring Garden Park site
was acquired in 1999, and the
park currently has a master plan.
According to Ross, park planning
development will be in alignment
with the master plan. For more
information, call 503-823-5300 or
visit portlandparks.org.
to add the funding plan in all the
decisions along the process.
“Where will the city get a billion
dollars?” Baack asked.
“State bonds, Tigard/Tualatin
bonds, etc.,” was the reply.
“Some of the money for the Or-
ange Line came out of school/fire/
police funds,” someone else said. “It
wasn’t out in the open!”
“Let’s work this in a calm, col-
laborative manner,” Frederikson
pleaded. “We appreciated the letter
from SWNI.”
Many of those items requested
from SWNI were adopted in 2013.
For example, one item proposed
was a more walk-able and vibrant
safe place to move around.
One example for the SW corridor
would more resemble the Interstate
84 access as a better illustration,
although a few cautioned about the
MAX station islands like the Hol-
lywood stop.
Another example was the Yellow
Line where the MAX runs down the
center of the street. Link light rail
in Seattle was also presented as an
example, with four lanes and light
rail down the center with pedestrian
crossings every 600-700 feet.
Some areas were taken for right-
of-way, including parking lots,
fields, and entire streets like Lincoln
to make way for the Orange Line
route to Milwaukie.
All photos in examples presented
were with light rail in mind, not
high capacity bus transit.
“Does bus transit have less im-
pact?” Averbeck asked.
He added that the plan was for
traffic calming, more pedestrian
access, and for more bikes. Noise,
dust, and fences were all brought
up as well. Isolation from stations
was mentioned.
The issues go on and on.
Igarta mentioned that Barbur Bou-
levard can act like a zipper, bringing
two parts on either side of Interstate
5 together. It also appeared that the
tunnel is out of the question for now.
Talia Jacobsen, Associate Planner
from Oregon Department of Trans-
portation, had the last words.
“There are no easy answers,” she
said. “Our goal is to get everyone
clear facts so that we can make an
informed decision.”
“The perception that ODOT wants
to kill high capacity transit is not
true,” she added. “We want to see
both proposals and will fight for
either one. We are looking forward
to working with city and Metro to
keep bringing in the trade offs and
bring them to the public.”
A plausible scenario from this
reporter includes two light rail
tracks, two sidewalks, bike lanes,
four auto lanes, and the tunnel put
back into planning. There are no
easy answers.
Frederiksen thanked everyone
for their perseverance over the last
year and relayed to continue being
involved.
Stay tuned.