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About The Southwest Portland Post. (Portland, Oregon) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 2014)
2 • The Southwest Portland Post EDITORIAL The Southwest Portland Post 4207 SE Woodstock Blvd #509 Portland, OR 97206 Fax: (866) 727-5336 email: editor@multnomahpost.com When will other Southwest streets get upgraded like Maplewood Road? In 2013, two bureaus in Portland worked together to make Maplewood Road more walkable, from the cor- ner of 45th Avenue and Multnomah Boulevard towards 51st Avenue near Maplewood School. I’ve heard the same thing will be done on Hamilton Street which con- nects Scholls Ferry Road to Dosch Road. Are you aware of the $7.3 million dollar Fanno Creek bridge construc- tion on Oleson Road just south of “Crash Corner” by Parr Lumber in Raleigh Hills? A ppro x i m a te l y 11 ,0 0 0 f reig h t trucks, school buses, cars use that bridge every day. Many people are now speeding on roads in south- west Portland that have not been upgraded. I do want to make it known that I’m very excited about the new bridge. An eight-unit apartment was built on the banks of Fanno Creek, bulldozed earlier this year and that half-acre will be given to nature. Sixteen storm filter vaults will be installed to clean storm water runoff, and it sends a message to county of- ficials and developers to never again construct buildings on the banks of creeks. There will soon be a temporary pedestrian bridge over Fanno Creek. Carter & Company is the contrac- tor. They also built the Union Street Bridge in Salem (basically, a rails-to- trails pedestrian and bike bridge over the Willamette River) and also helped with the Banks-Vernonia State Trail which was a rails-to-trails project. [As a result of the temporary clo- sure] many drivers are doing highly illegal things and also driving very fast on the nearby southwest Portland roads. Kyle Chisek, from the Portland Bureau of Transportation, told me this summer that PBOT has asked the Oregon Department of Transportation to lower the speed limit on Vermont Street, from 30th Avenue to the county line from 35 miles per hour. The new limit might become 30 mph. Somehow, Cameron Road is 35 mph which connects from 45th Avenue to Shattuck Road. I would like to see Shattuck Road, the southern stretch from the Beaver- ton-Hillsdale Highway to Vermont Street, receive the same, lower-cost (versus sidewalk and bike lane) up- grade that Maplewood Road got in 2013. Vermont Street, from Southwest 45th Ave to 65th Ave, needs the same upgrade as Maplewood Road received. Put it on the south part of Vermont. Cameron Street also needs that upgrade along with a lower speed limit to 25 mph. September 2014 Kudos to the volunteers who attempted to cleanup this triangle of land Regarding, “Trash, overgrowth and camping rampant in Multnomah Village park,” letter by Marsha Overton, editorial response by Don Snedecor, photo by Erik Vidstrand, The Post, August 2014. I was moved to stop and walk [through Multnomah Village Park] after reading The Post article and anyone can see what a task this is. It appears that at some point quite a bit of landscaping was attempted. Landscape cloth is vis- ible in several places, and a number of plants have been planted. But the job of maintaining this space as a garden or park space seems far too big for a group of volunteers. Surely Rick Kappler Southwest Portland SPORTS MASSAGE $4 Off with this ad Get relief from chronic pain, reduce stress, & sleep better Celebrating 21 Years in Business! Adv ance d 4207 SE Woodstock Blvd #509 Portland, OR 97206 Phone: (503) 244-6933; Fax: (866) 727-5336 general email: news@multnomahpost.com web address: www.swportlandpost.com Editor & Publisher: Reporters/Writers: Copy Editor: Advertising Sales: Graphic Design: Printing: Don Snedecor Lee Braymen-Cleary, KC Cowan, Erik Vidstrand Rich Riegel Don Snedecor, Harry Blythe Leslie Baird Design Oregon Lithoprint © 2014 by The Southwest Portland Post. All rights reserved. The opinions of the artists and authors contained herein are not necessarily shared by the publisher. Deadline for news and advertising is generally the 20th of the month prior to publication. Please call for current deadline information. Advertising rates are available upon request. The Post has a circulation of 7,000 in Multnomah Village and the surrounding neighborhood business districts including Burlingame, Capitol Hill, Garden Home, Glen Cullen, Hillsdale, South Portland, Raleigh Hills, West Portland and Vermont Hills. The Post is published on or about the 1st of every month. Subscriptions are $14 per year. Back issues are $2.50 each when available. All major credit cards accepted. The Post is printed on recycled newsprint using soy-based inks. rapy #39 27 Massage The David Klick LMT • Experienced Treatments 503.977.3454 www.advancedlmt.com this would take one or two people an hour or two per week for most of the year, and more than that during the peak seasons. Is there no way to get the city to take responsibility? I can hear the discussion now. This is Portland Bureau of Transportation prop- erty, and we don’t maintain parks. PBOT might need this right-of-way in the future, so we can’t give it to the Park Bureau. On and on and back and forth. What if we as citizens raise our voices and ask that this kind of maintenance be included in the proposed transportation tax? Yes, the needs are already huge and unfunded, but somehow other cities I’ve visited manage to maintain small green-spaces. Jeremy Grand Southwest Coronado Street
