January 2016
NEWS
The Southwest Portland Post • 3
Metro staff to report on alternative connection options to PCC Sylvania
Important decisions are going to be
made in the coming weeks and months
about the Southwest Corridor Plan.
One of the biggest ones will be whether
there will be a bus rapid transit system
or a light rail line.
This month, Metro staff will report
on the latest progress analyzing
alternative connection options to
Portland Community College Sylvania
and issue recommendations on mode
and a light rail tunnel alignment to the
campus.
In October, project staff released a
memo related to high capacity transit
alignment options in the area along
Barbur Boulevard and Interstate 5
between South Portland and the
Portland/Tigard city limits.
Staff focused on location of stations,
budget, travel time, and reliability.
The report also looked at which
intersections would be impacted, not
only for vehicles, but also to properties,
parking, and engineering complexity.
Metro project coordinator Noelle
Dobson said that staff proposed one
modification to the “Central Barbur”
alignment. Under consideration is
the recommendation to remove the
segment of the adjacent to Interstate
5 alignment north of 13th Avenue
at Capitol Highway. No stations are
proposed for this
area.
“This segment
provides little to
no benefit over the
Barbur alignment,”
Dobson said. “The
main advantage of
running adjacent to
I‐5 in this segment
would be avoiding
the traffic bottleneck
a t Te r w i l l i g e r
Boulevard.”
The Barbur
Boulevard alignment
north of 13th Avenue
could be either
center‐running along
Barbur Boulevard
or on a structure
adjacent to the
highway.
Project staff
recommended
further study of the
Interstate 5 segments
south of 13th Avenue.
These alignments will require more
detailed analysis that will be performed
as part of the Draft Environment
Impact Statement.
For an adjacent Interstate 5 alignment
in this segment, buses would depart
from Barbur Boulevard just north of
Capitol Highway and run along the
northwest side of Interstate 5 to 13th
Avenue.
For a Barbur Boulevard alignment
December Storms
Tryon-Stephens Plan
(Continued from Page 1)
(Continued from Page 6)
of Terwilliger Boulevard and Taylors
Ferry Road.
Southwest Hamilton Street, near 39th
Avenue, was closed due to a sink hole
that compromised the roadway and
drainage issues and a replaced pipe
under the roadway. The city had crews
working around the clock.
Editor’s Note: Southwest Sam Jackson
Park Road, the main route up to OHSU,
was closed Dec. 18 due to landslides.
Ti m o t h y L e e l i v e s d i r e c t l y
downstream from where the city
redirected all the water on Southwest
26th Avenue and Barbur Boulevard.
Due to the redirection, Tryon Creek is
now a river. It has flooded his basement,
ruined his new furnace and shut off
power for several days. Lee gets hit by
flooding two to three times a year. He
thinks this winter is way wetter than
past winters.
“The city spent millions of dollars on
26th and Barbur, but they didn’t conduct
a test flow. They added channels,
but now the creek cannot handle the
amount of flow,” said Lee. “It’s never
been this bad.”
The environmental services bureau is
currently implementing Phase 1 of the
Stephens Creek Stormwater System
Plan recommendations. These include
repairing areas along Southwest Taylors
Ferry Road that discharge water to a
tributary of Stephens Creek.
Phases 2 and 3 of this stormwater
system are not yet funded but will
be implemented in the future. Phase
2 projects include more stormwater
detention and Phase 3 includes stream
enhancement and daylighting in the
upper part of Stephens Creek.
Conducting stormwater system
alternatives along Capitol Highway
are part of a BES project that is
moving forward independent of
the Tryon-Stephens Plan project. All
these stormwater projects need to be
completed before road improvements
can take place.
The city council unanimously voted to
adopt the resolutions. Commissioners
Steve Novick [transportation] and
Nick Fish [environmental services],
whose bureaus have been involved
jointly, praised the Tryon-Stephens Plan
team for their outreach which began
at the Southwest Sunday Parkways in
September 2014.
“We are committed to minimizing
impacts,” Fish said. “We are sensitive
to the terrain and are advancing new
techniques in stormwater control.”
Novick said the transportation
bureau would continually engage the
community every part of the way.
According to Denver Igarta,
transportation bureau staff, the plan
included a list of near term actions on the
last page of the report – Appendix E, p.
83. The link is located at http://www.
portlandoregon.gov/Transportation/
article/547413
SOUTHWEST CORRIDOR
By Erik Vidstrand
The Southwest Portland Post
Bridlemile Boundary Issues
(Continued from Page 1)
“Our role is to look at all the
data, comments, and testimony,”
Anthony said at the end of the
session. “All we can do is present
our recommendations to the
superintendent by mid-January.”
Superintendent Smith’s decision
will then go to the school board
by February. Some changes could
happen as early as fall 2016. For more
information, please visit http://
www.pps.k12.or.us/departments/
enrollment-transfer/9522.htm
in this segment, high capacity transit
would be center‐running. For an
adjacent route to the Interstate 5
alignment in this segment, high
capacity buses could either continue
running adjacent to Interstate 5 from
Capitol Highway or depart from
Barbur Boulevard at 13th Avenue and
then run along the northwest side of
Interstate 5 to 26th Way.
Two stations are currently under
consideration around 13th and 19th
avenues for a Barbur Boulevard
alignment. Stations are proposed for
13th Avenue and Spring Garden Street
adjacent to the Interstate 5 alignment.
To the south, the route could cross
over the Crossroads intersection
(Barbur Boulevard/Interstate 5/
Capitol Highway/Taylors Ferry Road)
and continue running adjacent to
Interstate 5, drop into the center of
Barbur Boulevard from a structure
over the Crossroads, or turn south
onto Capitol Highway to serve the
PCC Sylvania campus directly with
bus rapid transit.
In addition to Barbur Transit Center,
a station could be located at either
26th or 30th avenues. Two stations are
currently under consideration in this
segment, at Barbur Transit Center and
around 53rd Avenue.
“Project staff will share feedback
regarding these recommendations to
the steering committee at the January
meeting,” reported Dobson. “A final
report documenting the steering
committee actions will be produced.”
On Feb. 29, the committee will
deliberate on a light rail tunnel to
PCC Sylvania and discuss funding
strategy for bicycle, pedestrian, and
roadway projects. These decisions will
constitute the draft preferred package
for the Southwest Corridor Plan.
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