No more compromises: keep NE 7th on the map.

[Carl Larson]

Hi all.

I don't work for the BTA anymore but this is about an issue in my neighborhood so I'm staying involved with it.

In the new TSP, the City is planning on taking NE 7th off the map as a future neighborhood greenway and substituting NE 9th instead. I think this would be a very unfortunate compromise for Portland's bikeway network, the neighborhood, and safety. There's a thorough breakdown of the situation following this message.

You can also read my thoughts and Michael Andersen's analysis in this BikePortland story from last year: http://bikeportland.org/2015/08/28/four-bikeways-itll-take-make-lloyd-district-great-156455

Many neighbors, tired of excess auto traffic on NE 7th (which is basically functioning as an alternate to MLK), have raised concerns about this TSP change to the city so PBOT is convening a meeting about the issue in two weeks. I hope you can make it.

NE 7th / NE 9th Neighborhood Greenway discussion

Date: 03/14/2016
Time: 6:30pm to 8:30pm
Location: 120 NE Knott St (rectory of St Philip the Deacon Church)

It would be helpful to have a supportive presence from:

- homeowners on NE 7th

- homeowners north of Fremont on NE 6th and NE Grand

- business owners adjacent to NE 7th (particularly at Knott)

So! If you know anyone in those categories, please reach out to them.

Thanks.

Carl

Keep 7th on the map.

In order for a transportation project to be built, it must exist in a plan. At the moment, NE 7th is shown as a future bike route from the gulch to Skidmore in the city's 2007 Transportation System Plan. The proposed update to the system plan, which will soon go to City Council, wipes 7th off the map and moves the route to NE 9th. The Bicycle Transportation Alliance wishes to see 7th kept on the map and extended all the way north of Alberta to Sumner. If 9th is to be added to the map, it should be slated for later development than 7th.

NE 7th / SE 9th Neighborhood Greenway

NE 7th is, on paper, a local street that should only carry local traffic. For years it has been slated for future development as a bikeway. The Bicycle Transportation Alliance supports that vision: a low traffic neighborhood greenway (like NE Going or NE Tillamook) from Alberta all the way to Sullivan's Gulch. Our vision doesn't stop there and, thankfully, neither does the city's. With leadership from Lloyd District businesses, we hope to see development of a bike and pedestrian bridge across Sullivan's Gulch/I-84 around NE 7th. From there, we envision the neighborhood greenway continuing south on SE 9th all the way south of Powell! Think of it as a bike rider's alternative to MLK/Grand. To be able to bike from Powell to Alberta on low-traffic streets in one straight shot would be transformative for biking-as-transportation in Portland. 

NE 9th instead?

NE 7th, in reality, is a shockingly busy street. It carries far more traffic than it should -- largely cut-through traffic from people avoiding MLK. In order to make 7th a quiet neighborhood greenway, the city would have to install traffic diverters (like at 16th and Tillamook, 15th and Going, or MLK and Going) and significantly reduce traffic. Knowing this, the city of Portland has given up on calming down 7th and has shifted their focus to an already-quiet street: NE 9th. Diverters can be controversial and putting bikes on NE 9th doesn't require the city to change travel patterns and do anything controversial.

Why 7th?

Unfortunately, 9th is a poor substitute for 7th. 9th is less direct (the new bridge will likely land on 7th), has terrible pavement quality, runs through Irving's off-leash dog area, and has multiple hills not found on NE 7th. 9th will require improved crossing treatments while 7th already has traffic signals ($250K each to install!) at major intersections. Being two blocks further east also hurts its function as a means of accessing destinations on MLK. Furthermore, installing diverters on NE 7th would address neighborhood concerns about excess traffic on the street.

The PBOT amendment

There is some talk at PBOT of proposing a minor amendment that would keep 7th on the map only as far north as Fremont. This is a step in the right direction but we need to see traffic reduced on 7th from the gulch all the way to Sumner in order to create the safe, direct alternative to MLK that we envision.

What to do?

At this point, only city commissioners (not PBOT) have the power to amend or change the proposed Transportation System Plan.Commissioner Steve Novick needs to hear about our desire to keep NE 7th on the map and extend it further north. Novick needs to hear the following:

We encourage you to craft your own letter that strikes the same main point: "amend the Transportation System Plan to maintain NE 7th Avenue as a future bikeway from Sullivan's Gulch to NE Sumner in the 1 to 10 year timeframe."

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Wagner, Zef" <Zef.W...@portlandoregon.gov>
Date: February 23, 2016 at 12:42:35 PM PST
To: Allan Rudwick <arud...@gmail.com>, Steve Cole <steven...@gmail.com>, "sstri...@gmail.com" <sstri...@gmail.com>, "montsear...@yahoo.com" <montsear...@yahoo.com>, "Kransky, Gerik" <ge...@btaoregon.org>, "bikel...@gmail.com" <bikel...@gmail.com>, "Doherty-Chapman, Kathryn" <Kathryn.Doh...@portlandoregon.gov>, David Crout <dave_...@comcast.net>
Cc: "Gonzalez, Cevero" <Cevero....@portlandoregon.gov>
Subject: NE 7th/9th Neighborhood Greenway discussion

Hi everyone,

 

I just wanted to touch base about the upcoming community meeting the evening of Monday, March 14^th, about the possibility of a north-south neighborhood greenway from the Lloyd District to Holman. Cevero Gonzalez here at the Portland Bureau of Transportation has worked with the Eliot and Irvington neighborhoods to set up the meeting, and I will attend to talk about various route options and funding strategies. I would really like to get some good representation from different neighborhoods and organizations, so I have included reps from the BTA, BikeLoudPDX, and GoLloyd on this email. I’m concerned that we still haven’t heard from the King neighborhood north of Fremont on this issue, so we will reach out to their neighborhood association as well so they can have a chance to attend the meeting and weigh in. If Eliot and Irvington can do any outreach to the King neighborhood especially along 7^th and 9^th, that would be much appreciated.

 

Meeting Details:

·         Date: 03/14/2016

·         Time: 6:30pm to 8:30pm

·         Location: 120 NE Knott St (rectory of St Philip the Deacon Church)

 

Let us know if you have any questions or concerns, or suggestions for other people or organizations to invite. Some attendance from business owners along 7th would be especially helpful to discuss any concerns they might have.

 

--Zef

 

Zef Wagner

Associate Planner

Policy, Planning, & Projects Division

Portland Bureau of Transportation

Zef.W...@portlandoregon.gov

503-823-7164

 

--

Carl Larson

1615 NE Going Street, Portland, OR  97211

carl.s...@gmail.com    |    503.935.6278

[Jeremy Grand]

Can anyone tell me where to find a map of nbhd greenways?  Maybe I missed it, but I looked at all the maps in the mapapp and none showed the greenways.

Jeremy Grand

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[chris (fool) mccraw]

Not sure if this is the authoritative, current version or not (no mention of 7th or 9th) but it is a map with at least 2 year old freshness (Rodney is already planned)

https://www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation/50518

[Allan Rudwick]

the 2030 map shows both:

https://www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation/44597?a=379068

Allan Rudwick
(503) 703-3910

[Chris Smith]

The TSP proposal does not show facility types, just the City Bikeway/Major City Bikeway classifications:

https://www.portlandmaps.com/bps/mapapp/maps.html#mapTheme=tspBike

On Wed, Mar 2, 2016 at 3:33 PM, Jeremy Grand <jeremy...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Carl Larson]

Sorry for the confusion, everyone. Seems a few things have changed. The proposed TSP now shows 7th as a City Bikeway up to Skidmore (it had previously been Tillamook). I didn't realized that but it's awesome news. It means that PBOT was responsive to neighborhood and BTA feedback back in December. Unfortunately, it only goes to Skidmore and the proposal still marks 9th as the "Major City Bikeway." My hope is that the city will prioritize 7th instead all the way up to Sumner. As explained before: 7th is much flatter, closer to MLK, has better pavement quality, already has signalized crossings, and lines up better with Llloyd District plans including the proposed Sullivan's Gulch bridge.

Hopefully we can get 7th marked as a nearer term priority in the proposed TSP.

Sorry for the confusion. Didn't mean to misrepresent the situation. I'm grateful to Chris Smith for calling me out on my misstatements and to Zef Wagner at PBOT for adapting the TSP to get closer to the desired outcome.

Carl

On Wed, Mar 2, 2016 at 1:01 PM, Carl Larson <carl.s...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Jeremy Grand]

ok, the 2030 map does show my favorite -- SW Coronado st at 35th -- but of course it isn't funded.  Seems to me this type of improvement is the most likely way the SW area will get any significant improvements under the circumstances.  If the gas tax triples investment in these, we might get more than one per decade, don't you think?

[Chris Smith]

No problem. If you think 7th is better, please advocate for it! We want the best possible network!

Thanks for the continued advocacy!

--

[Michael Andersen]

I've got it as 7 pm.

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On Mon, Mar 14, 2016 at 5:01 PM, Gerald Fittipaldi <fit...@gmail.com> wrote:

A reminder that this meeting is TONIGHT. 

Time: 6:30pm??? to 8:30pm [At yesterday's meeting Emily said she had heard the start time has been pushed back to 7pm].

·         Location: 120 NE Knott St (rectory of St Philip the Deacon Church)

Gerald 

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[Allan Rudwick]

it is 7pm @ 120 NE Knott- St Philip the Deacon Church.  

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