2009-2010 NWDA Transportation Committee Work Plan

1) Develop a neighborhood transportation plan that considers:
a) Transit routes, stops, and frequency
b) Bicycle routes, destinations and parking
c) Pedestrian realm

2) Monitor transportation/development projects in the neighborhood and influence for maximum benefit to the neighborhood. Keep city accountable for reporting results of projects such as:
a) NWDA Neighborhood Plan remand
b) Portland Streetcar expansion and operation
c) Flanders Ped/Bike Bridge over I-405
d) Pettygrove Street “Green Street” as called for in the NW District Plan
e) Transportation issues related to development
f) Proposed Flanders “green street” , bikeway and Pedestrian/Bike bridge over I-405
g) NW 23rd Ave. reconstruction
h) Burnside Blvd. design and implementation, including streetcar and couplet
i) Proposed Thurman St. ‘green street called for in the NW District Plan
j) Lovejoy/Northrup couplet
k) Bike Master Plan
l) Portland Plan
m) Streetcar System Plan
n) TSP Update
o) Central Portland Plan
p) Urban Renewal plans effecting NWDA
q) Safe Routes to School

3) Advocate, educate and coordinate to reduce dependence on motor vehicle traffic for increased air quality, pedestrian and bike safety, and reduced noise and congestion.
a) Advocate carpools and transit subsidies for employees at neighborhood employers.
b) Make the neighborhood friendlier to cyclists, pedestrians and transit riders
c) Add safe and secure bike parking throughout neighborhood.
d) Continue development of NW Bikeways, including connectivity with routes in other parts of the City and region.
e) Seek pedestrian safety and mobility enhancements throughout the neighborhood (such as marked crosswalks, controlled intersections, curb extensions, curb ramps, pedestrian island refuges, removing visual barriers, removing barriers to pedestrian mobility, widening sidewalks, and other traffic calming devices, etc.).
f) Seek completion of missing pedestrian segments in the neighborhood.
g) Protect neighborhood streets from becoming throughways for traffic that should be using the city’s arterial network.
h) Seek improved transit service (see transit below)
i) Encourage Zipcar and similar shared-use vehicle programs and strategies for allocating parking spaces for shared-use vehicles.

4) Advocate for strategies which increase the cost and which decrease the convenience of travel by automobile vs. travel by other modes, and which discourage the use of the neighborhood as a parking lot for downtown commuters.
a) Encourage businesses to offer free, or subsidized transit tickets to employees and customers.
b) Insist that new office developments provide transit subsidies to employees and pay for transportation projects to prevent an overloading of the existing transit grid, as well as provide parking for any employees who do commute by car.
c) Insist that new sports, entertainment, recreation, cultural, industrial, commercial, medical and/or hospitality facilities constructed in or near the neighborhood plan for and accommodate transportation options for people traveling to and from those facilities, including but not limited to:
i) additional transit routes, stops and frequency,
ii) transit tickets included in event or membership cost
iii) complimentary transit tickets for patients, customers and employees
iv) restoring the above at PGE Park.

5) Experiment freely with pedestrian, bicycle and transit permeable barriers on residential streets

6) Seek enhanced transit service
a) Enhanced headways and additional transit lines to and from other neighborhoods to reduce traffic congestion and parking in our neighborhood.
b) Enhanced headways and additional transit lines within NW Portland to support increased development.
c) Expansion of Trimet ‘transit tracker’ electronic signage into the neighborhood.

7) Coordinate with other NWDA committees and other neighborhood groups, including Cornell Coalition and Audubon Society Swift Watch, to further transportation goals
a) Work with Public Safety to:
i) increase enforcement of speed and safety violations;
ii) assign full-time bike patrols to the neighborhood;
iii) keep pedestrian right of way free of obstacles.
b) Monitor progress of Policy Plan/NW Area Plan
c) Liaise with NHBA
d) Work with the Pearl District NA on issues of joint interest
e) Work with the Planning Committee to:
i) develop guidelines for “green street” development
ii) oppose the removal of trees and the addition of curb cuts to accommodate driveways and parking
iii) advocate shared parking for commercial, residential and institutional developments
iv) advocate a maximum parking ratio in both new and re-developed projects to correspond with sustainability goals
v) require a ratio of shared parking within all new parking facilities, including residential development, to correspond with sustainability goals
vi) require pedestrian improvements and bike accommodations in all redevelopment and new development, including but not limited to:
(1) wider sidewalks to accommodate café seating, benches, bike parking, and the safe passage of pedestrians in wheelchairs
(2) curb extensions to facilitate safer pedestrian crossing and slow traffic speeds
(3) bicycle entries, elevators and safe storage in residential buildings
(4) accommodating bicyclists in commercial and institutional buildings with bicycle entries, elevators, safe storage and rider lockers and showers
(5) removing utility poles from pedestrian right-of-way (locating utilities underground)
(6) on street bike corrals
f) Work with Ad-hoc committee to:
i) Support the development of a balanced TMA that addresses the parking needs and problems of residents, employees and businesses.
ii) Develop standards for shared parking on accessory lots to protect the quality-of-life of neighborhood residents and businesses.
iii) Advocate a year-round, full-day, neighborhood-wide permit parking district with time and/or plugging restrictions that discourage downtown office workers as well as PGE Park customers from parking in the neighborhood.
iv) Oppose the demolition of residential housing for parking structures.
v) Pursue an equitable parking plan that includes a TMA and involves a broad range of interests.
g) Work with Slabtown Planning committee to:
i) develop form based code
ii) reduce vehicle trips and traffic impacts of development
iii) oppose the removal of trees and the addition of curb cuts to accommodate driveways and parking
iv) advocate shared parking for commercial, residential and institutional developments
v) advocate a maximum parking ratio in both new and re-developed projects to correspond with sustainability goals
vi) require a ratio of shared parking within all new parking facilities, including residential development, to correspond with sustainability goals
vii) require pedestrian improvements and bike accommodations in all redevelopment and new development, including but not limited to:
(1) wider sidewalks to accommodate café seating, benches, bike parking, and the safe passage of pedestrians in wheelchairs
(2) curb extensions to facilitate safer pedestrian crossing and slow traffic speeds
(3) bicycle entries, elevators and safe storage in residential buildings
(4) accommodating bicyclists in commercial and institutional buildings with bicycle entries, elevators, safe storage and rider lockers and showers
(5) removing utility poles from pedestrian right-of-way (locating utilities underground)
(6) on street bike corrals

8) Manage the Walk Safe Umbrella Project
a) Sell umbrellas
b) Fund pedestrian safety projects with the fund