Trans. Minutes – August 4, 2010
NWDA Transportation Committee
August 4, 2010
Good Samaritan Hospital, Building #2, 2nd floor Conference Room
1040 NE 22nd Avenue
Committee Members Attending
Phil Selinger, Chair
Greg Aldrich
Juliet Hyams
Jeanne Harrison
Sharon Kelly
Dustin Posner
Members Absent
Charlie Grist
Guests
Karl Doppelfeld, Resident
Ron Walters, President, NWDA
Pete Colt, Resident
Mark Schmidtman, Umpqua Bank
Alan Clausen, NW Examiner
Don Genasci, Slabtown
Introductions at 6:00 p.m.
Announcements and committee business
• Karl will be eligible to join the committee at the next meeting. Later in the meeting, a vote was taken with Sharon making a motion and Greg seconding it to have Karl on the committee. The vote was unanimous in favor of the motion.
• Sunday Parkways in NW will be September 26 from 10 am to 3 pm. NWDA will have a booth, probably in Wallace Park. Phil passed out a handout with potential activities and display materials.
• Phil noted that a second neighborhood clean-up is starting at the south end of the neighborhood with the sponsorship of Umpqua Bank.
• Greg attended the Pearl District Pettygrove Greenstreet workshop. He noted that their vision is not the same as ours and they are not interested in our concerns. Pete noted that he wanted Johnson to be a green street. [Note: Steve Pinger also attended the Pettygrove Greenstreet workshop and asked that the block from 16th to 17th be included in the Pearl Pettygrove plan to allow for a good transition into NWDA.] Ron noted that the Mayor said we wouldn’t be getting any help on Pettygrove for at least six months. Ron thinks we should tie the green street into the Slabtown project to get it going and include additional green streets. Karl noted that the UAR has a “green” grant. Jeanne added that the NW 26th and Pettygrove green street facility is under construction. The Pearl District Circulation & Access Committee will not meet until September.
• Dustin reported that the Cornell Road Task Force project (Washington Co. to Lovejoy) was progressing with lots of meetings with city commissioners and their staff and continuing contact with Stuart Gwin (PBOT) on the MTIP process. The committee will continue to look for additional funding sources, but they believe it should be “city-driven.”
• Juliet reported that the Parking committee had its first meeting and said that there was an economic study by consultant, Eric Hovee. She said NWDA members will be reviewing the neighborhood’s positions. A new issue is that the proposed URA includes the MLC parking lot. The Mayor said it is included because of the potential for a parking structure there. Juliet said she gave the Mayor some background information and Ron said the Mayor wants to not pick out single sites or issues to focus on. Sharon said we should be encouraging a holistic approach.
Transportation Committee Work Plan
Phil handed out a draft work plan for 2010-2011. Pete asked that couplets be listed as a work plan item (already included under 3b and 4d). Sharon asked that we add “process” after Slabtown under 3c. Members asked that 3f be modified to something like “Pursue appropriate traffic calming and pedestrian safety improvements on any street in NWDA that would benefit from changes, for example, NW Thurman.” It was suggested that street lighting be added to 1e. In response to a question, Ron noted that the NW Remand process still needs Metro’s approval and that process has slowed down a little.
Phil asked that additional comments come to him by Sunday. He will then circulate it to the committee and finalize it for future Board approval. Greg suggested that we do a field trip to some of the streets in the work plan.
Slabtown Presentation
Don Genasi and Ron Walters said that the recent work was a consolidation of the U of O students from the last two terms and feedback from the four workshops. A future piece of the work will be a set of design standards. The powerpoint presentation showed the key elements of the proposed Urban Design Concept – more public space, a network of green streets and access to the river. The proposal includes three new parks and three pubic squares. Changes to Thurman would create a through street and connections to the river. Right-of-way would be used to create linear green spaces. NW 21st would be strengthened and have wider sidewalks. NW 18th and 19th would be decoupled with 19th being a two-way commercial street and 18th a green street. Allowed densities would rise slightly above the adopted neighborhood plan. No specific designs are being proposed but the basic site size would be 100’ X 100’ to keep the scale small. Higher heights would be allowed near the freeway.
Phil suggested that on-street parking should be kept away from street corners to allow for curb extensions on all corners. Dustin suggested mid-block crossings where there are long blocks.
The Urban Design Concept shows a traffic circle at NW 23rd and Vaughn as a placeholder to indicate a future need for a long-term solution at the intersection. NW 20th would continue as a through street under the freeway, improving connectivity. The curb-to-curb cross-section is shown as 30’, which may not be acceptable to PBOT. Phil asked if some of the streets could be shown as “festival” streets and Don said that could be a possibility, for instance, next to parks and open space. Streetcar alignments are probably premature because they are 10-15 years off, but new lines could be phased to serve new development, get to the river and serve Montgomery Park. Phil said streetcar lines should be thought of in context with bus service and designate transit streets rather than for a specific mode.
Underground (paid) parking would be distributed throughout the area and be shared. NW Naito would be redesigned to be a “normal” commercial street. Heights of buildings would vary from 4-5, 6-8 and 8-10 stories depending on the area. Jeanne noted that the plan should pay more attention to pedestrian circulation and to bicycle circulation and parking.
Next meeting. There was general support for having a walking tour of the south part of the neighborhood before the next meeting starts and try to meet in that part of the neighborhood.
The meeting was adjourned.
Trans. Minutes – July 7, 2010
Northwest District Transportation Committee
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Good Samaritan Hospital, Building #2, 2nd floor Conference Room, 1040 NW 22nd Ave
Members attending: Phil Selinger, Greg Aldrich, Dustin Posner, Sharon Kelly, Jeanne Harrison
Guests: Ron Walters, Allan Clausen, Karl Doppelfeld, Pete Colt, Mark Sieber
Call to order – 6:04 p.m.
Committee Membership
After introductions, Phil told the committee that Devin Liebermann resigned from the Committee because of time conflicts. Bud Clark is moving out of the neighborhood so he has also resigned, and Kim Carlson has also resigned. Karl Doppelfeld, a newly-elected member of the NWDA Board is interested in joining the committee (he will be eligible after the next meeting he attends). Tony Cadena another new board member is also interested in joining and will need to attend three meetings to be eligible.
Future Agendas and Communication
Mark Sieber will post agendas for future meetings to the list serve. Pete Colt asked that the agendas be divided into four sections, to more equitably address transportation issues throughout the neighborhood. The group discussed pros and cons of that approach. Ron Walters says that different address lists can be set up to communicate with a broader audience or just with the committee. He also wants to have a regular email newsletter.
Updates
Sunday Parkways:
September 26 will be the date of the Sunday Parkway event scheduled for NW and a small part of downtown. Rich Cassidy (PBOT staff) attended last month and asked about parking options. Con-way will be allowing their parking lot on 23rd to be used. NWDA filed an application for a booth. Phil asked about what the booth should include as the City wants interactive booth activities. Suggestions from the group included Slabtown displays, 3-dimensional puzzle of the neighborhood to solve, and collecting contact info. Karl, Phil and Ron will come up with a proposal.
Sunday Parkways – Proposed Workplan
Pettygrove Greenstreet:
Jeanne noted that Mauricio LeClerc has postponed the mini-workshop on the Pettygrove Greenstreet but it should be in July. She asked him to notify Steve Pinger, Phil, and John Bradley of the workshop details. Ron said that he wants to wrap the neighborhood’s ideas for the greenstreet into the Slabtown concept to get it in front of City Council.
Pearl Access and Circulation Plan:
Phil noted that this planning effort held its first workshop last month to present existing conditions and modeling results. Jeanne noted that the City and Pearl Access and Circulation committee are starting to come up with a list of possible circulation and access changes for further consideration.
Cornell Coalition:
Dustin reported that once the MTIP (Metro) project process has been completed, Stuart Gwin (PBOT) will help them with an application. Coalition members met with Randy Leonard and Dan Saltzman and will meet with Amanda Fritz next week. They have had a discussion with Mark Lear (PBOT) about fire emergency vehicle-friendly traffic calming devices. PBOT wants to do two demonstration projects.
Parking Task Force:
Ron noted that the Task Force is progressing slowly. Ron said that a Con-way rep has been added as well as Tony (last name) and two business owners.
Portland Plan:
Phil has been tracking the Portland Plan.
Slabtown:
The next workshop will be July 28 at the Coho Theater. Information is on the NWDA website.
Trash Truck Crash:
Phil asked if the committee wanted to do anything to make sure that the two street trees are replaced that were destroyed by the truck crash. Phil will check with Urban Outfitters to see if they plan to replace them.
Burnside/Couch Project
Phil noted that Bill Hoffman (PBOT) was supposed to come to this meeting but declined because of a request from the Mayor to relook at the Enhanced Burnside proposal. It was looked at before and wasn’t pursued because of unacceptable traffic congestion. Bill will come to the September or October meeting. He feels that upper Burnside should be part of the overall project rather than postponed. Greg Aldrich passed out a list of improvements to Burnside that he thinks will help make it a better street. The list includes reducing the speed limit, adding marked crosswalks, changing signal timing, removing sidewalk obstructions, repaving the outside travel lanes, and requiring wider sidewalks from new development. The ensuing discussion talked about traffic calming without pushing traffic onto other neighborhood streets and making the odd intersections more ‘normal’. Other ideas were to leave Couch as it is and putting a reversible lane on Burnside. Dustin made a motion to write a letter that voiced our desire to keep the Committee involved in the process, and to keep upper Burnside linked to the Burnside/Couch project. Sharon seconded the motion and the committee unanimously supported it. Phil will draft a letter and circulate it to the Committee. Ron noted that the Board could consider the issue and letter at its next meeting. Further discussion included the operation of couplets and, it was suggested that people pay attention to how the eastside Burnside/Couch couplet operates once it is completed.
Download Couplet Letter
Transportation Committee Work Plan
The group discussed the current work plan and made some suggestions for changes. Sharon suggested something that was less of a wish list would be more like a real work plan. Pete asked that the 18th/19th couplet be added to the list of priorities. The group generally agreed that a work plan should focus on what the Committee wants to advocate for and to prioritize efforts. Phil will draft an update for discussion by the committee and try to better link the work plan with the adopted NWDP. The work plan should give direction to the committee and let the Board know what we are working on. The need for better communication was discussed.
Miscellaneous
A resident on NW Wilson asked Phil whether the Committee could support his desire to get a sidewalk installed between NW 29th and 30th adjacent to a vacant lot. While the Committee was supportive, it agreed that there wasn’t much that it could do to help.
Phil said he was willing to contact the postmaster about the problematic drop-off configuration at the 97210 post-office and see if it could be reconfigured to avoid the conflicts that occur now.
The meeting adjourned around 7:32 p.m.
Trans. Minutes – June 2, 2010
NWDA Transportation Committee
June 2, 2010
Good Samaritan Hospital, Building #2, 2nd floor Conference Room
1040 NE 22nd Avenue
Committee Members Attending:
Phil Selinger, Chair
Greg Aldrich
Juliet Hyams
Jeanne Harrison
Sharon Kelly
Dustin Posner
Members Absent
Kim Carlson
Charlie Grist
Scott Seibert, excused
Devin Liebmann, excused
Guests
Rich Cassidy, City of Portland, Bureau of Transportation
Karl Doppelfeld, Resident
John Bradley, NWDA Planning Committee
Jill Long, Con-way
Pete Colt, Resident
Stan Penkin, Resident/Better Burnside Alliance
Jackie Gordon, Better Burnside Alliance
Mark Sieber, NWNW
Mark Schmidtman, Umpqua Bank
Alan Clausen, NW Examiner
Ron Walters – NWDA Board
After introductions at 6:00 p.m., Phil Selinger noted a change in the agenda to allow Rich Cassidy to present material about Sunday Parkways. He noted that the May minutes will be reviewed next month.
Sunday Parkways
Rich Cassidy explained the purpose and history of Sunday Parkways and announced that the fifth event this year would be in Northwest on September 26 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. One portion of the route, on Stark and Couch will not open until 11 a.m. because of another event. The Pearl Business Association will be actively involved particularly on NW 13th which will include an artwalk on stubs of Davis and Flanders. There will be numerous activities in Couch and Wallace Park with the focus being on Wallace Park which offers more room for activities. Rich explained that there will be several mailings to residents to let them know about the event. There will be approximately 300 volunteers plus police at intersections to allow vehicles through as needed. The Committee noted that there may be concerns about the removal of on-street parking during the event. Parking patterns are not the same on Sunday as during weekday street-sweeping. Rich will coordinate with Juliet Hyams to try to find alternative locations where residents can park during the event, such as the synagogue, Good Sam, Con-way, etc. The Committee expressed preliminary interest in having a booth at the event. Rich can be contacted at Rich.Cassiday@portland.or.gov with questions, to volunteer, or if NWDA wishes to have a booth at the event.
Updates
NW 23rd: Phil Selinger provided update on the NW 23 reconstruction noting it was done two weeks ahead of schedule. The group asked him to send Jean Senechal Biggs a thank you.
Slabtown
Greg Aldrich noted that the Slabtown Committee will be meeting twice a month during the summer with one of the students who had worked on the project to meld the three concepts into one and then bring back the result to the neighborhood at the end of summer. The next phase will start in September. Student presentations will be displayed on June 3 from 6 – 9 p.m. at 411 Park Avenue on the 4th floor. The next Slabtown meeting is from 5:30 – 7 p.m. next Monday in the Legacy Northrup conference room and then the second and fourth Mondays except for the next one, which will be on the 28th.
Pettygrove Greenstreet
Jeanne noted that Mauricio LeClerc of the Portland Bureau of Transportation, manager of the Pearl District Access and Circulation Plan does not have any way of incorporating the Pettygrove Greenstreet in our neighborhood into his project. John Bradley will mention the City’s commitment and lack of action on the Greenstreet in his testimony on the remand since the greenstreet was part of the resolution that was passed earlier. Phil noted that the 26th/Pettygrove greenstreet design probably is not possible to change at that this date, but noted that we do not want it to set a precedent for the overall greenstreet design. Phil will try to find out more about what coordination is happening between BES and PBOT.
Collision Rebuilders expansion
John Bradley noted that the Bureau of Development Services approved that design for Collision Rebuilders to expand northward, but PBOT nixed the new curb cut.
Cornell Coalition
Dustin Posner said the City installed radar monitoring at the Audubon site, but took down the 20 mph signs and added a 35 mph sign at the speed bumps. The city has been told about this problem and it should be corrected.
NW Remand Follow-up
The hearing on the remand will be June 10 at 2 p.m. at City Council. John explained the extent of the remand rezonings and traffic issues and noted that there is a revised report. The group discussed the assumptions behind the traffic analysis and whether the proposed mitigation at 23rd/Vaughn will come soon enough and be effective. In particular, Ron Walters expressed concern over the population and employment projections that were used as input to the transportation analysis. He noted that the projections appear to be too low to be credible. John will be preparing testimony for the hearing.
Burnside-Couch Couplet
A handout was provided summarizing the status of this project and the concerns expressed by the Better Burnside Alliance and neighbor, Pete Colt. Maps were also available for reference. Phil noted that he went to the Chinatown-Old Town meeting last night to hear a Burnside-Couch couplet presentation by PBOT. Phil noted that the Eastside couplet project is well into construction and even operation and that the City is interested in an interim implementation on the west side of the river. Ralph Swanson is the PBOT manager for the project, which has been scaled back into a phase one project from 2nd to 15th, but without the streetcar. This phase will cost $16 million plus another $1.2 million for the Phase 2 Streetcar Alternatives Analysis and will include no major construction (so as not to “throw away” any improvements in the future phases), but will paint curb extensions and add planters to widen sidewalks and separate pedestrians and cars. Head-in parking (170 spaces) would be added to the lower blocks, north of the median. Phase 2 would install the streetcar, but is not likely to be implemented for 8-10 years given funding expectations. Karl Dopplefeld and Pete Colt spoke about the dangerous intersection 16th and Burnside. Phil noted that Bill Hoffman from PBOT will come to next month’s meeting to talk more about the project from 15th west. Jackie Gordon and Stan Penkin of the Better Burnside Alliance presented their group’s perspective on the project and noted that traffic will quadruple on Couch. Jackie noted that Phase 1 doesn’t deliver much in the way of pedestrian improvements and noted that other studies have described other ways of fixing Burnside, including a plan called WBEEP that was done by consultants for the City in conjunction with the Brewery Blocks project, but hasn’t yet been presented to City Council. These guests provided handouts describing and supporting their positions. Phil asked the Committee how it wanted to weigh in on this. Greg said he does not support the couplet, but does think improvements are needed. Phil noted that PBOT staff say new signals would slow traffic to between 12 and 15 mph, consistent with other streets in the downtown grid. Ron Walters said he thought the project impacts our neighborhood and that we should take a position. Mark Sieber noted that the neighborhood’s previous position was to support the changes primarily as it related to west of 16th because it would have resulted in some pedestrian improvements and slower traffic. He noted that since then, our part of the project has been chopped off and there is no guarantee that our part of Burnside Street would benefit. Phil noted that the streetcar using the couplet could end up turning north, using 18th and 19th and Pete noted that was not consistent with the neighborhood’s recommendations on the Streetcar Master Plan and that he opposed that. Dustin noted that the streetcar could go north on several streets and that a preferred route had not yet been chosen. Mark said he wasn’t sure that the City realized that there may be less support for the Phase 1 project than the project as a whole. Ron noted that urban renewal boundaries will impact where the streetcar will go. Dustin wants us to have more information about the alternative (WBEEP) plan and isn’t committed either way at this point, but does believe that Phase 2 will happen. Jeanne noted that she has concerns about elements of Phase 1.
Phil adjourned the meeting at 7:50 p.m. and noted that we will hear more next month about the Burnside/Couch project.
Trans. Minutes – May 5, 2010
NWDA Transportation Committee Minutes
May 5, 2010
Present: Jeanne Harrison, Bill Welch, Jill Long (Lane Powell for Con-way), John Bradley, Dustin Posner, Don Genasci, Juliet Hyams, Mark Sieber, Steve Pinger, Allan Classen (NW Examiner)
Members excused: Greg Aldrich, Devin Leibmann, Kim Carlson
City representation: Joe Zender (Bureau of Planning and Sustainability), Sandra Wood (also BPS)
The committee approved minutes from April’s mtg. with changes. The May mtg. was a joint mtg. with the NWDA Planning Committee to discuss the NW District Plan remand.
Steve Pinger reviewed the Pettygrove green street at NW 26th. He identified two issues:
1. We proposed moving the curb north to allow a south curb extension. City approved, but there was no follow up.
2. City also included a jog of traffic lanes to the curb.
Steve thinks all goals are achievable. Precedent supports less than a 20-foot throat. Need to set our precedent correctly. ODOT standards are as low as 14′ (Don). Steve will provide paperwork so Phil (?) can follow up with the city.
Joe Zender discussed the remand north of Pettygrove is the issue, along with the traffic analysis and its effects on Vaughn and the I-405 ramp. Metro has upgraded its transportation model. The big issues are:
1. industrial portions that were rezoned to EX
2. parcels at the north end, like Aramark
3. industrial properties north of Vaughn, which were changed to commercial and will therefore generate many more vehicle trips.
The process will involve a series of meetings, which culminate at City Council to put back the 2003 zonings. Includes a May 19 open house from 6:30-8 p.m. in the Wistar-Morris Room. Will go to Council on June 10th.
A long discussion ensued about the traffic analysis and the validity of Metro’s projections. Jeanne Harrison mentioned that Metro’s past models under-counted real development because they assume that brownfield sites (site requiring clean up) develop more slowly than green. John Bradley observed that they assume 1000 new households, while the NWDP calls for 2000 just in Con-way. Households constitute better trips than jobs.
John: North of Lovejoy in the Pearl assumes a 40% model split. Joe: The City assumes 6-10%. The master plan provision should address unexpected levels of impact and transportation mgmt. via parking revenues. This could be a classic model. Phil: A TMA is usually employment-based. Don: Make assumptions and findings clear at the open house.
The meeting adjourned at 7:30.
Respectfully submitted,
Juliet Hyams
Trans. Minutes – Apr. 7, 2010
April NWDA Transportation Committee Meeting Minutes
April 7, 2010, 6:00 p.m.
Present: Mark Sieber, Dustin Posner, Devin Leibmann, Jeanne Harrison, Greg Aldrich, Mark Schmidtman (Umpqua Bank), Juliet Hyams, Allan Classen, Phil Selinger, Ron Walters, Janet Filips Legacy, Steve Pinger
Joel Weishaus and Bud Clark are no longer committee members. Kim Carlson wants to stay on it. We should confirm Sharon Kelly’s intentions. Scott Seibert is no longer the co-chair.
Jeanne reported on the Pearl Circulation and Transportation Plan. Pettygrove greenstreet is a high priority for the Pearl too. They are updating their ROW standards and Pettygrove is one of the ROWs to be updated.
Steve Pinger commented that a meeting regarding the Pettygrove greenstreet two years ago with the city and others produced action items which included the reclassification of Pettygrove and the initiation of an “early starts” pilot project. He noted two events since then: 2 developments on Pettygrove have been relatively easy to bring into conformance. 26th and Pettygrove is harder to get into alignment. The draft NWDA greenstreet plan proposes to reduce the curb-to-curb width by 8 feet, increasing the planting area to the N. side, and provide curb extensions at all intersections. The roadway width is analogous to NW Quimby. There would be 2 travel lanes and 2 parking lanes in 28 feet. The Pearl proposes a 20’ roadway width with no parking from the 16th to 11th. Good support from 2 projects is developing. They aren’t concerned about parking. The city’s issue is parking revenue.
We should collaborate with the Pearl. The greenstreet needs to be understood as the gain of neighborhood parks and their connection rather than in terms of the loss of parking. Make Pettygrove an extension of the Fields Park.
BES wants to get the neighborhood to manage greenspaces. That should come with money. The precedent is that grants don’t work. Under the freeway affects ODOT. We need a street reclassification and to designate a section.
The remand starts at Pettygrove and may present an opportunity. Jeanne mentioned that the Pearl committee is identifying issues:
- a Lovejoy/Northrup couplet
- a Flanders pedestrian bridge
- circulation around the brewery
- possibly changing the N. Parkblocks street directions with the bike improvements
- NW Naito Parkway
- cross section for NW Marshall
- street standards for NW 13th, 14th (truck street), and 15th
- more signalized crossings
- a Transportation Management Association (TMA)
- pedestrian bridges over Naito Parkway
The process should continue through the Spring of 2011
There will be a Pettygrove workshop — no dates yet — and 3 open houses. Another transportation analysis and modeling evaluation criteria and preferred circulation plan. It’s a very ambitious process. They will meet monthly, Mondays or Tuesdays. They need modeling if changing 2-way sts to 1-way.
Members (Justin?) observed that Naito is part of NW, and ped bridges will speed traffic.
Mark reported on proposed cutbacks to the Northwest Clean Sweep Program, noting that the neighborhood might want to make sure that at least the storm sewers are kept clear.
Jeanne also gave a brief update on the City’s proposed Sidewalk Management Plan, which has become controversial, pitting downtown merchants with homeless advocacy organizations. There is also the notion of merging this with the other sidewalk management regulations pertaining to cafes and street furniture. Dumpsters are also a pert of this picture, with our neighborhood’s Dan Anderson tracking the growing list of requested exemptions.
Ron provided a very brief process update for the Slabtown Plan, noting that there is interest in putting in more resources and time (via the U of O students) to produce a single plan scenario.
The committee also discussed topics for future committee consideration. These include bikes and bike corrals, trucks on NW Vaughn, reconfiguration of the NW 26th & Pettygrove mailboxes to eliminate the unsafe crossover of cars accessing the curbside mail drop-off.
Meeting adjourned at 7:25 pm.
Respectfully submitted with edits from Phil Selinger and Steve Pinger,
Juliet Hyams
Trans. Minutes – Mar. 3, 2010
NWDA Transportation Committee
Minutes of the March 3, 2010 mtg.
Attendees: Juliet Hyams, Mark Sieber, Devin Liegman, Phil Selinger, Scott Seibert, Dustin Posner, Jeanne Harrison, Tavo Cruz, Ron Walters, Greg Aldrich
We discussed the future of the committee. We need volunteers for the following roles:
- representative to the Pearl circulation committee chaired by Mauricio Leclerc
- a liaison from transportation to the planning committee regarding green sts
Jeanne Harrison volunteered to be the green streets rep. She commented that many pieces are ready to fall into place on the project. We (Sam) should get the respective bureaus together. Perhaps Tom Miller
can help.
Ron will ask the Slabtown committee for a Pearl representative. Jeanne will attend the planning committee tomorrow.
Juliet reviewed progress on the parking issue.
Scott moved that the committee ask the board to ask the mayor to uphold the resolution from last fall. Dustin 2nd. Motion passed.
Scott will draft a letter with a signature stamp and send to Juliet for 3/12 mtg. w/Adams.
Phil reported on the statuses of various transportation plans:
- The bike plan is approved.
- The Cornell Road Sustainability Coalition is trying to build consensus for its planning efforts. Paul Smith and Peter Stark may pursue MTIP money, which is 4 years out.
- The Portland Plan people could present a neighborhood-sized version to us, could address issue of 20-minute neighborhoods. Could this be for our annual mtg.?
- The Regional Transportation Plan is in the final stages of adopting the state-approved version of the plan; it translates to the transportation system plan, which applies at the local level.
Ron reported on the Slabtown committee. Survey results are on the website. The next workshop is 3/18. The stcar figures prominently in all students’ work, as does a connection to the river.
Mark — Legacy Shared Parking: We are supposed to get regular reports from them. They may expand the hours and lot. The ordinance expired in 2004, council never adopted the CTMP. It needs renewal; s/b with Legacy, Nob Hill and the NWDA. It was supposed to be park of the 2003 pkg. plan.
Legacy workers can park adjacent to the hospital.
Why is the shared pkg not used more? Should there be an automatic renewal plan? Is signage adequate? Should there be bulletin boards at transit stops?
The committee adjourned at 7:30.
- Juliet Hyams
Trans. Minutes – May 6, 2009
May Transportation Committee meeting
Wed. May 6, 2009
6:00pm
Members present: Kim Carlson, Scott Siebert, Jeanne Harrison, Sharon Kelly, Bud Clark, Joel Weishaus, Charlie Grist, Devin Liebmann, Greg Aldrich
Guests: John Bradley, Courtney Duke, Ron Walters, Dustin Posner, Brian Sheehan, Juliet Hyams, Mark Sieber, Josie Reznik, Don Singer, Allan Classen
Remand: A big thank you goes out to Jeanne Harrison who worked with the City staff to obtain more clarity about the pending report and did a fantastic job presenting it at the meeting. City staff will fine tune a “draft final” report and Brian Sheehan will send Jeanne and me the weblink when it is available for everyone to view and comment. We also requested that Brian send us the steps for adopting the report as final and, if available, a timeline.
The committee expressed a desire:
1. for more specifics on the transportation changes made since the first rating to result in these upgrades;
2. for more information on the model is desired; and
3. to know what the different levels of service mean.
Garage on 26th: Charlie Grist moved, Bud Clark seconded, to send a recommendation to the NWDA Board to support the Appeal of the zero setback on the proposed garage because of safety concerns. The motion carried (8 in favor, 0 opposed, 1 abstention)
Proposed Urban reserve in Washington County: A group of 8 meeting attendees agreed to sign a letter drafted by Kim Carlson to the Multnomah County Reserves Citizens Advisory Committee expressing expansion of urban reserves North of Highway 26 because we know it results in an increase in traffic congestion through our neighborhood. Click here to read the letter (Word document).
Scott Siebert moved, Devin Liebmann seconded, to send a recommendation to the NWDA Board to support the position described in the attached letter. The motion carried (7 in favor, 0 opposed, 0 abstensions)
Cornell Coalition: Dustin Posner, neighbor and resident on Cornell, will attend Cornell Coalition meetings and report back to this committee when decisions from it are needed.
Transportation Minutes – April 1, 2009
April Transportation Committee meeting
Wed. April 1, 2009
6:00pm
NW Library
Agenda
6:00-6:05 Introductions
6:05-6:30 Welcome Brian Sheehan, West Portland Planner, PBPS to bring us up-to-date on the
transportation impacts of proposed development on Vaughn St., including data from the Metro tranportation study. This issue, known as “the Remand”, surfaces at least annually. Interest in
this issue is high due to anticipated development in the North Pearl, Con-way and along a proposed streetcar alignment that may someday reach Montgomery Park.
6:30-6:55 Welcome Ross Swanson and Bill Hoffman, PBOT, and Young Park, TriMet, to bring us up-to-date information related to West Burnside improvements that will enhance pedestrian safety, tame traffic and facilitate transit connections. In particular, we’ll hear about and provide feedback on a planned pedestrian island on the south side of Burnside at Morrison and NW 20th Place. Installation of this island is anticipated for this May 2009.
6:55-7:00 Closing
7:00 Adjourn
Transportation Minutes – March 4, 2009
NWDA Transportation Committee meeting
March 4, 2009
6:00pm
NW Library
Members Present: Kim Carlson, Devin Liebmann, Jeanne Harrison, Joel Weishaus, Charlie Grist, Greg Aldrich, Sharon Kelly
Member Excused: Bud Clark
Guests: Mark Sieber (NWNW), Peter Mason (PBOT), Mark Lear (PBOT), Don Singer, Steve Pinger, Allan Classen (Examiner)
Preserving NW 24th Avenue as a Bike Blvd and a Safe Route to Chapman School
Re-routing trucks: Peter Mason of PBOT has been talking with Starbucks, TriMet and the US Postal Service in an effort to redirect trucks and buses from 24th Ave to other more appropriate streets. Starbucks has offered to direct their trucks to use 23rd Ave. in a desire to be a good neighbor. Tri-met and USPS needs specific unit # and time of day/night in order to take action. Jeanne Harrison noted that there is a “NO TRUCK” sign posted Northbound on 24th Ave. at Lovejoy. Kim Carlson verified that there are two “NO TRUCK” signs posted Southbound on 24th at Vaughn, one on each side of the street.
Discouraging motor vehicles: Mark Lear of PBOT talked with us about ways to reverse the steadily increasing volume and speed of motor vehicles on NW 24th Ave. particularly between Lovejoy and Vaughn. Mark verified the steadily increasing volumes in traffic and City willingness to make the investment in traffic diversion tools to preserve the quality of the Bike Blvd. The time is right based on the development of the Bike Master Plan and the fact that any further increase in traffic may make it more difficult to implement solutions. Charlie Grist and Devin Liebmann expressed interest in working with Mark Lear to come up with solutions and placement for best effect. They will bring those to a future committee.
Miscellaneous business:
The committee considered two transportation related bullet points in a draft letter to Amanda Fritz about Con-Way development in anticipation of meeting with Juliet Hyams and John Bradley. Greg Aldrich moved, Sharon Kelly seconded, and the committee voted unanimously in favor of the following change: FROM “Address the Remand: In order to make informed choices concerning FAR and parking limits we must know the carrying capacity of the infrastructure as it relates to automobiles.”
TO “Resolve the Remand: Involve the NWDA in the remand solution. It is critical for FAR, parking limits, and a functional multi-modal transportation system that works in our neighborhood.”
Sharon Kelly moved, Greg Aldrich seconded, and the committee voted unanimously in favor of the following change:
FROM “Commit to a Level of Transit Services: Again, in order to understand how much parking is needed and to reduce reliance on the automobile we must understand what intensity of mass transit services will be provided to this area.”
TO “Address Level of Transit Needs: Establish the level of transit services needed to adequately serve existing and future growth.”
The committee did not have time to discuss the Cornell Coalition draft position statement. Members were asked to read it and provide comments to Kim who will compile and submit them as ideas to consider in a group discussion with other Cornell Coalition members prior to making the statement final.
Adjourn at 7:45pm
Transportation Minutes – February 2, 2009
NWDA Transportation Committee meeting
February 2, 2009
6:30pm
NW Cultural Center
Members present: Kim Carlson, Jeanne Harrison, Bud Clark, Sharon Kelly, Devin Liebmann, Greg Aldrich, Joel Weishaus (Scott Siebert, Charlie Grist – excused)
Pedestrian Rights Clinic, sponsored by Willamette Pedestrian Coalition and Neighbors West Northwest and presented by Ray Thomas.
