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City may pave street by street

LEE PERLMAN
THE MID-COUNTY MEMO

Through Street by Street, a performance-based street initiative, the Portland Bureau of Transportation hopes to provide a way to pave local streets that actually happens.

As PBOT's Christine Leon told the Portland Planning and Sustainability Commission last month, the city has 62 miles of unpaved streets, and 167 miles of streets without curbs. These tend to be concentrated in five areas: Mid-Multnomah County, the Southwest hills, the Cully neighborhood in Northeast Portland, Southeast's Woodstock, and in far flung west Portland, Linnton, in the hills west of the St. Johns Bridge.

Currently, Leon said, the city pursues a one-size fits all approach to street paving. They insist on a high performance design that can accommodate two lanes of traffic, two lanes of parking, a curb and a sidewalk at least eight feet wide. This costs $1,300 to $1,500 per lineal foot to construct, and means the contribution of a property owner with a 50-foot frontage would be $70,000, which Leon said would be “unattainable by most people.” Developers are required to provide this level of street in front of their projects, but the result is isolated and has little practical benefit.

Leon said, “The bureau is looking for more affordable improvement models, and one is a lean, shared street.” In this model, cars, bikes and pedestrians share the street with no clear delineation of separate zones. These would have cost about $300 per lineal foot, costing property owners about $7,500 apiece. Leon emphasized this model can be used only on designated local streets. Streets that are not emergency routes and have no more than 500 vehicle trips per day. They would be designed for vehicles to travel no more than 20 miles per hour.

Commission member Chris Smith endorsed this approach, saying, “Right now we prioritize auto use, then auto storage; and what's left is for people. Why not be bold and say, 'Streets are primarily for people. Cars are allowed, but they're at the bottom of our priorities.' ”

Others were less sure. Commission member Irma Valdez said that in an area without adequate bus service, and with increased density, not providing proper pedestrian facilities could be dangerous. Leon repeated that this approach would be taken only on local streets, and added, “This is better than what we have today.”

Commission chair André Baugh was concerned that providing a lower standard for streets could stigmatize the areas they are located in as lower class communities. In developing such options, “We need the community to come out and participate,” he said. “We need for them to see this as an enhancement of the value of their street.”

Leon said that the city still requires developers to pay the same amount of money for street improvements, but provides flexibility in deciding how the money is used.
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