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There will be a series of public open houses in May that will deal with both the Streetcar Systems Plan, defining future routes for the cars, and an update of the city’s Bicycle Master Plan. That the two processes will be dealt with jointly is not a coincidence. Bicycle and streetcar riders both want to go to many of the same destinations but, because it is difficult and dangerous for bikes to ride on streetcar tracks, having them use the same routes is problematic unless special care is taken. The open house for east Portland will be May 6 at David Douglas High School, 6941 N.E. 130th Ave. and, like the sessions in all other parts of town, it will be from 4 to 7 p.m.
According to Project Manager Tom Armstrong, the Eastside MAX Station Communities Project staff will have an open house to present their recommendations from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on June 11 at the East Portland Community Center, 740 S.E. 106th Ave. The project is an attempt to stimulate and remove barriers to transit-related development near the 60th, 82nd, Parkrose-Sumner, 122nd, 148th and 162nd MAX stations, and to propose improvements to make the stations easier and safer for bicyclists and pedestrians to reach.
Cascade Station adds new occupants
Cascade Station, the 120-acre retail shopping center, hotel and office complex at the southwest corner of Airport Way and I-205, is adding new hotel and office occupants to match its retail growth.
In a report to the Portland Development Commission board last month, PDC staffer Bruce Allen reported that the U.S. General Services Administration has contracted with the Trammell Crow Company to build a 140,000 square foot building — capable of being expanded to 180,000 feet — on a vacant site near the northwest corner of the property. This will house a new office for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In addition, GSA has also made an earnest deposit on a second 4.9-acre parcel to the east of the first for purposes unknown at this time. Meanwhile, three of four planned new hotels are making progress. The Aloft Hotel is open and operating, a Residence Inn is nearing completion and a Hyatt Place is under construction. A fourth hotel being developed by the Canterbury Group on a 2.1-acre site near the center of the complex has stalled for financial reasons.
Trammell Crow and the Bechtel Corporation were awarded the right to develop Cascade Station on a long-term lease in exchange for donating $28 million toward the creation of the MAX Light Rail Red Line, which goes through the center of the 1.2-mile property. The land lay fallow for several years until, in response to an appeal by Trammell Crow, the city agreed to relax its original ban of big box development in the complex, allowing large-scale retail buildings on three sites. Ikea now occupies one of these sites. Since then, there has been extensive retail development.
TriMet to cut 102nd service
Ignoring the pleas of Mid-county residents, TriMet is proceeding with service cuts, including some that would leave a portion of Northeast 102nd Avenue with no bus service at all.
TriMet warned of potential bus route eliminations and cuts in service on others due to declining revenues from fares and payroll tax revenues in March, and published a specific list of such potential cuts. At a hearing last month, General Manager Fred Hanson made much of the agency’s responsiveness to the input received, saying that cuts to Line 152-Milwaukie, Line 89-Tanasbourne and Line 63-Washington Park were restored when it was shown they would leave critical, transit-dependent populations with no way to get to their destinations. However, TriMet left intact changes to Line 15-Belmont/N.W.23rd that on weekends would reduce service to being hourly between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m.; on weekdays provide 15-minute service only between 8:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. — instead of the present 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. — and eliminate all service between the Gateway and Parkrose-Sumner transit stations. This last change would eliminate all bus service for this part of Northeast 102nd Avenue.
Teresa Frakes testified that for her, the change would mean she would have to walk one-and-a-half miles on 102nd Avenue to access a bus, an area where sidewalks are intermittent. The time change would also mean she would have to run to catch the last Line 15 bus to go downtown.
TriMet is also proposing to run Line 27-Main/Market only during rush hours rather than continuously between 5:30 a.m. and 6 p.m., and to make other service reductions to Line 10-Harold and Line 12-Sandy.
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