Community for Positive Aging-
Hollywood Senior Center
In celebration of International Women’s Month we are
offering a speaker series with Q&A entitled,
“Honoring Accomplished
Women in Oregon”

Friday, March 11th, 10-11am
Tawna Sanchez, Oregon State Representative,
NAYA Director of Family Services

Friday, March 18th, 10-11am
Diane Linn, Proud Ground Executive Director

Friday, March 25th, 10-11am
Stacey Rice, Storyteller, Educator, and Consultant

Option to Zoom at home or “Live Zoom” in-person at
the Hollywood Senior Center. To join this speaker
series, visit the CFPA-HSC Events Calendar at
http://www.communityfpa.org/events-calendar
or contact the Hollywood Senior Center at
503-288-8303 or staff@hollywoodseniorcenter.org

East Columbia Neighborhood Association

2209 N. Schofield Street

Portland, OR 97217

Kayla Dunn 18 February 2022

Interstate Bridge Replacement Program

Kayla.Dunn@interstatebridge.org

Dear Ms Dunn,

Thank you for the ongoing opportunity to review and comment as plans evolve to replace the Interstate Bridge that carries I-5 traffic between Oregon and Washington. Public involvement is a key component of developing a project like this but it comes at a cost. Public participation involves many hours of open community discussion and relies on many individuals being focused on values and goals, while being guided by past personal experiences.

Replacing the Interstate Bridge is much more than removing on old structure and adding an improved new one. It is an opportunity to improve the livability of our greater community. The Environmental Impact Study, Purpose and Need statement, produced for the original CRC project included:

• Growing travel demand and congestion
• Impaired freight movement
• Limited public transportation operation, connectivity, and reliability
• Safety and vulnerability to incidents
• Substandard bicycle and pedestrian facilities
• Seismic vulnerability

It is difficult to decern how the present Interstate Bridge Replacement (IBR) project addresses these. To date involved public participants have asked for traffic flow and congestion study information. Apparently, they are not yet available. Information on the bridge size and layout have been requested but this information is also not available. Elements from the Common Sense Approach, CSA, promoted by George Crandall and mass-transit advocate Jim Howell, and Robert Liberty, offer interesting solutions to acknowledged transportation ills created at the Interstate Bridge and adjacent highways. Though rejected in the past, elements of the CSA should be placed back on the table for consideration. The present IBR process feels too much like a redo of the failed Columbia River Crossing project.

Those of us that live in the area are greatly impacted by incredible traffic congestion and the air pollution associated with it. Congestion alone, impacts general livability as trips are planned or canceled based on traffic conditions. Local and interstate commerce is hampered by congestion influenced travel times. Routinely, north bound I-5 traffic is backed up between Marine Drive and Rosa Parks from 8am until 10am and again from 4pm until 7pm.  East bound traffic on North Marine Drive, at the MLK, I-5 interchange is impassable daily from 4pm to 7pm

The East Columbia Neighborhood Association is unable to recommend any of the proposed IBR plans due to a lack of factual information. Specifically, we need to understand traffic flows, congestion expectations, and related functional information. We believe that the right IBR solution solves the traffic congestion at peak hours, limits backups that impact neighborhood travel, and routes freight traffic onto appropriate roadways at Columbia Blvd. and Lombard Street.

Sincerely,

Gary M Kunz, Chairman

East Columbia Neighborhood Association

cc:

Mayor Ted Wheeler mayorwheeler@portlandoregon.gov

Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty joann@portlandoregon.gov

Commissioner Mingus Mapps Mappsoffice@portlandoregon.gov

Commissioner Carmen Rubio comm.rubio@portlandoregon.gov

Commissioner Dan Ryan CommissionerRyanOffice@portlandoregon.gov

Representative Travis Nelson Rep.TravisNelson@oregonlegislature.gov

Bi-State Legislative Committee – Oregon

Co-Chair Senator Lee Beyer Sen.LeeBeyer@oregonlegislature.gov

Co-Chair Representative Susan McLain rep.susanmclain@oregonlegislature.gov

Senator Brian Boquist Sen.BrianBoquist@oregonlegislature.gov

Senator Lynn Findley Sen.LynnFindley@oregonlegislature.gov

Senator Lew Fredrick Sen.LewFrederick@oregonlegislature.gov

Representative Shelly Boshart Davis Rep.ShellyBoshartDavis@oregonlegislature.gov

Representative Karin Power Rep.KarinPower@oregonlegislature.gov

Representative Greg Smith rep.gregsmith@oregonlegislature.gov

Bi-State Legislative Committee – Washington

Co-Chair Senator Annette Cleveland Annette.cleveland@leg.wa.gov

Co-Chair Representative Brandon Vick brandon.vick@leg.wa.gov

Co-Chair Senator Lynda Wilson Lynda.Wilson@leg.wa.gov

Co-Chair Representative Sharon Wylie Megan.Walsh@leg.wa.gov

Senator Steve Hobbs steve.hobbs@leg.wa.gov

Senator Ann Rivers ann.rivers@leg.wa.gov

Representative Jake Fey jake.fey@leg.wa.gov

Representative Paul Harris paul.harris@leg.wa.gov

Sunderland Right-of-Way Vacation
February 17, 2022
In our part of town, there is a stretch along Marine Dr. between 33rd Ave. and Bridgeton Rd. where the 40 Mile Loop remains unfinished. It is a trail that runs westward along the south of Marine Dr. up until it crosses under the 33rd Ave. bridge, where it ends abruptly at a private property owned by WPC Marine LLC, and leased to Herc Rentals, a company that sells & leases heavy industrial equipment.

The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) retained an unimproved right-of-way for the 40 Mile Loop trail that cuts across WPC Marine’s property, and the lease agreement with Herc Rentals allows them to use it for vehicle storage. Recently, WPC Marine has requested that the City vacate (do away with) the right-of-way and incorporate that property into their site.

The “40 Mile Loop” is actually a 140-mile-long connected trail system that encircles much of Portland. It was first envisioned as part of Forest Park when the City was being beautified for the upcoming Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition of 1905. Over the years, an expanded idea was to connect a series of parks around the city by a trail that would be suitable for walking and bicycling, as well
as some opportunities for strollers, wheelchairs, skating, skateboarding, horseback riding, canoeing, and kayaking. With the encouragement of the City, suburban cities, federal agencies, conservationists, and civic groups, an alliance known as the 40-Mile Loop Land Trust was formed to continue advocacy for the project; but to this day, a continuous loop has yet to be established.

The impact on us of vacating this right-of-way would be that those of us in Bridgeton and East Columbia who might want to enjoy taking the 40 Mile Loop eastward would be out of luck. There are few residents in Sunderland, where the right-of-way is located, and their neighborhood association is not consistently active, so they haven’t weighed in.

As part of its process for deciding on such requests, the City considered a number of criteria, including adopted plans for public services, transportation, utilities, storm water, viewpoints, landscaping, pedestrian amenities, and community or commercial uses; and whether such criteria might be handled in alternate ways. There is no necessity for a public benefit criterion, so they didn’t need to require any showing that the vacation is in the public’s interest – only that it doesn’t hurt the public’s need.

The City’s Planning & Sustainability Commission (PSC) held its evaluation of the issue on January 25, and decided that the above criteria do not prevent them from granting the landowner’s request. It considered that, while a deviation of the path around the private property would add some 90-degree turns, which are not ideal, it makes the most sense. Based on that recommendation, the Bureau of Development Services (BDS) approved the vacation with the condition that the property owner will grant a 30-foot easement for construction of the recreational trail. It is an appealable decision.
Patrick Henry
East Columbia Land Use Chairman
patrickhenryinator@gmail.com