Category Archives: transportation planning

N/NE Quadrant / Stakeholder Advisory Committee

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A Stakeholder Advisory Committee (SAC) is being formed to advise project staff and make recommendations to the Portland City Council and the Director of the Oregon Department Transportation on policy and project proposals resulting from the N/NE Quadrant and I-5 Broadway/Weidler planning process. The committee will have approximately 30 members, with wide representation from area stakeholders and community interests, including: business and neighborhood associations, property owners, affordable housing, cultural heritage, the environment, economic equity, labor, urban design and transportation.

Subcommittees of the SAC will be formed to address specific issues, such as transportation, land use and urban design, and will include additional stakeholders with expertise and interest in the topic issues. Subcommittees will help frame the issues for the full SAC, especially on specific subject areas requiring more analysis and input. SAC and subcommittee meetings will be open to the public and have opportunities for public comment. Agenda, minutes and materials will be posted on this website as they are available.

A Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), representing public agencies with specialized expertise related to the plan and implementation, will serve as a resource for the SAC throughout the planning process.

More information about the SAC process and procedures may be found in the Draft Stakeholder Advisory Committee Collaboration Principles.

N/NEQ News: Are you interested in serving on the Central N/NE Quadrant Plan Stakeholder Advisory Committee?

The City of Portland and the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) are seeking applications for two “at-large” positions in order to broaden the diversity of perspectives on the Stakeholder Advisory Committee.

The project will launch with the first SAC meeting on September 16, 2010 (tentative date) and is expected to take approximately 18 months to complete. The SAC will meet approximately 12 times during that period. The deadline to submit an application for an “at-large” position is September 3, 2010. See the Application Form for more information

Get Involved–click here!

NECN to Form CRC Subcommittee

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The Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods is forming a LUTC (Land Use and Transportation Committee) subcommittee to consider how the neighborhoods can continue to advocate for a Columbia River Crossing project that increases neighborhood livability.

If you are interested in working on this issue, please join in on Friday, August 13th at 8am at the Cadillac Café at 1801 NE Broadway. Please let us know you’ll be coming so we can look out for you! Contact Shoshana Cohen at Shosana@necoalition.org

CRC Public Meeting and News

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News from the Columbia River Crossing Project:

The public is invited to provide input Aug. 5 on set of draft recommendations for Columbia River Crossing project
The Columbia River Crossing Project Sponsors Council encourages testimony Thursday, Aug. 5, at a public meeting on draft recommendations related to several project elements, including the Hayden Island interchange and I-5 bridge.
Residents, businesses and interested community members are invited to attend the meeting to learn about the draft recommendations and provide input directly to PSC co-chair Steve Horenstein. The recommendations are the result of assignments from the PSC to the Integrated Project Sponsors Council Staff (IPS) group to collaboratively address several questions. Meeting topics include project performance measures, techniques to manage traffic after construction, transportation and land-use modeling, the number of I-5 bridge lanes, and the latest design concept for the Hayden Island interchange.
Earlier Hayden Island interchange concepts were presented to island residents and stakeholders at two public meetings in June. The concepts have continued to evolve as a result of stakeholder input and the latest concept (“Concept D”) will be discussed Aug. 5. This week Hayden Island stakeholders and staff from the City of Portland and Metro reached consensus on this newest concept.
After a brief presentation, attendees can share their opinions about the draft recommendations. Comments can be given verbally, in writing or online.
The meeting is scheduled for:
Thursday, August 5, 2010 | 5 – 8 p.m.
(Presentation at 6 p.m.; public testimony to follow)
Jantzen Beach SuperCenter, Community Room (Across from the food court)
1405 Jantzen Beach Center, Portland, OR

More information is available online. The public also can submit comments and questions specifically to the PSC through an online comment form.

The meeting site is accessible to persons with disabilities. Accommodations for people with disabilities or people needing language interpretation can be arranged with advance notice by calling the Columbia River Crossing project at 866-396-2726. Persons who are deaf or hard of hearing may contact CRC through the Telecommunications Relay Service at 7-1-1.
Metro finds CRC toll bridge with light rail would have negligible impact on growth
The Metro regional government released the findings of its forecast of the population and employment growth that would result from building the Columbia River Crossing project. The forecast was completed as part of the collaborative process to resolve outstanding issues that began in April 2010.

The agency finds that the project would have negligible impact on population and employment growth in Clark County, when comparing the projected growth that would occur with the project compared to no change to the existing bridge and highway. The project’s most significant land use effect would be to boost North Portland employment by about 1.5 percent. Findings were based on Metroscope, a nationally acclaimed growth modeling technology that projects population and employment changes in a seven-county area.
These findings confirm analysis completed by the CRC project in 2008 for the Draft EIS concerning the potential for the project to induce land use growth and travel demand. CRC found that the project would not cause significant land use changes in the region’s urban periphery (“sprawl”). CRC reviewed national case studies, reviewed land use policies in both Oregon and Washington, used travel demand models that had been reviewed and approved by a group of national experts, and relied on results from an earlier analysis using the Metroscope model to draw these conclusions. A summary of those results are presented in a 2009 memo.
Additional information on the most recent Metro findings can be found on their website.
Join us at a fair or festival this summer

CRC has had informational booths at various fairs and festivals throughout the summer. Staff is on hand to answer questions about the project and hand out informational materials. In the coming weeks, project staff will be attending the following event: St. Johns Farmers Market – Aug. 21, Portland, OR

A complete listing of summer events where CRC will be present can be viewed in the calendar on the project website.

Columbia River Crossing contact information

Email: feedback@columbiarivercrossing.org
Mail: 700 Washington St., Suite 300
Vancouver, WA 98660
Phone: 360-737-2726 or 503-256-2726
Fax: 360-737-0294

www.ColumbiaRiverCrossing.org

Broadway Bridge to Close for Two Months

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The Broadway Bridge in central Portland is scheduled to be closed from Tuesday July 6 to Sept. 3 for all motorized vehicles due to streetcar construction.

N Broadway will be closed west of N Larrabee Street and NW Broadway will be closed to through traffic north of NW Hoyt Street. The NW Lovejoy Street ramp at the bridge will be closed to all traffic east of NW Ninth Avenue. Access to Union Station will be maintained.

The traveling public should expect traffic delays on Broadway, Weidler and Lovejoy and use detours. Westbound motorized traffic will be detoured to the Burnside and Steel bridges, and eastbound traffic will be detoured toward I-405 and the Fremont Bridge.

Construction schedules are subject to change. More information about alternate bicycle and pedestrian routes will be released prior to the closure. The Portland Bureau of Transportation appreciates travelers’ patience during what may be one of the busiest construction seasons in Oregon history.

For more information on streetcar construction, please contact Kay Dannen at 503-478-6404 or dannen@portlandstreetcar.org or visit www.portlandstreetcar.org.

NECN Endorses Scrapping CRC Project

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The board of the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods, of which King is a part, has endorsed stopping the Columbia River Crossing bridge project in favor of a smaller project with less environmental impact along the lines of what is proposed by the Coalition for a Livable Future.

The position, arrived at after a number of public forums on the project, was sent in a letter to mayor Sam Adams. That letter is attached below. If you have any questions or comments on the process, contact Shoshana Cohen at shoshana@necoalition.org

CRC Letter to Sam Adams