I’ve simply confirmed some excellent information: The Metropolis of Portland has the inexperienced gentle to maneuver ahead with the design of the Broadway Fundamental Avenue mission.
Again in July I shared that the Trump Administration had reneged on a $38 million grant that had already been awarded to the Portland Bureau of Transportation. The grant would have allowed them to rework the at present car-choked part of NE Broadway between NE seventh and the Willamette River right into a family-friendly fundamental avenue. The mission is a lynchpin to town’s Reconnecting Albina planning effort and is seen as an extension to the not too long ago accomplished Broadway Pave & Paint mission.
Sadly, the grant was taken again by the Trump Administration with the passage of Home Decision 1 (the “Large Lovely Invoice”), which rescinded all unobligated balances from the Neighborhood Entry and Fairness grant program.
However final month at a gathering of the I-5 Rose Quarter mission, a presentation from the Oregon Division of Transportation included a slide stating that PBOT had obtained funding for the “preliminary part of the ‘Broadway Fundamental Avenue’ mission.” I reached out to PBOT to study extra.
On Tuesday I obtained a clarification from PBOT Spokesperson Dylan Rivera that Oregon’s congressional delegation was capable of wrestle away $5 million from the grant for mission design.
Rivera confirmed that, whereas building of the mission has been formally cancelled, the $5 million is sufficient for PBOT to finish the mission design and improvement. “This mission stays a excessive precedence for PBOT and town. Having a accomplished design could make the mission extra aggressive for future funding alternatives,” he stated.
PBOT will launch a public engagement course of early subsequent yr to assist finalize the mission design.
The imaginative and prescient for this mission, as described by a PBOT staffer at a gathering in 2023 is that, as soon as full, somebody may, “take a pleasing stroll with their younger baby from NE seventh to Waterfront Park.” Challenge parts had beforehand included: a raised bikeway shielded from auto customers by a planted median; a number of improved pedestrian crossings; a redesign of the Broadway Bridgehead at N Larrabee; improved entry to Rose Quarter Transit Middle, and extra.
Keep tuned for updates and alternatives to weigh in.
