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By Ben Earle Secretary, CNA LUTC

The LUTC plate brims with substantial developments on three issues that will affect Concordia neighborhood livability for years to come.

Portland 2035 Comprehensive Plan
The Concordia Neighborhood Association (CNA) Board approved a LUTC-drafted letter to city council that supports a modified version of the Residential Infill Project’s (RIP) “Housing Diversity Perspective.” The RIP’s purpose is to identify how best to reduce house size and retain neighborhood character and livability, while increasing the range of housing types to address community concerns about the scale of new homes and current housing supply challenges.

The topics of the city council’s Oct. 6 and 13 public hearings on the Portland 2035 Comprehensive Plan are the updated zoning code and map changes that reflect the early implementation components of the plan adopted June 15. These updates include the R5 to R2.5 rezoning for homes in the Killingsworth-to-Jarret corridor from 22nd to 33rd as well as the CM-1 and CM-2 mixed-use zoning determinations that both the CNA and Concordia residents provided input about on multiple occasions.

For more information and to submit comments online or via letter, visit PortlandOregon.gov/bps, email PSC@PortlandOregon.gov, or call 503.823.7700.

Traffic safety
See CNA chair Garlynn Woodsong’s report about the city’s reluctance to reduce speed limits on Alberta and Killingsworth streets.

Jessica Horning, Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) bicycle/ pedestrian coordinator, attended the Sept. 21 LUTC meeting. She presented the “Safety and Active Transportation Enhancements” project for the US 30B/ Lombard Street corridor, from the St. Johns Bridge to Northeast 162nd Avenue. These improvements include lane reshaping and restriping, signage and signal upgrades, new lighting, sidewalk upgrades and Americans with Disabilities Act ramps, and renovated pedestrian and bike lane paths.

In response to CNA’s advocacy for changes to the 42nd Avenue overpass bridge access to better ensure safe passage for bicyclists and pedestrians, ODOT will construct a new eastbound path behind the guardrail. As well as providing a much needed sidewalk, this will provide protected access to the 42nd ramp where the bridge supports currently create a “pinchpoint” in the bike lane that forces bicyclists into traffic.

Project construction is slated for the first week of November with completion in early 2017. As ODOT continues to assess viable solutions for the more complicated westbound access situation, it will also consider the LUTC’s suggestions for possible additional short-term additions such as road diets, warning signs with flashing lights, etc.

Bighouse development
As of press time, there is no new news to report on any design changes for the four-story apartment building underway at Northeast 30th Avenue & Killingsworth Street. Stay tuned for the next update in the November CNews.

Concordia residents are always welcome at CNA LUTC meetings, 7 p.m. every third Wednesday in the McMenamins Kennedy School Community Room. For more information, visit the Concordia Neighborhood Association website, send your questions to LandUse@ConcordiaPDX.org or email LUTC_Secretary@ConcordiaPDX.org to join the LUTC notification list.

In January, Concordia Neighborhood Association (CNA) made a formal request to the city of Portland to lower the speed limits on Alberta and Killingsworth streets.

Last December, CNA’s Land Use & Transportation Committee (LUTC) recommended – and in January, the CNA Board unanimously adopted – a proposal to request the city lower the speed limits on Alberta from 25 to 20 mph, and on Killingsworth from 30 to 25.

The 20 mph on Alberta would match the limit on Fremont Street through Beaumont Village, in keeping with state statutes for commercial districts.

The 25 mph on Killingsworth would more closely reflect its status as a mixeduse pedestrian and bicycle corridor through a residential area.

Oregon statutory standards for speeds are:

• 15 mph – alleys, narrow residential roadways
• 20 mph – business districts, school zones
• 25 mph – residential districts, public parks, ocean shores

Here’s the current status of our requests:

Alberta Street – The request has not yet been investigated. It was finally assigned to a traffic engineer at the end of August.

Killingsworth Street – In early August, the city wrote, “After reviewing available data, we have determined the current speed zones on Killingsworth to be appropriate, given the layout, and similar to other comparable-sized roads in the area. Therefore, no changes were recommended.”

It seems pretty clear the city engineer studying Killingsworth reached the wrong conclusion. The question should be, for the business districts on Killingsworth, what justification does Portland have for not implementing the 20-mph statutory business district speed? For the balance of Killingsworth, which runs through a mix of residentially-zoned properties, what justification does Portland have for not implementing the 25- mph statutory residential area speed? What is the rationale and justification for higher speeds in these locations, despite injuries and fatalities?

A local lawyer has taken notice, and wrote, “The Vision Zero Crash Map shows two people were killed while walking, and 33 people were seriously injured while walking, bicycling or using vehicles in 2005-2014 on N/NE Killingsworth. Those numbers appear similar to other comparable-sized streets in the area where speeds are similar… and where there are many businesses, schools, residences, and users of all modes. I believe it is reasonable to expect that if speeds and right-of-way uses stay the same, Portlanders will continue to die and suffer serious injuries on N/NE Killingsworth and on our other comparable sized streets.”

It’s my understanding the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) has granted 95 percent (36 of 38, as of 2015) of Portland’s requests to lower speeds that were higher than the statutory speeds. I hope the city will increasingly feel it has engineering, moral and political mandates to seek revocation of ODOT orders on streets like Killingsworth, where speeds are posted at higher than statutory speeds, and where Portlanders are dying and suffering serious injuries.

CNA is appealing the city’s Killingsworth decision, and the issue is currently being re-examined by the city’s traffic investigations manager.

The city is also asking ODOT to consider all modes with a new proposed methodology for adjusting speeds on local streets (as reported recently by the Portland Tribune). Unfortunately, Killingsworth will not qualify, as it is classified as an arterial. Only collector and local streets would be eligible under the proposed guidelines. However, the traditional speed zone adjustment request would still certainly be feasible for Killingsworth.

By Garlynn Woodsong, Chair, CNA LUTC

I recently took a ride with my 5-year-old son, Noamie, on the back of my Dutch bicycle. We rode for about 20 minutes – to the beach!

That’s right, just north of the Concordia neighborhood is a good-sized beach on the south bank of the Columbia River, just north of the airport.

Just like at the Pacific Ocean beach, he loved the sand and building castles, finding (freshwater) mussel shells and other bits of flotsam and jetsam, exploring dunes, and just being there.

The best way to get there by bicycle is to ride north on 33rd Avenue, and take a left when the bicycle lane ends just before Marine Drive. That leads to an underpass entrance on the right, which leads to the Marine Drive bike path. Follow this path across Marine Drive to the river side of the levy, then look for the well-worn dirt paths leading down to the river. We found a large driftwood log to lean our bike against and locked it to itself.

How is this relevant to my work with the Concordia Neighborhood Association (CNA) Land Use & Transportation Committee (LUTC)?

Well, access to green space for all citizens is a goal stated in many state and city planning documents, including the current Portland 2035 Comprehensive Plan. To the extent people find their desire for a trip to the beach can be satisfied by riding a bicycle to the river – rather than driving a car to the ocean – having such a beach so close can help reduce auto miles traveled.

Plus it’s a great opportunity to get some fun exercise. All of this can contribute to our better health, both individually and collectively.

However, this bicycle connection to the beach could be safer. In particular, the southbound crossing of Columbia Boulevard needs improving. Currently bicyclists have only a painted bicycle sharrow marker to tell fast-moving traffic the road is shared with bicycles. The bicyclists are navigating the southbound 33rd Drive ramp along Columbia Boulevard to the 33rd Avenue overpass to cross the railroad tracks and Lombard Street.

The LUTC is recommending the city plan to incorporate safety improvements – and better bicycle and pedestrian connections – on a redesign of this route.

We Concordia residents are lucky to have our very own beach within such easy bicycling distance. I’d like to see it safer!