The Government Beat for February

By Shasta Kearns Moore

The Southwest Community Connection, Feb 1, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Does a transportation bureau by any other name smell as sweet?

The Portland Office of Transportation changed its name at the end of last year to the Portland Bureau of Transportation. This means that the acronym is now PBOT, which is more accurate than the previous PDOT shorthand borrowed from the Oregon Department of Transportation. Apparently, no one wanted to call it POOT.

Hillsdale NA unanimously supports cycle track for Capitol Highway

The Hillsdale Neighborhood Association came out in support Jan. 7 for – eventually – putting in a cycle track along Capitol Highway.

Roger Geller, bicycle coordinator for the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT), says a cycle track is a bicycle path removed from vehicular traffic, either by a raised pathway, a row of car parking or vegetation.

Don Baack, president of the Neighborhood Association, said the project is a long way off from reality but that it was important for the neighborhood to throw its hat in the ring early.

“It’s going to take some pushing to make that happen,” Baack said.

Geller said the city’s first cycle track is in the design phase for Northeast Cully Boulevard, a designated Green Street project. The project is estimated to take about a year and will serve as a model for the rest of the city.

Eventually, Geller said, “We’re looking at cycle tracks for really all of our shopping areas in the city.” But, he acknowledged the idea will take time to garner the necessary support.

Geller said PBOT is looking to do several examples in less “complex” areas before tackling a project like Capitol Highway, but he was glad to have the neighborhood’s support.

He noted there is no identified source of funding for cycle tracks, but that several levels of government are working towards funding bicycle improvements. “We’re fairly optimistic that we’ll be able to secure funding,” he said.

BES to tear up Multnomah Boulevard, Garden Home Road to replace sewer lines

Expect to see a river of traffic-cone orange along Multnomah Boulevard and Garden Home Road beginning this fall.

Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services is planning to cut trenches in those thoroughfares as they replace parts of a pressurized sewer system that has broken dozens of times and caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines from the Department of Environmental Quality since its installation in 2000.

BES spokesman Stephen Sykes said the bureau wants to replace portions of the plastic piping with ductile iron and welded steel “that the engineering staff and the bureau overall has more confidence in.”

Sykes also said the project was an attempt to increase capacity for the predicted needs of the area.

For those who live close to those roads, they may want to look into a noise variance that the bureau is applying for.

To reduce the project’s impact on traffic along those busy routes, BES has limited hours in which to work. In order to get more work done faster, they are asking to be able to work from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Multnomah Boulevard, which will require a noise variance.

Sykes was unable to predict the type and quantity of noise the construction would create but encouraged neighbors to call him for comment or attend the public hearing on Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. at 1900 S.W. Fourth Ave., Room 2500B. Sykes can be reached at 503-823-7898.

The Multnomah Boulevard project will stretch from 31st to 69th avenues. BES currently plans to start work this October and finish in September 2010, with a months-long hiatus during the winter.

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