Today, the newest section of NE Everett Street is open to traffic after months of construction. Crews completed 80% of this previously unimproved roadway in July, with only gradual progress during the last two months. However, workers and heavy equipment swarmed NE Everett Street at NE 76th Avenue this week to finish the project.
This replacement of an unimproved gravel road is part of the 70s Neighborhood Greenway project currently under construction. The one-block street segment provides a critical east-west connector to the new bike-friendly, walkable north-south pathway. Improvements to this road fill a gap in the street grid for non-motorists trying to travel away from busy streets and children heading to Vestal School. This gravel street prevented many people from using NE Everett as it deteriorated in the winter and became a challenge to pass. People would instead travel on East Burnside or NE Glisan to avoid this barrier. The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) has transformed the one-block section with a modern paved road surface and curb-tight sidewalks, allowing all-season access.
NE Everett Street from NE 76th Avenue to NE 78th Avenue never had a paved road in this section and was only recently serviced by the City of Portland. Crews needed to widen the road when creating the twenty-eight-foot-wide paved street and Sidewalks. It now provides travel lanes in each direction and two seven-foot-wide parking lanes along each curb. Seven-foot wide curb-tight sidewalks squeezed between the vehicle zone and neighbors’ fences. Existing adjacent homes prevent a wider pedestrian zone on this block, and one building had to give up some nose-in street parking to accommodate this new infrastructure. Portlanders travailing east-west can now use NE Everett Street for walking and biking while remaining on slower streets, and residents can start parking in front of their homes.
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