Construction, Infrastructure

82nd Ave 60% Draft Concept Design

Update Feb 29th, 2024: PBOT scheduled two in-person events to present the project’s 60% design refinements and collect public comment. Details are provided below and available online for the March 4th and March 13th meetings.

Article originally published February 1st, 2024

In late January, the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) released its 60% Draft Concept Design for the 82nd Avenue Major Maintenance Project, which includes $55 million in improvements to the former State Highway. This collection of road and sidewalk reconstruction work will deliver many safety upgrades to the high-crash corridor and provide approximately 250 new trees to an area that suffers from the heat island effect.

For PBOT staff, the 60% designed phase represents a significant milestone for a project. At this point, many of the streetscape attributes are outlined and placed on the map. The transportation bureau has hosted many public meetings with community members and organizations. Then, following the group and individual outreach, staff reworked proposals to adjust design concepts to accommodate access needs. However, this advancement in the planning process does still allow for changes. PBOT encourages people to participate in an informative survey or the two in-person meetings in February and March. City staff will schedule those meetings soon and ask people to visit the project website for updates.

SE 82nd Ave at SE Mill. Image courtesy PBOT

The 82nd Avenue Major Maintenance Project spans five miles, and the ten-page design document provides an annotated scrolling map view of the work area. It indicates the placement of raised median islands, separators, and signal equipment upgrades. The document marks spaces for tree planting or other foliage with green dots and lighter green lines. Later design work by PBOT will determine the final number of trees planted and the botanical space created. Crews working on this project will build or upgrade 15,000 feet of sidewalk on 82nd Avenue or adjacent side streets and update or replace 200 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant curb ramps.

Drivers will benefit from the repaving of two segments totaling 2.5 miles of smoother asphalt. Crews will replace the street surface from NE Siskiyou to Schuyler streets and SE Mill Street to SE Foster Road. Crews will completely rebuild the outer two travel lanes in these segments. Most of 82nd Avenue has insufficient base layer support for heavy traffic on the curbside lanes. Historically, they supported street parking, and engineers did not anticipate the current four-travel-lane design.

SE 82nd Ave at SE Harrison. Image courtesy PBOT

Montavilla residents will see a small portion of the repaving planned in this work cycle. However, several in-street elements and sidewalk work will occur in the Neighborhood. Around 200 feet of SE Mill Street east of SE 82nd Avenue will receive new pavement and sidewalks with street trees. PBOT plans to rebuild the sidewalk across 82nd Avenue from the Portland Community College SE campus, connecting to a newly protected mid-block crossing. The enhanced raised center median will have space for street trees and other plantings, allowing roots to spread beyond the confines of typical tree wells. PBOT recently expanded unpaved sections of street median throughout the project in this recent design, making way for better planting zones and reducing the heat radiating from concrete.

SE 82nd Ave at PCC SE Campus. Image courtesy PBOT

PBOT’s designs for the 82nd Avenue Major Maintenance Project provide better driving conditions for drivers, but the majority of work centers on improving conditions for those outside a car. In some places where travel lanes on 82nd Avenue are wider than needed, the transportation bureau intends to extend sidewalks in the roadway and plant street trees. Some design elements reduce opportunities for left-hand turns, aggregating them in safe, predictable locations. Crews will rebuild or replace traffic signals and paint high-visibility crosswalks at many intersections. Cyclists and pedestrians should benefit from more places to safely cross 82nd Avenue, while people traveling along the roadway will have more shade and space away from traffic.

SE 82nd Ave at SE Clinton. Image courtesy PBOT

Crews will complete this phase of work by the end of 2026, but it does not represent the entirety of upgrades planned for this area. The City is developing many more projects related to the jurisdictional transfer of 82nd Avenue from the Oregon Department of Transportation to PBOT. That process came with $185 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act, PBOT, and State transportation budgets. City Council will vote on approval for the 82nd Avenue Major Maintenance Project this spring, with construction starting after receiving that final endorsement. People can take the survey through March 31st and participate in the in-person events when PBOT staff schedule them.

Update: PBOT scheduled the in person meetings

By

Jacob Loeb

Disclosure: The author of this article serves on the Building a Better 82nd Community Advisory Group

Promotion: Help keep independent news accessible to the community. Montavilla News has a Patreon account or you can pay for a full year directly online. We invite those who can contribute to this local news source to consider becoming paid subscriber or sponsor. We will always remain free to read regardless of subscription.