New NE 69th Ave Sidewalk Corners from Glisan to Flanders

Crews working with the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) recently reconstructed sidewalk corners with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant ramps on NE 69th Avenue between NE Glisan Street and Flanders Street. This helps people with a variety of mobility needs travel from the high-traffic commercial and transit corridor to one of the City’s Neighborhood Greenways designed for pedestrians and cyclists.

A corner shop named 'Fine Things' with large windows displaying various items. The building has a blue exterior, surrounded by trees and a sidewalk, with a yellow sign in front. — *_{Southeast sidewalk corner at NE 69th Ave and Glisan St.}*

Only the Southeast sidewalk corner at NE 69th Avenue and Glisan Street received updates during this round of infrastructure enhancements. The southwest corner was updated in May 2023 as part of Green Front Dispensory’s frontage improvements. The north side of this intersection still has outdated curb ramps and will need to be updated in the future.

A street view showcasing a corner with a blue building displaying 'Life Things' in the window, green trees lining the road, and a gray building with a mural. There are parked cars and a sign indicating '$20 OZ' on the sidewalk. — *_{South sidewalk corners at NE 69th Ave and Glisan St with the 2026 rebuilt corner left and the 2023 corner right.}*

Crews reconstructed all four corners at NE 69th Avenue and Flanders Street, but had to accommodate the lack of east-west running sidewalks at the intersection. NE Flanders Street is not paved a block east and west of NE 69th Avenue. Consequently, the corners only connect to north-south travel sidewalks. The paved roadway extends the full width of the public right-of-way beyond the curb, so pedestrians crossing NE Flanders on NE 69th Avenue have a mostly smooth path through the intersection, even if they use a mobility device.

View of a residential street corner featuring a newly designed driveway with yellow markings, surrounded by greenery and flowers. — *_{Northeast sidewalk corner at NE 69th Ave and Flanders St with eastward travel blocked by an unpaved pedestrian zone.}*

This work is part of Portland’s commitment to its residents who need accessible use of city infrastructure. PBOT must reconstruct a set number of non-ADA-compliant sidewalk corners yearly to meet a 2018 Curb Ramp Consent Decree requirement. Many of the sidewalks in this area date back nearly 100 years. They often feature an embedded street marking using the old designation. In this case, NE Flanders was once referred to as “E Flanders St” before Portland’s Great Renumbering of 1931-1933. At that point, the city adopted a quadrant system, and it became NE Flanders. However, Portland preserves the old stamp dates and names when it reconstructs corners, and it also replaces the iron ringbolts once used to secure horses.

Concrete surface with the inscription 'E FLANDERS ST' etched into it. — *_{Recreated “E Flanders St” concrete stamped text, preserving the historical markings.}*

Cement masons stamped “E Flanders St” into the wet concrete to recreate the markings that were previously at the recently updated intersection. Now this area features modern accessibility with a nod to the neighborhood’s past.

Jacob Loeb

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