(June 25, 2014)  – The City of Portland Bureau of Transportation advises the traveling public that street improvements will require the closures of NE Holladay Street from NE 9th Avenue to NE 11^th Avenue from Thursday, June 26, through Tuesday, July 1, 7 a.m. through 5 p.m. each weekday.

This closure will allow crews to grind and pave .49 lane miles.

Parking restriction barricades will be in place today, one day before the start of work. Traffic restrictions will be in place from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Access will be maintained for businesses and residents. The public is advised to expect delays while repairs are being made. We ask the public to travel cautiously, observe all lane closures and directions by flaggers, and use alternate routes if possible.

Northbound traffic will be detoured onto NE Multnomah Street and southbound traffic will be detoured onto NE Lloyd Boulevard.

This work is weather-dependent and the schedule may change.

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(June 23, 2014) – The Portland Bureau of Transportation and Portland Police Bureau advise the traveling public that a crosswalk enforcement action is scheduled for Friday, June 27 at SE Powell Boulevard and SE 31^st Avenue from 8 a.m. to noon to raise awareness of pedestrian safety and Oregon traffic laws.

Portland Bureau of Transportation’s Sharon White will serve as the designated pedestrian crossing the street during the first half of the action and a Portland police officer dressed in plain clothes will participate as the designated pedestrian crossing the street during the second half of the action.

Each crosswalk enforcement action involves a designated pedestrian crossing at a marked or unmarked crosswalk while police monitor how motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians adhere to traffic safety laws. Drivers who fail to stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk and pedestrians who fail to follow Oregon traffic laws may be issued a warning or citation.

The SE Powell Boulevard at SE 31^st Avenue crossing has a marked crosswalk along with signage to alert drivers to the possible presence of pedestrians in the crossing.  Between 2008 and 2012, there have been four pedestrian -involved crashes and one pedestrian fatality at or near this location.

SE Powell Boulevard is one of 10 High Crash Corridors that the transportation bureau has identified and targeted as a priority for safety education and improvements.

Crosswalk enforcement actions are an effective way to communicate pedestrian right of way laws to both drivers and pedestrians. The transportation and police bureaus do enforcement actions about once each month in response to requests by community members, city traffic safety engineers, and Portland Police to educate the general public on the rules at marked and unmarked crossings.

To further educate the public about safety,  the Transportation Bureau is distributing a new “Put the Brakes on Pedestrian Deaths” poster and mailer to select households and holding an online safety quiz.  Anyone who takes the safety quiz will win a free tote bag with reflective tape and learn about safety tips: www.lookbeforecrossing.org

(June 20, 2014) – The City of Portland Bureau of Transportation advises the traveling public that street improvements will require lane closures on SE Belmont Avenue from SE 49th Avenue to SE 55th Avenue Monday, June 23, through Friday, June 27, 2014, 7 a.m. through 3 p.m. each day.

These lane closures will allow crews to pave .84 lane miles.

Parking restriction barricades will be in place one or two workdays before the start of work. Traffic restrictions will be in place from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Access will be maintained for businesses and residents. The public is advised to expect delays while repairs are being made.  We ask the public to travel cautiously, observe all lane closures and directions by flaggers, and use alternate routes if possible.

This work is weather-dependent and the schedule may change.

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Note: this project has been postoned due to rain

(June 19, 2014)  – The City of Portland Bureau of Transportation advises the traveling public that street improvements will require lane closures on NE Marine Drive at NE 33^rd Drive on Friday, June 20^th from 7 a.m. through 3 p.m.

The public is advised to expect delays while repairs are being made. The closures allow crews to repair the damaged road base and repave that section. We ask the public to travel cautiously, observe all lane closures and directions by flaggers, and use alternate routes if possible.

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(June 19, 2014) With higher-than-expected interest in the transportation funding proposal, the Portland Bureau of Transportation has decided to relocate Tuesday’s town hall to the Oregon Convention Center, Portland Ballroom 255.

The event is free and open to the public. The Tuesday meeting is intended to focus on how the transportation fee would work for businesses, non-profits and other non-residential land uses. Participants are encouraged to discuss ways improve the proposal or suggest alternative ways of raising money for transportation safety and maintenance. A Wednesday night meeting will focus on the fee for households.

“Portlanders are passionate about participating in local government,” Mayor Hales said. “We welcome ideas about how they want to improve the transportation fee, or alternative proposals on par with the $53 million it would raise. There’s no question we need to invest in basic transportation maintenance and safety.”

The Tuesday event is the first of two town halls coming up: 

• Town Hall on Business and Non-Residential Fee: 8 to 9:30 a.m., Tuesday, June 24, at Oregon Convention Center, Portland Ballroom 255, 777 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Directions and visitor info.
• Town Hall on Residential Fee: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Wednesday, June 25, at Kaiser Permanente’s Town Hall, 3704 N Interstate Ave. 

The town hall meetings will provide an opportunity for the public to speak with transportation staff, ask questions and make comments to Mayor Hales, Commissioner Steve Novick and Transportation Director Leah Treat.

The City Council delayed the proposal June 4, after five months of Our Streets PDX town halls, online surveys, advisory committee meetings and a five-hour public hearing May 29. Two upcoming town halls will kick off the next phase of outreach through October, designed to gather input to address the needs of businesses, non-profits and low-income households.

For more information about the Our Streets PDX funding conversation and the proposed Transportation User Fee, see the project web page: www.ourstreetspdx.com.

See updated information on the proposed fee the council amended May 29: 

• Updated online calculator: PBOT has updated an online calculator that estimates the monthly fee for residential and non-residential ratepayers. PBOT has updated the web calculator from the proposed $11.56 fee to the 3-year phase-in starting at $6 a month for single-family properties.
• Transportation User Fee rate details: Details on the way the fee is calculated, to help business owners find the right information.
• Frequently Asked Questions: This series of questions and answers will help the public learn more about why the fee was proposed and what it would pay for.
• Email us for more information at TUF_Administrator@portlandoregon.gov
• Talk about it on twitter, using hashtag #ourstreetspdx

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