COMMISSIONER SAM ADAMS: “(BLAH BLAH BLAH)”
In a letter to the Boise Neighborhood Association and the Historic Mississippi Business District, Commissioner Sam Adams phrased the options available to the neighborhood as being for or against widening the sidewalk by narrowing the street, and asked that one of the options be selected by June 1st. No mention was made of how this might affect the safety of pedestrians or bicycle riders, and no mention was made of the Title 17 requirement for the new developments to make room for a wider sidewalk by setting back 2 feet.
Meeting attendees refused to endorse the narrowing of the street and insisted that Mr. Adams be held accountable for his responsibility to the Boise Neighborhood residents.
Clearly, the city bureaucrats that claim to represent the interests of the people of this city choose instead to push the agendas of the big money developers by refusing to even address the issues that challenge the authority of developers to throw their financial weight around in order to maximize their profits at the expense of the community.
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Hi, I'm Jesse Beason. I work in Sam's office.
I disagree with your opinion, and I'd be happy to discuss it further. I'm at 503-823-4128 or jbeason@ci.portland.or.us.
According to Portland's Pedestrian Design Guide (section A2.2), when the existing right-of-way is too narrow to accommodate both street and sidewalk improvements, the following steps to allow room for a sidewalk improvement should be pursued:
* acquire additional Right-of-Way or Public Walkway Easement
* narrow existing roadway in accord with established minimum roadway standards
Since the guide looks for consistent sidewalk width throughout a pedestrian corridor, and given that historic buildings are likely to remain, transportation staff leaned towards the second option. Transportation has leaned similarly in other areas in Portland.
That direction was not the opinion of everyone in the neighborhood. And some rightfully questioned whether that decision should have been made more publicly. While that is not required under city code, I think we all agree that greater understanding of the direction would have been helpful.
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