streetcar loop to be built in district
Streetcar extension would be tight fit
South Waterfront - Plans call for tracks in the space between a tram stop and an OHSU building
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
FRED LEESON
Planners working on the latest Portland Streetcar extension may need to squeeze tracks -- at least temporarily -- between the aerial tram terminal and a new medical building in the South Waterfront district.
A streetcar line wasn't on the table when planners originally mapped out a small public plaza between the tram terminal and a new Oregon Health and Science University building at Southwest Gibbs Street and Moody Avenue.
But now it appears that the plaza may be part of the best route for a streetcar loop running through the urban renewal area burgeoning with new condominium towers.
The plan calls for removing tracks from the plaza once the city extends Southwest Bond Avenue at an undetermined future date.
"No question it's narrow," said Carter MacNichol, a principal in the Shiels Obletz Johnsen planning firm, referring to the plaza route. "But we think it's feasible to do it."
The tracks would lie approximately 10 feet from the tram stop and 14 feet from the front door of the new OHSU building.
"While it's tight and pedestrians would be there, we think we can have a safe operation," MacNichol told the Portland Design Commission last week.
The proposal would have the streetcar travel southbound on Moody Avenue to Southwest Lowell Street, then turn left and head northbound back on Southwest Bond Avenue. The tracks would rejoin Moody Street in the Gibbs right of way.
The city hopes to extend Bond further north, and the streetcar loop would be extended with the new street. But Zidell Marine Corp., which owns that land, is not yet ready to redevelop it. A crane used by Zidell to build barges stands immediately north of the tram terminal, blocking a proposed extension of Bond at this time.
No one can say how long the temporary route would last.
"What proof do we have that this isn't the permanent solution?" asked Jeff Stuhr, a member of the design commission. "We've had too many instances when temporary solutions become permanent solutions."
"We know it's a compromise," MacNichol replied. "We're trying to find a compromise that works."
Vicky Diede, streetcar project manager for the Portland Office of Transportation, said planners looked at three other streetcar alignments before recommending the Gibbs right of way adjacent to the tram.
She said it was the "only practical and feasible way" to complete the proposed streetcar loop without serious interference with one-way streets planned for cars and trucks. She said Whitaker Street south of the OHSU building could not be used because the electrical system would interfere with magnetic resonance imaging diagnostic tools to be installed on that side of the building.
Besides the OHSU building, three high-rise condominium towers are being built near the proposed loop, and others are in planning stages. The aerial tram is scheduled to start ferrying passengers between the urban renewal district and the Marquam Hill medical campus in late September.
A streetcar extension, already built but not in service, will open next year traveling along Moody to Gibbs. In theory, construction of the proposed loop could be completed by late 2006, but the city has yet to complete financing for the estimated $13.5 million price tag.
The route selection ultimately will be made by the Portland City Council. The design commission serves an advisory role in portions of the city designed as design-review areas. The design review body earlier approved plans for the tram terminal and for the narrow public plaza between the tram and the OHSU building.
"There's a lot of stuff going on there, and it's not the way it was intended to be," said Tim Eddy, a design commission member, referring to the tram plaza. "It seems incredibly shoehorned in."
Phillip Beyl, an architect who worked on the new OHSU building, said it was too late to change that building to make more room between it and the tram. But as for adding the streetcar, he said, "On a temporary basis, we think it could actually work."
MacNichol said the streetcar has operated safely in heavily used pedestrian environments such as the PSU campus, where it crosses the South Parks Blocks and an urban plaza.
He said streetcar boarding platforms would not be placed next to the tram or OHSU building. Streetcars would pass the building about once every 12 to 15 minutes. "That's just a few minutes every hour," MacNichol said.
A final decision on the streetcar route is expected in about 90 days. MacNichol said the city would like to install the tracks before pavement is installed on new streets in the renewal area.
Fred Leeson: 503-294-5946;
fredleeson@news.oregonian.com