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October 2023

Guest Speakers:

Ellen Waters, ODOT

Gabriela Giron Valderrama, PBOT

Barry Manning, BPS

NIBA Treasurer Greg Madden opened the meeting by asking attendees to introduce themselves. Greg thanked our LaQuinta members for hosting todays meeting.

Greg then introduced our first speaker Ellen Waters from ODOT Discussion:

Ellen Waters introduced herself and then told us that there are 6 projects in the US HWY 30- St. Johns that ODOT has planned in the next several months.

1.St. Johns Bridge Repair Project. Columns are being wrapped and expected completion is June of 2025.

2. Kittridge Paving Project. There will be more repairs made in 2024 from St. Johns to Kittridge.

3. Culvert work from Sauvies Island to Scappose. 18-36” culvert replacement.

4. Willamette River Stormwater Improvement Project

This project will run from the Freemont Bridge to the St. John’s Bridge. There are about a dozen locations along Hwy 30 that will have some sorts of stormwater filtration installed to filter runoff from the road.

5. Rock Fall Mitigation project on Bridge Avenue-

Traffic Impact

Heavy traffic and delays are expected from January to July 2024 on U.S. 30 and U.S. 30 Bypass (N Lombard Street). Construction activities will require full, around-the-clock closures of NW Bridge Ave. (U.S. 30 Bypass) with detours for travelers and for freight traffic. 

Travel Delays Expected: Travel times during peak hours are expected to be 2-4 times longer than typical travel times. Everyone can help reduce travel delays by using options such as delaying or shifting trips, biking, taking transit, working from home or another location when possible.

NW Bridge Avenue Closure: From January 8 to July 2, 2024, the southeast ramp on the west end of the St. Johns Bridge, NW Bridge Avenue (U.S. 30 Bypass), will completely close to traffic while crews install the pinned mesh system on the rock hillside. The sidewalks and parking lot on NW Bridge Ave will also close during this time.

In January 2024, the intersection at Bridge Avenue on the west end of the St Johns Bridge will be controlled by flaggers for up to 2 weeks, during which time traffic will be held for up to 20 minutes at a time to.

Trail Access Closure: The Ridge Trail Trailhead on NW Bridge Avenue will  close for up to two weeks in January 2024.

Detours:

  • Local Travel: People driving, biking, walking and rolling locally will detour using the northwest ramp on the west end of the St. Johns Bridge, NW Bridge Avenue (U.S. 30 Bypass), which will be open throughout construction. See the detour map below. People traveling by bus on TriMet's Line 16 between Portland City Center, St. Johns and Sauvie Island will be impacted during construction for this project. Check trimet.org/alerts  during construction for more details.

  • Regional Travel: Regional freight traffic will be detoured on I-5 to the U.S. 30 (NE Lombard St.) interchange. Local traffic will be detoured on the northeast ramp on the west end of the St. Johns Bridge, NW Bridge Avenue (U.S. 30 Bypass), which will be open throughout construction. See the detour map below.

Questions from attendees-

1. Will contractors be rewarded for early finish like the Interstate Bridge project?

Ellen was unsure but said she would check.

2. If daylight is required why not move the project to April with more daylight hours.

Ellen was unsure but said she would check.

3. Why can’t they leave on lane open like the Interstate Bridge Project?

Cannot due to rock fall potential.

ODOT manages the following roadways-

1. Hwy 30

2. St. Johns Bridge

3. Cornelius Pass

4. I-405

5. Freemont Bridge

Greg Madden introduced our second speaker, Gabriela Giron Valderrama Freight Coordinator from PBOT.

Gabriela shared with the group that she is the Freight Coordinator and Freight is a system of which all the pieces must be understood. Eg. Regional movement, goods to hospitals, businesses, and homes.

PBOT is in a financial crisis. Their budget has been $509,000,000 which is 12% of the City of Portland’s budget of 505 billion dollars. PBOT must cut 32 million in its current budget. This will happen by layoffs, changes to projects, paving and ongoing maintenance. PBOT currently has a backlog of 4 billion dollars. PBOT has a new director, Milicent Williams.

Recent federal grants:

  • 13M Burgard Bridge

  • 2M Zero emission delivery pilot

  • 20M Safety on 122 nd Ave.

  • $800,000.00 Planning in Albina

  • $500,000.00 Frequent rail crossings in central eastside

Gabriela shared that each street has a designation based upon freight traffic.

Goals for streets are-

  • Equity

  • Resiliancy

  • Sustainability

  • Last mile operations

  • Data gap

  • 2040 Freight Plan-

  • Vision to action-

  • Clean technology

  • Industrial job access improvement

  • Last mile solutions

  • Project development

  • Collaboration

There are 96 projects in the 2040 Freight Plan, PBOT has jurisdiction over 55 of those.

Of these 55 there are 14 high priority projects. The most important are the Kittridge Bridge weight issues and earthquake updates. The location of next months meeting is undetermined at this time.

Q&A :

Bridge Avenue Rockfall Mitigation: bit.ly/bridgeavenue

  • Q: What is the reasoning for closing all of Bridge Avenue, rather than closing one lane only? Considering the severity and cost of the traffic impacts, are there safety measures you could put in place to keep one lane open, such as a barrier or netting?

    • A: Primarily, the reason for this full closure is safety. It is an assumption that loose rocks will fall throughout construction, and a barrier along the road is not enough to keep road users safe. We also need both lanes for equipment. The work crew will drill rods (a minimum of 15’ long, perpendicular to the slope to anchor the wire mesh along the slope, in addition to other equipment.
      Also, this project has a limited budget, which we are working to keep our costs within. We worked to balance the required expenses, the risks associated with falling rock and equipment during construction, and the space needed by the crew to do the required work with safety as the primary concern. The work will provide immense safety benefits to all who use this public roadway and sidewalk, when the project is completed.

  • Q: Does the contract offer a reward for finishing early? That seems to motivate contractors more than the fine for late work, so the work is completed on time.

    • A:This project has a limited budget, which we are working to keep our costs within. The traffic impacts of this project are not as high as the example we discussed in your meeting, the Interstate Bridge Trunnion Replacement Project, and we did not include reward specifications in the contract.

 Q: Why are you starting the project in January when the daylight window is so short? Could you start in April with longer daylight, 1.5 work crews and shrink the work/closure window?

    • A: The traffic volumes are consistently lower during the winter, and peak at their highest in the summer season. This work window avoids many travel needs, such as the high summer traffic volumes, the many winter and summer holidays and events, and fall for those visiting the peak harvest season on Sauvie Island.
      Also, contractors are facing a shortage of skilled workers, who prefer full time jobs. Finding part time skilled labor to do this specialty work is very challenging.

 Willamette River Stormwater improvement: bit.ly/pdxstormwaterimprovement

  • Q: Can you send a link to the website?

    • A: Here is a link with some project information. I will loop back this winter with our community affairs project page.

 Q: How much particulate- size of removal objects?

Greg adjourned the meeting at 9:10 AM.

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September 2023 Meeting
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November 9

November Meeting