INNER POWELL BOULEVARD STREETSCAPE PLAN ROSS ISLAND BRIDGEHEAD TO 92ND AVE POLICY BACKGROUND AND EXISTING CONDITIONS TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM REVISED DRAFT December 28, 2006 City of Portland Office of Transportation This project is partially funded by a grant from the Transportation and Growth Management (TGM) Program, a joint program of the Oregon Department of Transportation and the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development. This TGM grant is financed, in part, by federal Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), local government, and State of Oregon funds. The contents of this document do not necessarily reflect views or policies of the State of Oregon. To obtain a copy of this document or more information about this project, please contact: April Bertelsen Transportation Planner Portland Office of Transportation 1120 SW 5th Ave, Suite 800 Portland, Oregon 97204 (503) 823-6177 [email protected] Inner Powell Boulevard Policy Background and Existing Conditions 2 Table of Contents Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 5 PROJECT AREA ....................................................................................................................... 6 History of Powell Boulevard .................................................................................... 7 Policy Background ........................................................................................................... 9 STATE POLICY ........................................................................................................................ 9 Oregon Highway Plan ............................................................................................................. 9 REGIONAL POLICY ............................................................................................................. 10 2004 Regional Transportation Plan ...................................................................................... 10 Powell/Foster Corridor Transportation Plan ......................................................................... 12 LOCAL CITY POLICY .......................................................................................................... 14 Transportation System Plan .................................................................................................. 14 Central Eastside Transportation Study .................................................................................. 19 Comprehensive Plan and Zoning .......................................................................................... 19 Powell Boulevard Special Setback ....................................................................................... 20 Portland Stormwater Management Manual .......................................................................... 21 Portland Green Street Policy ................................................................................................. 21 Jurisdiction and Maintenance .............................................................................. 23 RIGHT-OF-WAY OWNERSHIP AND MAINTENANCE ............................................... 23 CURRENT MAINTENANCE PRACTICES ....................................................................... 25 Street Design Standards ........................................................................................... 27 STREET DESIGN STANDARDS MATRIX ........................................................................ 27 DEVELOPMENT REVIEW DESIGN STANDARDS ........................................................ 33 PORTLAND PEDESTRIAN DESIGN GUIDE ................................................................... 35 PORTLAND FREIGHT MASTER PLAN ........................................................................... 36 METRO STREET DESIGN GUIDELINES .......................................................................... 36 Existing Conditions ....................................................................................................... 37 GENERAL DESCRIPTION ................................................................................................... 37 RECENT IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS .............................................................................. 37 City of Portland 82nd Ave Signal Reconstruction ................................................................. 37 TriMet Bus Streamline Project ............................................................................................. 37 ODOT Phase I Preservation Project ..................................................................................... 37 STREET CROSS-SECTION ................................................................................................... 38 Sidewalks and Pedestrian Crossings ..................................................................................... 42 Bicycling Environment in the Corridor ................................................................................ 42 Driveways ............................................................................................................................. 43 Parking .................................................................................................................................. 43 TRANSIT ................................................................................................................................. 44 SEWER AND STORMWATER INFRASTRUCTURE ....................................................... 44 DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY ALONG POWELL BLVD .................................................. 44 TRAFFIC ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................ 46 Signalized Intersections ........................................................................................................ 46 Inner Powell Boulevard Policy Background and Existing Conditions 3 Traffic Volumes .................................................................................................................... 47 Intersection Levels of Service (LOS) Standard .................................................................... 47 Traffic Operations ................................................................................................................. 48 Traffic Queuing ..................................................................................................................... 51 CRASH HISTORY AND SAFETY ANALYSIS .................................................................. 52 APPENDIX A: POWELL BOULEVARD PLAN DISTRICT APPENDIX B: ZONING MAP APPENDIX C: CORRIDOR RIGHT-OF-WAY MAPS APPENDIX D: SIDEWALK INTERSECTION CURB RAMP INVENTORY APPENDIX E: MAP OF EXISTING AND PROPOSED BIKEWAYS APPENDIX F: MAPS OF TRIMET TRANSIT SERVICE APPENDIX G: MAPS OF EXISTING SEWER AND STORMWATER APPENDIX H: TRAFFIC SIGNAL COUNT DATA APPENDIX I: TRAFFIC OPERATIONS FIELD NOTES APPENDIX J: INTERSECTION ANALYSIS WORKSHEETS Inner Powell Boulevard Policy Background and Existing Conditions 4 Introduction The purpose of the Inner Powell Boulevard Policy Background and Existing Conditions Technical Memorandum is to inform the development of a streetscape plan for Powell Boulevard from the Ross Island Bridge to SE 92nd Avenue. Several regional and local plans call for a streetscape plan and multi-modal improvements along Powell Blvd, including the Powell/Foster Corridor Transportation Plan (Metro, 2003), Portland Transportation System Plan and Central Eastside Transportation Study (City of Portland, 1990). Powell Blvd connects downtown and Southwest Portland via the Ross Island Bridge to SE Portland, Gresham and east Multnomah County. Powell Blvd is designated a State Highway, No. 26. The Oregon Department of Transportation and City of Portland share jurisdiction and maintenance responsibilities for Powell Blvd. From the Ross Island Bridge to I-205, Powell Blvd is typically a four-lane roadway with two lanes in each direction. The segment of Powell Blvd between the Ross Island Bridge and I-205 is about four and half miles long. Between the Ross Island bridgehead and SE 50th Ave there is typically a continuous center turn-lane with intermittent median refuge islands. East of SE 50th Ave there is typically a continuous landscaped median with center turn-lane refuges near intersections. There are no bike lanes along Powell Blvd. There is typically no on-street parking along Powell. The only on-street parallel parking along Powell Blvd is between SE 22nd Ave and 25th Ave. There is a public parking lot north of Powell Blvd between 21st Ave and 22nd Ave and another between 26th Ave and 28th Ave south of Powell Blvd. 109 parking spaces are provided at limited locations in nine public parking lots between SE 53rd Ave and 79th Ave. Sidewalks along Powell vary in width. Between the Ross Island Bridge and 50th Ave the sidewalks are typically 10 feet wide, though in some instances they narrow to 6 feet wide. The streets are lined with street trees, but do not typically have planter strips and some trees are missing from tree wells. There is an intermittent planting strip on the south side of Powell Blvd between 6th Ave and 11th Ave. East of 50th Ave, the sidewalks vary in width from 6 to 10 feet. Additionally, east of 50th Ave, the sidewalks are buffered from the roadway with planter strips that range in width from 6 to 21 feet, and the center