(Map: City of Portland)
A project to repave the popular Springwater Corridor Trail that was green-lighted by Metro back in March is now scheduled for completion by early June 2010. The $1.8 million project will overlay asphalt on top of the original rough chip seal surface for over seven miles of the trail from the east end of the Union Pacific Railroad Bridge to Jenne Road. The project was part of a $38 million pot of funds from the federal economic stimulus package.
(Photo © J. Maus)
Back in March, Kyle Chisek, a project manager at the City of Portland Bureau of Transportation, said construction would begin this past summer and would be completed “a couple of months” later (as in right about now). I followed up with Chisek this morning after a reader wrote in wondering why the project hadn’t started yet.
Chisek said it comes down to all the paperwork (inter-governmental agreement between Transportation and Parks departments, environmental assessments) and process (approval from ODOT). According to Chisek, Portland Parks and Recreation (PP&R) “Really underestimated the time it would take to get through the federal process.”
PP&R spokesperson Beth Sorensen said construction is currently slated for mid-March (it would have started this winter, but asphalt projects need dry weather). Sorensen also said that “for safety reasons” sections of the trail will be completely closed during construction. A detour plan will be created and so far, the schedule for the closures has not been released.