Gateway Green Bike Park ‘Phase 2’ construction well underway

View of the new Spine road that winds gently down the south hill of Gateway Green.
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)

A project that will result in major changes to Gateway Green Bike Park is shaping up. The park is currently closed to public access as the Portland Parks & Recreation Bureau leads a $5.75 million buildout that will bring much-needed upgrades to the park and help it grow beyond its “beta” stage.

Gateway Green opened three summers ago and proved an instant hit with the thousands of Portlanders who love riding bikes on trails, on dirt, on jumps, and on pump tracks. The Phase 2 construction is well underway with contractors moving tons of dirt in an effort to bring the park up to city standards and add new riding features and visitor amenities.

Previously a 25-acre parcel of dirt that was not ADA accessible, had no running water, no paved gathering space, no bathrooms and no electricity, the current project will remedy those deficiencies and much more.

I rolled over on Tuesday to take a look at how things are shaping up.

The south end of the park has been entirely regraded. A new “Spine” road with wide turns and a gentle, 5% grade has been created (I’m not sure if this will be paved or just hard-packed dirt/gravel). The Spine road will be usable by all types of riders and will connect the south and north sections.

The old trail that used to wind down the big hill on the south side has been removed; but it will be added back and a new “gravity-oriented” trail will be added to the hill. According to project partner NW Trail Alliance, “Changes will be made to the existing Toe Line Trail, the existing advanced jump line will be re-built, the existing pumptrack will be re-located to make room for a future asphalt pumptrack, and existing skills area will be refreshed.”

Top of the south hill seen from NE Halsey overpass.

Standing on top of south hill looking north toward PDX Airport.

New Spine road.

Looking southeast at the hill and Spine road. (I-84 in the background and that road in middle is a construction access route.)

Note the old jump line ramps.

Another view of the old jump line.

Middle section where skills park trails used to be.

New water runoff/drainage area in the works.

Looking south from I-205 path at a new path being built along west edge of middle section.

New path leading to central “hub” gathering area.

Old pump track looking pretty sad!

New central plaza and entrance shaping up.

As you can see in the photos, a new main entrance in the middle of the park will be fully paved. You can expect a new Portland Loo (bathroom), drinking fountains, and $1 million in “habitat enhancements” thanks to funding from Metro.

Phase 3 is still to come and will include another entrance and new path/bridge on the south side as part of the TriMet Better Red light rail project we reported on last week.

Be advised that the park is currently closed and is scheduled to re-open later this fall.

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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