The Portland Bureau of Transportation has released fresh renderings of the future 82nd Avenue that they plan to break ground on this summer. With a total of $185 million in funding spread across several concurrent projects, PBOT says they’ve reached a major milestone on the biggest piece of the puzzle: the $55 million 82nd Avenue Critical Fixes: Major Maintenance project that will bring changes to a 2.5-mile stretch of the road in southeast and northeast Portland.
We last checked on this project in March 2023. On Wednesday, PBOT released updated plans that bring the project up to a 60% design completion level.
In a statement yesterday, PBOT said this project will bring, “transformative maintenance upgrades” to two separate sections of 82nd Ave: from NE Fremont to Schuyler, and SE Mill to Foster. The city plans to completely rebuild and repave some sections of the roadway from the ground up and build new or updated traffic signals and safer crossings at 10 intersections (more crossings and signals are planned as part of a separate project). This project also includes new center medians, 250 new street trees (up from 138 back in March), and repair or construction of 15,000 linear feet of sidewalk.
Trees are a key part of this project, and the city will go to great lengths to make sure they are large and healthy. Unlike the small concrete wells trees are typically confined to, PBOT will fully excavate the medians down to the soil and the entire median island surface will be landscaped with ground covers and shrubs. These plantings could make the street safer, will create a more “main street” atmosphere, and help cool the area during heat waves. New streetscape renderings released by PBOT show large trees on both the sidewalks and in medians. Where there are no plantings, PBOT will use a red stamped brick material on the medians.
While most of the budget for this project will go toward new pavement and concrete work, bicycle users and walkers will specifically benefit from changes like new leading pedestrian intervals (where walkers get a head-start before right-turning drivers) at some signals, new bicycle-only signals, as well as painted bike boxes and improved signal detection where neighborhood greenways cross 82nd.
While PBOT does not show any bike or bus-only lanes on these latest renderings — changes of that nature will be considered in separate projects. This project is about helping people cross 82nd and taking initial “critical fixes” to redesign the street in a way that tames car drivers.
The need to balance safety and reduce stubbornly high traffic fatality numbers, while still allowing drivers robust access to destinations along the corridor, is a key dynamic facing PBOT and City Hall in this project. They are very well aware of business owners along the street who worry that medians and other “access management” measures will make it too hard for car drivers to turn into their businesses.
Hoping to avoid a repeat of publicity and political problems that plagued their SE Division project (and in addition to standard community outreach to inform their design process), PBOT staff did extensive canvassing of business and/or property owners in the project area. They went door-to-door to 218 businesses and met one-on-one with 50 business and/or property owners.
In a public engagement summary posted on the project website, PBOT reports dueling feedback: “Many people have been personally impacted by the current unsafe conditions, through witnessing a crash, personally or knowing someone who has been involved in a crash, and/or experiencing a close call,” reads one excerpt. But they also heard, “Businesses said getting customers to the businesses is most important.”
PBOT’s outreach to businesses on 82nd paid off when the 82nd Avenue Business Association endorsed their plan in December. And in a statement yesterday, PBOT Commissioner Mingus Mapps — who launched a controversial plan last fall to remove protected bike lanes downtown in a bid to appease business owners — said, “I’m especially glad that PBOT has made adjustments to the plan, so we can ensure businesses have the access they need.”
Zachary Lauritzen, executive director of the nonprofit Oregon Walks, called the latest PBOT plans, “good first steps to transitioning 82nd Avenue away from a high speed highway to a place where everyone can move around safely and comfortably.”
PBOT is accepting comments on these plans through March 31st and plans to finalize the designs shortly thereafter. You can find details on in-person meetings and other neighborhood presentation dates on the official project website. PBOT hopes to have construction approved by City Council in early summer and build the project before the end of 2026. This “lightning fast” timeline is due to funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) which must be spent by the end of 2026.