Residents of a multi-building apartment complex in Northwest Portland say their mobility has been unfairly restricted due to a broken elevator, and they want building owners to do something about it.
Last week The Yards Tenant Union — a group made up of folks who live at The Yards Union Station, a five-story, 128-unit building between the tracks at Union Station and Northwest Naito Parkway — sent a letter to Walter and Eric Grodahl; managing members of DBG Properties LLC.
The tenants allege the building has been out of compliance with an access easement for more than two years — an easement that requires building owners to maintain the elevator on their side of a pedestrian bridge that goes over railroad tracks between NW Naito and Union Station, and provides access to the transit mall on NW 5th and 6th avenues. Below is an excerpt from the letter:
“Because the elevator has remained inoperable for years, mobility-impaired residents are effectively cut off from the Transit Mall and surrounding transit access. The bridge is the only practical pedestrian connection across the rail corridor. The stretch of NW Naito Parkway surrounding it, which contains more than 1,000 apartment and condominium units, has no cross streets for approximately 1,000 meters between the Steel Bridge ramp and NW 9th Avenue.”
Broken elevators that are meant to service pedestrian bridges are a persistent problem in Portland, and bicycle riders are hit especially hard. Due to vandalism and difficulty obtaining parts, the Portland Bureau of Transportation has failed to provide reliable access to the Bob Stacey Crossing and the Gibbs Street Pedestrian Bridge. TriMet has had similar issues with a pedestrian bridge at SE Lafayette St. For people able to walk on stairs, these closures aren’t a major issue; but it’s a different story for bicycle riders who have to carry themselves and their (often very heavy and awkward) bicycles up and down them. It’s also frustrating that bike ramps are a more reliable alternative to elevators that often get passed over due to an alleged lack of funding. Some stairways have ramps at the edges (often called “runnels”) for bicycle tires, but they often don’t work well and/or are difficult to use for people with heavy bikes and/or who have physical limitations.
According the easement, maintenance of the bridge between their building and Union Station are split between DBG Properties and Prosper Portland (owners of Union Station).
For The Yards tenant Michelle Ryding, the broken elevators on the Union Station Bridge have caused major mobility issues. “I can’t use the bridge to get to or from work because I’m not able to carry my bike up and down the stairs,” she shared with BikePortland via email. “And when freight trains block the crossings, it would make a huge difference to be able to load into the elevator and go over the tracks instead of being late for work.”
The Yards Tenant Union believes DBG Properties is in violation of the “meaningful access” clause in their easement. The easement agreement filed with Multnomah County (Recording No. 2015-034466) includes a section that states: “In the event that Grantors, or any one of them, fail to perform their obligations under this Agreement, the City shall be entitled to require such performance by suit for specific performance or, where appropriate, through injunctive relief.”
In their letter, dated February 11th, the tenant union made five demands:
- Within 10 calendar days of receipt of this letter, identify in writing the elevator contractor retained to perform repairs to the Yards-side pedestrian bridge elevator, including the contractor’s name, license, and scope of work.
- Within 14 calendar days, provide a written repair plan and schedule, including an estimated date that service will be restored.
- Return the Yards-side elevator to full operable condition no later than 45 calendar days from receipt of this letter.
- Provide a written commitment to ongoing maintenance and prompt repair sufficient to keep the elevator continuously operable, consistent with Section 2.3 of the Easement Agreement and applicable accessibility requirements.
- Identify a named individual with responsibility and authority for elevator operation, maintenance, and compliance with accessibility requirements going forward.
If DBG does not address these demands, the union plans to escalate the issue through ADA and building code enforcement channels. District 4 city councilors were copied on the letter.
In the meantime, folks like Michelle Ryding will have to continue to find other routes. Ryding says despite the closure, she still uses the bridge, but it means waiting until she can convince a passerby to help lift her bike up and over the stairs. “Not being able to access the bridge doesn’t just affect my commute. It means I’m less likely to visit shops, stores, or restaurants on the other side, too,” Ryding says.
Thanks for reading.
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As JM noted in the article, even PBOT has had issues maintaining public elevators due to vandalism and difficulty in obtaining parts. In all seriousness, at what point can private property owners like those who own The Yards Union Station point the finger at the city for refusing to adequately enforce vandalism laws and deter vandalism for both public and private infrastructure? If I were an owner of a big private multi family development that was repeatedly getting vandalized, I’d likely refuse to invest in repairs to an elevator that would only get vandalized again in a matter of days.
Given that the easement agreement says nothing about City of Portland, if I was DBG properties I would definitely reach out to the City of Portland as part of my homework and due diligence but at the end of the day, an easement is an easement and it’s my responsibility as the building owner to figure it out.
I believe the building is owned by Home Forward (aka The Housing Authority of Portland), which has seen a lot of commentary in Willamette Week about mismanagement, including The Yards. The elevator issue ultimately falls on Home Forward’s shoulders.
Then if I were a resident I’d sue you.
Vandalism of public elevators is usually limited to superficial stuff – graffiti, trash, poop. All gross and unacceptable on it’s own merit; but not something that affects the functionality of the elevator. I highly doubt that crackheads are lucid enough to break an elevator in such a way that they could steal anything useful out of it.
More likely is that like anything else mechanical, elevators break. I just had to replace my chainring, not because there’s a chainring vandal about but because it’s a wear item and eventually my bike will break without it. In my previous building – a market rate one with resident-only entry – the elevator broke a few times and the property management always had some guys out to fix it within a day.
Is every one of these elevators a one off design, with no common parts, no service agreement, and no supply chain? Would anyone buy a car, or an airplane, without some regular arrangement for service? The elevator workers that I’ve seen in other contexts are employees of either national or perhaps regional companies with a specialty in that business.
The fact that it’s been years since this elevator worked makes me think there’s some non-mechanical reason that the building management is dragging their feet.
Probably because any enclosed public space in this area just becomes a place to defecate and use drugs. It’s expensive and a nightmare for the poor workers who have to clean and repair these elevators.
Crikey! Two years to fix a lift and we are meant to call that progress?
If the easement says maintain the elevator, then maintain the flaming elevator. Mobility impaired tenants and bike riders should not need to audition a passerby to lug their rig up the stairs just to cross the tracks.
And here is the rub. We are paying some of the highest local taxes in the country, yet basic nuts and bolts governance feels like it is held together with duct tape and a press release. Between county muddle and endless performative box ticking, the simple stuff like keeping critical access open somehow never gets done.
You cannot spruik climate goals, active transport, and equity while leaving the only practical crossing out of action for two years. That is how you end up in the so called Portland doom loop, with businesses and taxpayers voting with their feet because the fundamentals are not being handled.
This is not about gold plated infrastructure. It is about competence. Fix the lift. Honour the easement. Do the basics properly. The rest might just follow
We need to insist on ramps. In addition to the useless elevators listed here, the City failed to build accessible access to the Waud Bluff bridge by exploiting a loophole- a totally shameful black mark on the City.
Please remember folks, if this was funded with taxpayer money, quality is sacrificed for profits in almost every case in Portland (heck in Oregon).
Oregon has no limitations on the amount a company can make in profit for a taxpayer funded (or partially funded) project like other jurisdictions across the country have.
If I were the tenants (or a tenant) I would have started with filing ADA and building code complaints. You just go to the City’s website and fill out a form that takes a couple minutes and is free. Responsiveness by the City varies from very quickly to never, but it’s easy and gets it on record as one more bit of leverage.
Ah yes, just file the ADA complaint — right after your online form survives Portland’s legendary loading times. Responsiveness ranges from “maybe by next decade” to “archeologists will find it in 2093.”
Given the terrible record of maintaining public outdoor elevators, they should be presumptively non-compliant with accessibility standards whenever they are incorporated into a project. Just build the damn ramps unless lack of space makes it physically impossible to do so.
Michelle Ryding being a bike commuter is a wonderful little bit of nominative determinism.
Simply put, they need to fix that elevator. It appears that it would be the responsibility of Home Forward, Portland’s housing authority, to do so as they operate and manage the building. They have open drug markets running for months in other buildings though. I wouldn’t hold my breath on them taking any action.
Robert, Angus and others have called into question PBOT’s elevator maintenance practices. I agree.
We should not just tuck tail as though nothing can be done when we hear the excuse, “Due to vandalism and difficulty obtaining parts, . . .”
In 2021, I made a late-night 311 call about the Bob Stacey Crossing elevator being out once again. The operator, maybe erroneously, put me directly through to the on-call or designated elevator repair crew. I got an earful from that guy about how they couldn’t do their jobs because PBOT refused to stock parts, etc. etc.
I have mentioned that conversaton to you, Jonathan, and have in my records that in January of 2022 you put in a public records request for PBOT’s elevator maintenance and repair record. I was hoping to see an article on all the reasons the elevators break down so frequently and remain broken down for long.
PBOT is holding public input sessions in the coming weeks to gather feedback and solicit support on how to generate more funding. Portland taxpayers are notoriously generous in voting to increase their own taxes to do the right thing. Can we blame them if they now say to PBOT regarding bike/ped infrastructure, “No more new toys for you. You don’t take care of the ones you have.”
“It’s also frustrating that bike ramps are a more reliable alternative to elevators that often get passed over due to an alleged lack of funding.”
Ramps are an easy solution until you actually have to design, build and pay for them. ADA requires a slope not to exceed 1:12 with a level landing area for every 30 inches of rise. Providing clearance over a railroad track plus the depth of the structure can mean a ramp length of 400 feet. That takes lots of space even if the ramp switches back on itself, which presents its own challenges. Lots of people will complain the ramp is an eyesore. Cyclists will complain about out-of-direction travel.
I’m frustrated at the unreliability of elevators, too, but there is no easy solution.
I like the pedestrian tunnels going under the tracks, they sometimes even allow bicyclists to bike through them. I saw lots in Europe, but also in New Haven CT and San Jose CA.