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November 29, 2006
High Drama on Burnside Plan
Commissioner Sam Adams has scheduled a press conference for 8:30am on Tuesday morning (12/5) to announce his recommendation for Burnside/Couch.
The press conference will be across the street (Burnside) from Powells Books, by the sculpture affectionately known as "the brush".
I'm still betting on the couplet, but we'll see...
Posted by Chris Smith at 8:52 PM
Comments
November 29, 2006 11:39 PM
mykle Says:
by whom is it known (affectionately or otherwise) as "the brush"?
my people call it "nutsack island."
November 29, 2006 11:50 PM
phil Says:
I hope they dedicate the street for backwards crab-walking. Or turn it into a giant slip-n-slide during the rainy months.
November 30, 2006 12:02 AM
no one in particular Says:
I always heard "the devil's testicle".
I do love it, though. Art you can actually play with (assuming you're tall). Fun!
November 30, 2006 9:06 AM
Lenny Anderson Says:
I would hope in this age of scarce transportation dollars that PDOT lets this sleeping dog lie...long live a congested, gritty Burnside.
November 30, 2006 11:09 AM
enginerd Says:
Lenny is right on. Burnside is what it is. PDOT has better things to spend scarce resources on than fighting lawsuits with Couch Street condo owners.
November 30, 2006 2:08 PM
Chris Smith Says:
Burnside is what it is.
Yes it is, four of the most dangerous pedestrian intersections in the City and a barrier between neighborhoods.
November 30, 2006 2:41 PM
Bob R. Says:
A Burnside-Couch couplet would give us:
* Vastly improved pedestrian environment in _most_ intersections
* Improved retail environment (room for outdoor items, room for window shoppers)
* Improved transit access (bus waiting can occur in designated areas without crowding onto a narrow sidewalk)
* Increase of total number of street trees
Dramatic decrease in street crossing distances on Burnside and no increase in crossing distances on Couch
For motorists:
* Overall throughput will remain about the same, but incidents of speeding will be reduced due to signalization of every intersection and timing of the street to move with a grid pattern
* LEFT TURNS at most intersections where turns are now prohibited, vastly improving local access
* Redesigning the mess that is now the Burnside/Sandy/7th/11th/12th mega intersection
* Street parking on Burnside (much of it in protected plaza areas which will not impact through traffic on Burnside)
* Improvement in travel times for most N-S trips across Burnside
The only real problem I have with the old original proposal is the narrow lanes from west 14th to 23rd. (I proposed a compromise of 10ft/11ft lanes to make room for buses and trucks in the right lane and still have a slight widening of sidewalks.)
- Bob R.
November 30, 2006 9:03 PM
Jason McHuff Says:
FYI, the "Pod" sculpture was featured in Portland Tribune's Stumptown Stumper awhile back.
Also, it should be noted that Lars Larson doesn't seem to grasp that the (east side) couplet does indeed benefit motorists.
