Do you ever wonder what topics are HOT in neighborhoods around Portland? Well, we recently had a great conversation with Barbara Quinn, Chair of the Friends of Cathedral Park Neighborhood Association, and she gave us the skinny on what's going on in her north Portland neighborhood—a lot!
We think there's definitely value in sharing this information amongst neighbors in neighborhoods across Portland. You never know where it might lead. Knowledge is power, right? If you'd like to share what's going on in YOUR neighborhood, please send your update to talk@neighborhoodnotes.com. Thanks, neighbors!
Baltimore Woods and the North Portland Greenway Trail
Baltimore Woods is a 30 acre strip of green space between the Cathedral Park Neighborhood and the adjacent industrial area along the Willamette River. It creates a natural buffer, native oak habitat, wildlife corridor, and watershed.
Friends of Baltimore Woods (FOBW), a grass roots organization working to preserve this green space, is proposing that Baltimore Woods be used as part of the North Portland Greenway and 40-Mile Loop.
Current plans have the 40-Mile Loop and the NP Greenway Trail connecting at Cathedral Park. The 40-Mile Loop would then continue on surface streets to Smith-Bybee Lakes. FOBW is proposing that the 40-Mile Trail be routed through Baltimore Woods. This change is relatively minor, but users of the trail would experience Baltimore Woods rather than neighborhood streets. Residents along Baltimore Woods have agreed to provide conservation easements for access to the open space.
The North Portland Greenway Plan recently made the list of recommended projects for Metro's Regional Flexible Funds. After the recommendations are approved, NP Greenway will receive $444,800 of funding. Part of the money will be used to study the Baltimore Woods proposal.
For more information visit the Friends of Baltimore Woods web site.
Whistle Free Zone Update
The Cathedral Park Whistle Free Zone is intended to provide neighbors some relief from the train horns emanating from an unregulated stretch of track associated with the Toyota facilities.
For public safety, engineers are required to blow their horns at uncontrolled intersections at all times. Many of the engines used in the train yard have automated engineers; it appears that controllers prefer to blow the horns continuously, rather than at each intersection. This means that the horns can be blown for up to five minutes a stretch, 24 hours a day.
The Port of Portland had also applied for Metro's Regional Flexible Funds to implement a whistle free zone. This would have included installation of gates at Baltimore Avenue and would have moved the tracks to meet the requirements for gate installation—a very expensive proposition.
Unfortunately, the whistle free zone did not make it onto the recommended list of projects for funding. This leaves the whistle free zone in limbo. While it's possible that Metro could reconsider during the approval process [for the recommended projects], it's not likely. The next step is uncertain.
North St Louis Avenue & North Fessenden Street Pedestrian Improvements
Cathedral Park and St Johns neighborhoods both experience public safety issues with truck drivers ignoring the designated truck route through North Portland. The official route has trucks travel west on North Lombard, "around the horn" to where Lombard intersects with North Columbia.
To save five minutes, truck drivers use neighborhood roads—North St Louis Avenue and North Fessenden Street—putting residents at risk. Many of these trucks are over-sized and/or carry hazardous materials.
St Johns had applied for Regional Flexible Funds to implement traffic calming measures aimed at improving safety and discouraging truck drivers from using neighborhood streets as an unofficial truck route.
Unfortunately, this project also failed to make the list of recommended projects. Like the whistle free zone, the next step for this project is also uncertain.
Our thanks to Barbara Quinn for this update.
