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Woodland Park: 102nd Avenue area gets arty upgrades
By Michael Bales
The Oregonian
November 13, 2008
A half-mile of [Portland, Oregon’s] Northeast 102nd Avenue sports a more inviting look.
Antique-style street lamps, 15-foot-wide sidewalks, bike lanes, crosswalks and trees are among additions from Northeast Wiedler to Glisan streets.
The most striking work, says Dan Layden, project manager for the Portland Office of Transportation, should be finished by month's end. A once-barren corner referred to as the "jug handle" — a semicircular turn lane from Wiedler onto 102nd — will get tiered landscaping and 49 reddish fiberglass poles, 24 to 35 feet tall, that are designed to sway in the wind.
Residents have lobbied for the project for more than a decade, says Bob Earnest, who heads a Gateway urban renewal committee that advises the Portland Development Commission. Metro designated the area a regional center, says Earnest, who hopes government agencies eventually locate there.
The project, dedicated Monday at a ceremony in the Fred Meyer parking lot, cost $5.4 million, most from a federal earmark. Still planned but lacking money is similar work from Glisan south to Southeast Washington Street.
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