Urgent: City Council Hearing Thursday || Amendments to Transportation System Plan must include TRAILS

Urgent Action Item from your North Portland Greenway Core Team

update 04.07.2007
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO CALLED, WROTE AND SHOWED UP to support the North Willamette Greenway Trail being included in the Transportation System Plan.

Your voice was heard and noticed. In a new entry with todays date, we will post the text of a summary report from one of our core members to a local media outlet. We will also post our written testimony for you all to see.
npGREENWAY core team
Fellow Trail Advocates:

At 2:45 PM this Thursday, March 29th our Portland City Council will hold a hearing regarding amendments to the Transportation System Plan in Council Chambers at 1221 SW 4th Ave.


City Council Chambers
Photo by Pam of npGREENWAY.

We are encouraging all Portland Citizens who wish to see the Trail come to completion to do at least one of the following:

• Call or email Jean Harrison with Portland Department Of Transportation, 503-823-7793 or jeanne.harrison@pdxtrans.org and let her know that there should be shore-side alignments of the North Portland Willamette Greenway Trail included in the amendments to the Transportation Master Plan all the way from the Saint Johns Bridge to the Steel Bridge.

• Call Commissioner of Transportation, Sam Adams at 503-823-3008.

• Show up! at City Council Thursday (that's today for some of you) to testify yourself.

We are concerned that the shore-side alignments for the multi-use trail will not get the attention it deserves in the Transportation Master Plan.
The trail was identified as the “Primary Greenway Trail” in the City of Portland’s 1988 Willamette Greenway Plan and it should be included in the amended Transportation Master Plan. Further, a river-level connection between Cathedral Park and the Eastbank Esplanade was included in the 2004 St. Johns Town Center Lombard Street Plan as an action item-–“to complete the missing segments of the Willamette Greenway.” This/these action item(s) were included after a series of extensive legislative processes, which included public testimony and amendments by staff following hearings before the Design Commission, Planning Commission and City Council.

Now is the time for Portland to advance its position in the vanguard of transportation planning! We must be prepared for the post petroleum economy by providing this much needed bicycle, pedestrian, and [insert non-motorized vehicle of your choice here] link to jobs in St. Johns, Swan Island, downtown and the rest of the region for our residents.

Working together we can fulfill our dream of connecting the Peninsula and North Portland to the rest of the city, and the region.
From Paul Maresh and your npGREENWAY Core Team

Following is some contact information for other members of City Council:
Mayor Tom Potter
503-823-4120
mayorpotter@ci.portland.or.us
Commissioner Dan Saltzman
503-823-4151
dsaltzman@ci.portland.or.us
Commissioner Randy Leonard
503-823-4682
rleonard@ci.portland.or.us
Commissioner Erik Sten
503-823-3589
erik@ci.portland.or.us

THURSDAY, 2:00 PM, MARCH 29, 2007

*318 TIME CERTAIN: 2:00 PM – Extend moratorium on development within commercial and industrial zones on Hayden Island (Ordinance introduced by Commissioner Adams; amend Ordinance No. 180475)

319 TIME CERTAIN: 2:45 PM – Amend the Transportation System Plan and Comprehensive Plan to ensure that the documents remain current and to incorporate new policy language (Previous Agenda 168; Ordinance introduced by Commissioner Adams) Link to Portland Online City Council Agenda

I just noticed one other interesting item on the agenda on Wednesday morning:

PORTLAND CITY COUNCIL AGENDA City Hall - 1221 SW Fourth Avenue WEDNESDAY, 9:30 AM, MARCH 28, 2007

Communications

297 Request of John Patrick Liteky to address Council regarding bikes not being allowed on any sidewalks (Communication)