North Macadam: The lobster pot of traffic

An observation from an informed friend brought this puzzle to mind.

Let's say that when the North Macadam (or South Waterfront, which apparently is sexier) area is fully developed, it will house 500 people who work on Pill Hill.  (Ignore for the moment those who work elsewhere.)  Now let's say that the tram goes out of service.  How will those 500 people drive to their jobs?

It's easy if they're birds; they have only to fly 10 blocks west and they're at the jobsite.  It's not so easy if they are in cars.  Let's work it out. 

Go west to Macadam Avenue and then north to Kelly Avenue, which leads to First and Arthur.  Continuing on Arthur Street leads to Caruthers Street and an awkward left turn onto Sixth.  Sixth leads to Terwilliger and to Sam Jackson Park Road, a narrow twisty road cut into the cliff face with no room to be widened.  Sam Jackson Park Road turns into Gibbs Street and there they are.

Not so bad.

Now let's get them home.  Go down Sam Jackson Park Road to Terwilliger.  Continue north on Terwilliger around Duniway Park to the traffic light at Sheridan Street.  Turn right and drive on Sheridan along the north side of Duniway Park, across Barbur Boulevard, and down to First and Arthur.  Then continue onto Kelly Avenue (I think that's what the diagonal road leading toward but not exactly to the Ross Island Bridge is called) past the old Zapata's restaurant site, to the stopsign, and turn left onto Hood Avenue.

Oh, but wait.  It's rush hour, and opposing traffic is streaming off the Ross Island Bridge.  You'll have to wait for a gap before you can turn onto Hood.  It might be a long wait.  But you'll eventually get onto Hood and go south, then underneath Interstate 5 to Bancroft, where there's a light and you can cross Macadam to get into SoWa.

Hmmm.  There's only enough stacking room for about two cars to wait at Bancroft without impeding the commuters heading south on Highway 43 toward the Sellwood Bridge and Lake Oswego.  Not so good.

Maybe there's another route home?  I don't think so - Hood Avenue is the only nearby route that goes from the west side of Interstate 5 to the east side.  And Macadam Avenue is the only nearby route that goes from the east side to the west side.  There's Harbor Way, but that means making a long detour through downtown Portland. 

The tram may be missing $40 million from its budget, but the South Waterfront streets are also missing several tens of millions. Considering how close SoWa is to downtown, it's a remarkably difficult place to get into or out of.  Maybe the residents should telecommute.

Comments

[Bill Hooker]

Go west to Macadam Avenue and then north to Kelly Avenue, which leads to First and Arthur

Where you can catch a number of buses, including the #66 express to Pill Hill. You can take the same bus home, or a #8 or #68 to the corner of 6th and Sheridan.

That won't do for everyone, but it should at least mean that not everyone will have to drive if the tram is down.

[Oregon MoneyGuy]

So, is this the pro-tram argument?

[Isaac Laquedem]

Not at all. It's the query about how, if the City of Portland maintains the largest establishment of planners in the state (as I think it does), it could have let transportation planning for the area get so out of hand.

[Jack Bog]

Much of the core infrastructure for the SoWhat district hasn't even been budgeted for yet. What about the raw sewage coming out of those towers? Is the already-crumbling city sewer system big enough to handle it? Of course not. Stand by, taxpayers -- the new sewage treatment plant will be paid for by you, not by Homer Williams's foolish customers or by OHSU.