Category: What’s Happening in Sunnyside?

Bikeway Project Open House

NE/SE Bikeway Project Open House- January 26
Come learn about the NE/SE 50s Bikeway Project at an open house event on Wednesday, January 26, 2011, at the Lady of Sorrows, 5329 SE Woodstock Blvd in Southeast Portland, from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

The NE/SE 50s Bikeway is a proposed 4.5 mile north-south bike route from NE Thompson Street and 57th Avenue south to SE Woodstock Boulevard and 52nd Avenue.  The open house is an opportunity for residents to learn about the project and provide ideas and comments to staff and the Citizens Advisory Committee. A final design is expected to be complete by early spring 2011.  Construction on the project is slated to start in early 2012.

For more information or to be added to the email notification list, contact:

Rich Newlands at 503-823-7780 [email protected]

Sarah Figliozzi at 503-823-0805  [email protected]

www.portlandonline.com/transportation/50sbikeway.

Root 4 Kids!

Help Sunnyside Environmental school win a garden or Farm to School program!

Annie’s Natural Foods is giving away a garden, Farm to School program or gardening supplies to the school that generates the most Root 4 Kids sign ups!  The Root4Kids program encourages kids to learn more about eating real food and rewards them for “digging more veggies”…!  Very worthwhile cause.
The school or community with the most sign ups by January 31, 2011* will win their choice of a garden, a new Farm to School program or gardening supplies for one year. For every 1,000 Root 4 Kids sign ups Annie’s receives, it also will contribute funds toward a garden or Farm to School program in an underprivileged school. Any school to receive at least 100 sign ups in the month of November will receive a free Root 4 Kids merchandise pack, complete with window decals, t-shirts, bookmarks, seed markers and more!
As we’re nearing the home stretch in the contest, Sunnyside Environmental school is now in 8th place – please click on the website below, join Annie’s movement and Root 4 Kids!
Here’s the current standing:
1. Battle Academy for Teaching and Learning – Chattanooga, TN
2. Camas Ridge Community School – Eugene, OR
3. Saints Peter & Paul School – West Chester, PA
4. Richmond Elementary School – Portland, OR
5. Arts Academy at Benjamin Rush – Philadelphia, PA
6. Ridgetop Elementary School – Austin, TX
7. Central Middle School – Norwood, MN
8. Sunnyside Environmental School – Portland, OR
9. Dover High School – Dover, NH
10. Damascus Middle School – Damascus, OR
Encourage your friends and family to join the movement at www.Root4Kids.com/join and help push Sunnyside Environmental School to the top!

~Dana Hush, SES Dedicated Parent

Speed Zones Through Sunnyside

 

Speed Zone on SE Cesar Chavez Blvd [39th Avenue] between SE Division and SE Woodstock reduced from 35 mph to 30 mph
As for speed limits on SE Hawthorne, it was reduced from 30 mph to 25 mph months ago.  Current speed limits on SE Belmont and SE Stark, no changes — remains posted at 30 mph.  Finally, on SE Willow between SE 60th and the I-84 freeway entrance, the 25 speed limit is strictly radar enforced.  Know that high volumes of commuter hour traffic speeding to enter the freeway was troublesome for residents living on SE Willow.
Report by Matthew Machado.  This request was to reduce the speed limit on SE Cesar Chavez Blvd (39th Ave) between SE Division St and SE Woodstock Blvd from 35 mph to 30 mph to be consistent with the segments north and south of the requested location.

SE Cesar Chavez Blvd (39th Ave) was classified as a Major City Traffic Street north of SE Holgate Blvd.  South of Holgate, Cesar Chavez was classified as a neighborhood collector.  Per Speed Zone Order 1399D dated June 1, 1998, the posted speed limit on SE 39th Ave was 30 mph from NE Sandy Blvd to SE Division St, 35 mph from SE Division St to SE Woodstock Blvd, and 30 mph from SE Woodstock Blvd to SE Crystal Springs Blvd.  Between Division and Holgate, the roadway was 42 feet wide with two travel lanes in each direction except at the Division, Powell, and Holgate intersections, where the roadway widened to accommodate left-turn lanes.  No parking was allowed on either side of the street.  South of Holgate, the roadway narrowed to 36 feet with a travel lane and parking lane in each direction.  The land use was a mix of residential, small commercial, and large commercial, with most of the larger commercial sites concentrated near SE Powell Blvd.  A number of residential and commercial driveways existed along Cesar Chavez, and it could be difficult to exit those driveways due to the volume and speeds of traffic present on the roadway.

Speed and volume data were collected on 39th in 2002.  Recorded volumes at SE Harold St were approximately 6200 vehicles northbound and 6500 vehicles southbound.  At SE Raymond St, recorded volumes were approximately 6500 vehicles northbound and 6700 vehicles southbound.  At SE Harold St, the recorded 85th percentile speeds were 38 mph northbound and 37 mph southbound.  At SE Raymond St, the recorded 85th percentile speeds were 36 mph northbound and 35 mph southbound.

There were no significant differences in the physical roadway, traffic conditions or adjacent land uses between the 35 mph and the 30 mph segments. Based on the above, the recommendation for SE Cesar Chavez Blvd (39th Ave) was to send a Speed Zone Request to ODOT with a recommendation to reduce the speed limit from 35 mph to 30 mph between SE Division St and SE Woodstock Blvd. That would result in a consistent 30 mph posted limit from NE Sandy Blvd to SE Crystal Springs Blvd along NE/SE Cesar Chavez Blvd (39th Ave).



Eileen Dent
Traffic Investigations
1120 SW 5th Avenue # 800
Portland OR  97204
(503) 823-7687
[email protected]

 

 

2011 Neighborhood Small Grants Update

Sunnyside neighbors were awarded grant money for two projects. Read all about it plus the exciting projects happening across Southeast, thanks to this grand project from Southeast Uplift. Congratulations to all!

Sunnyside Useful Goods Exchange & Neighborhood Cleanup, Sunnyside Swap Shop Co-Op, Windward Education & Research Center. Amount requested:  $565. Selection Committee Recommendation:  Fund at $200. The Sunnyside Swap Shop Co-Op will host the 5th Annual Useful Goods Exchange, an event held in-conjunction with the neighborhood cleanup where unwanted items can be donated, traded and reused by families in need.

Employment Self-Help Outreach Project, Sunnyside Neighborhood Association. Amount requested:  $1500. Selection Committee Recommendation:  Fund at $500.The Sunnyside Employment Self-Help Group will conduct an outreach project, consisting of town hall events and the development of a website and a video documentary, to generate more participation in the group and neighborhood association activities.

Visit SEUL’s website to read more about these and the other recipients.

http://www.southeastuplift.org/content/2011-neighborhood-small-grants

Metro Councilor Robert Liberty Resigns

Dear Friends,

Yesterday, Metro Councilor Robert Liberty announced that he has accepted the position of Executive Director of the University of Oregon’s Sustainable Cities Initiative.  He will be the first person to hold the position.

This is exciting news for the University and for the cause of sustainable development.  However, Robert will resign his position on the Metro Council on January 15 to devote himself full-time to his new position.  The Metro Council will appoint a replacement to serve the remaining two years of his term as councilor.

 

I have decided to seek appointment to the District 6 Council position that Robert is vacating, and I intend to run for election to a full four-year term on the Council in the May 2012 primary.  District 6 includes most of Southeast Portland as well as the portion of Southwest Portland lying between I-405 and the Sunset Highway on the north and I-5 on the south.  My family and I have lived in District 6 since 1975, and in the November 2 election for Metro President I received 58 percent of the vote in the district.

Robert Liberty has done an exemplary job representing the interests of the residents of Council District 6 and the interests of all of us who want our region to grow and prosper in an environmentally sustainable and equitable way.  I hope to continue his record of working for a balanced, affordable transportation system that provides all of us more choices; for wider opportunities for affordable housing throughout the region; for protection of farms, forest and natural areas; and for building sustainable, livable communities by making better use of our existing urban land supply.

I’ve called Metro President Tom Hughes to tell him of my intention to seek appointment and my desire to work with him as a member of the Council.  I am also contacting each member of the Council to seek their support.

I hope you’ll support me in this effort as well.  It’s an unexpected opportunity to pursue the same goals that caused me to spend the past year running for Metro President.  If you think I’m the right person for the job, I hope you’ll let members of the Council and Council President Tom Hughes know.  Their contact information is available on Metro’s website here  http://www.oregonmetro.gov/index.cfm/go/by.web/id/28

Thank you for the help and encouragement you’ve provided me, and have a wonderful New Year!

Bob Stacey