Portland’s Green Streets Network and Street Design
/GreenWorks' Principal Mike Faha collaborated with the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services' Dave Elkin to lead a Green Street tour last week for the Congress for the New Urbanism. The tour highlighted GreenWorks green street projects' design, implementation, and policies and codes that govern them. For more information visit www.cnu.org.
"Tour 1: Portland’s Green Streets Network and Street Design"
The Congress for the New Urbanism’s “Project for Transportation” has long promoted humane, multi-modal, narrower streets and complete networks through its collaborations with the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and International Code Council. Attempts to establish a national initiative in support of green streets, or streets that reduce environmental impacts, has been disappointingly slow for advocacy groups aiming to push the initiative into the mainstream. Multi-benefit streets have been most successfully implemented at the local level by a handful of cities. Portland is one of these, and since beginning design and construction of green streets in 2003, Portland now has roughly 700 public and private green streets--streets that reduce stormwater run-off and improve water quality. Over the next 10 years, the City is planning to install 500 more green streets. The numerous green streets in Portland are part of a 20-year plan to reduce overflow into the Willamette River and Columbia Slough. Portland’s green streets are designed for all contexts, from neighborhood residential areas to central business districts. Learn about green streets’ design and implementation challenges from one of Portland’s leading landscape architects. Learn about the policies and codes that govern them from representatives of the city’s environmental and transportation agencies.
The tour will be led by Mike Faha, ASLA, LEED AP, Principal, GreenWorks PC; David Elkin, Portland Bureau of Environmental Services, and Portland Bureau of Transportation."
Click on the gallery below to learn more about the tour and the projects featured:
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Albany workshop set on 'green streets'
/"Green streets" - how they work and how to build them - will be the subject of an Albany workshop on Thursday, Oct. 22, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Linn County Extension Office, Old Armory Building, 104 Fourth Ave. S.W.
A fee will be charged. For additional information, visit www.oeconline.org/storm water.
The city of Albany plans to send a representative. City Engineer Mark Shepard said Albany is interested from the standpoints of good stewardship and compliance with new regulations on handling storm water.
Jason King of GreenWorks PC, a landscape architecture and environmental design firm based in Portland, is one of the speakers. He has experience with green street projects large and small.
The concept is based on handling storm water without channeling it all to the nearest stream.
The workshop covers case studies of green streets ranging from urban environments to residential streets and county roads, as well as the latest information about previous surfaces for streets and parking areas, including porous asphalt, pervious concrete, pervious pavers and flexible grid systems.
The workshop is part of the "Storm Water Solutions" series sponsored by the Oregon Environmental Council and OSU Extension Service, with funding from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.
Democrat-Herald
For more information visit: Democrat-Herald
GreenWorks = Green Streets
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From our recent emailer: "Green streets provide many benefits such as creating a more pedestrian friendly street, addressing stormwater in a more environmental and economical way, and improving water quality.
GreenWorks has designed over 30 green street projects in Oregon, Washington and California.
Beavercreek Green Street recently received an American Public Works Association 2009 National Project of the Year Award."
Green Streets in American Nurseryman
/The article 'Green Streets for Green Cities', was recently published in the August 2009 issue of American Nurseryman magazine. The article outlines GreenWorks' work with the City of Portland - taken up the challenge of converting gray pavement to green oases, protecting the region’s ecosystem through more efficient — and more aesthetic — management of stormwater.
An excerpt from the article. Check out the AN website for online version of the article (by subscription):
"Using soil and vegetation, Green Streets mimic natural conditions to manage runoff on the surface, at the source. The plants absorb water, and their roots help water soak into the ground. Plant roots and soil bacteria help break down stormwater pollutants. Roots, insects and worms increase the space between soil particles and increase stormwater storage. Green Streets can be attractive neighborhood amenities, and a variety of plants can provide a range of looks."
Historic Kenton Main Street to Get Makeover
/On Tuesday, August 25th a crowd braved a spot of summer rain to attend a news conference to kick off Kenton business district streetscape project. Portland Mayor Sam Adams and representatives of the Portland Development Commission, Multnomah County Libraries, N. Denver Avenue businesses, and the Kenton Neighborhood Association were all in attendance. Some info from the PDC media advisory:
"Lots of new changes are coming to a historic part of town as a full range of streetscape improvements begin construction on N. Denver Avenue, the main street in the Kenton neighborhood. Construction is expected to begin in early September to renovate the 4.5-block stretch of N. Denver Avenue (Interstate Avenue south to Watts Street). Improvements include wider sidewalks, new street trees, stormwater planters, pedestrian lighting, concrete street resurfacing, a granite public art sculpture and seven carved stone benches. The $2.85 million N. Denver Avenue Streetscape Improvement Project is funded by PDC in coordination with the Portland Bureau of Transportation. The city has been working with local businesses, community representatives, and technical experts since 2006 to plan the right mix of attractive, functional improvements.
The N. Denver Avenue project exemplifies the vision of 20-minute neighborhoods called out as a key element of the city’s new economic development strategy. Related revitalization projects include Multnomah County’s remodeling of 8226 N. Denver for a new North Portland library branch; renovation of the iconic Paul Bunyan statue at the intersection of N. Denver and Interstate Avenue; and the opening of new businesses in the district. "
Images © GreenWorks PC. For more information about this project check out our website. Also see these recent articles in the Portland Business Journal and the Portland Tribune.
Green Streets on ASLA Website
/A recent article authored by Jason King and Shawn Kummer appeared in the ASLA Urban Design Professional Practice Network - discussing some recent work on green street projects and their role in shaping urban form.
"Green streets, like many other green infrastructure strategies, offer the same or better functional contributions as gray streets, as well as a range of added benefits. For example, green storm water design contributes to communities well beyond treating 90% of roadway pollutants, replenishing groundwater, sequestering carbon, and improving air quality. More expansive community benefits include improved neighborhood aesthetics, green connections, pedestrian and bicycle safety, traffic calming, and building community consensus around what is a good infrastructure investment. This transfer of investment from single-purpose gray infrastructure such as cartridge storm filters to multi-purpose green infrastructure investment allows for greater benefit to communities—both financially and environmentally—making every dollar invested pay back abundantly. The economics are simple: green storm water infrastructure provides more green in our communities, costs less, works better, is easily scalable, and is more resilient and adaptable than standard pipe systems. While the techniques to improve the control and treatment of storm water runoff are still evolving, green stormwater designs, like many other green infrastructure techniques, are proving to be flexible, offering solutions at a variety of scales rather than just at the end of the pipe. "Read the entire article here.
Kenton Streetscape in Portland Monthly
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Some recent press regarding the Denver Avenue Green Main Street project, in the Kenton Neighborhood of North Portland. This is excerpted from the Portland Monthly article "Upgrade Avenue: Kenton gets a million-dollar makeover"... by Rachel Ritchie - Published July 2009
"IF EVER A PATCH OF PAVEMENT could capture the multiple personalities of Portland’s past, present, and future, it would be the intersection of N Denver and N Interstate Avenues in the historic Kenton neighborhood. Here, a giant statue of Paul Bunyan stares down at the ramshackle all-nude roadhouse Dancin’ Bare while the Euro-futuristic cars of the MAX light-rail glide by. Kenton was home to Portland’s stockyards and the meatpacking titan Swift & Company in the early 1900s; legend has it that so many cattle were slaughtered in the neighborhood, the Columbia Slough ran red. Over the years, Kenton held fast to its gritty pioneer character (Exhibit A: The Bunyan statue), but minus pedestrian-friendly amenities like benches and crosswalks, its business district—the car-clogged N Denver Avenue—foundered, becoming perennially studded with vacant properties. But now the Portland Development Commission (PDC) is offering up a bundle of new business loans, plus $2.85 million for the Denver Streetscape Project, a six-month-long renovation set to begin in August. Here’s a preview of Kenton’s next incarnation. Green Street Not only will N Denver Avenue’s sidewalks be widened from ten to fifteen feet and its three car lanes cut down to two, but by year’s end, the thoroughfare will be one of Portland’s first fully retrofitted green main streets. The pavement will be replaced with concrete, which retains less heat than asphalt, thus reducing cooling needs for adjacent businesses. Stormwater planters on every block will capture and sift runoff from the roads and sidewalks while adding a hint of street-level lushness. New Business To encourage N Denver Avenue’s rebirth as an urban boutique district à la N Mississippi Avenue and NE Alberta Street, the PDC is subsidizing small-business loans. One early taker: Kenton resident Jessie Burke, who, in May, opened Posie’s Café (posiescafe.com), a charming coffee shop committed to supporting fellow local businesses. (She sells coffee from Ristretto Roasters, pastries from Florio on N Willamette Avenue, and wraps from White Girls Can Wrap.) Paul Bunyan The mythological concrete-troweled lumberjack, who earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places this year, was built in 1959 for Oregon’s Centennial celebration and has since remained the icon of Kenton. He’ll stay put, but the plaza he stands in will soon be dressed up with trees, greenery, and seating. Kenton Library Hennebery Eddy Architects has designed a new six-thousand-square-foot Multnomah County library branch, slated for completion in 2010, that will provide Kenton bibliophiles with a home. The neighborhood has lacked a library since its founding in 1909. Mauricio Saldaña Sculpture Portland artist Mauricio Saldaña, a third-generation stone carver, will create a granite sculpture to stand at the corner of N Denver Avenue and Kilpatrick Street, as well as seven concrete-and-granite benches that will be planted along the corners of the street."
Beavercreek Sustainability
/Construction was completed last fall on the Beavercreek Road Green Street project, which was also recipient of an honorable mention for Project of the Year from the Oregon APWA. The Beavercreek Road Improvements Project was a $4.2 million project undertaken by the City of Oregon City to upgrade 2500 feet of a heavily traveled regional arterial. Beavercreek Road is the primary link between Highway 213 and the City's main north-south arterial, Molalla Avenue. The project, a major component in the City’s Transportation System Plan, expanded the existing three-lane roadway to five lanes with bike lanes and sidewalks on each side. It also incorporated green street design elements for stormwater collection, reduction, and treatment. The project’s design and construction engineering was completed by Wallis Engineering, along with GreenWorks for landscape architecture with construction completed by Dirt and Aggregate Interchange, Inc. and landscape construction from Fox Erosion Control.
Check out the project in more detail in this video:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z-75pERCu0]