Interstate Corridor:
Vancouver-Williams Transportation Safety Project

Curb extensions have been designed for six of the new crosswalks and construction of the curbs will begin in summer 2008.

The Vancouver/Williams Corridor in inner North/Northeast Portland is one of Portland’s oldest commercial districts—serving first as the downtown for the City of Albina, and later becoming the Main Street for Portland’s African-American community.

Project recommendations of the Vancouver-Williams Transportation Safety Project Stakeholder Group were approved by the Interstate Corridor Urban Renewal Advisory Committee at their quarterly meeting in October 2006. The final recommendations were made after extensive opportunities for the community to comment on corridor conditions and project preferences. $150,000 is budgeted over three years for identified projects.  The recommended improvements in the corridor have been sized and phased to accommodate this budget.
In FY 2006-07, safety improvements focused on increasing awareness of pedestrians in the corridor, providing more separation between cyclists and motorists at key locations, and continue to address the issue of speed.  Eleven crosswalks were constructed as a part of the work, plus a new pedestrian median at Cook and Vancouver, and bike lane re-striping in the corridor.
Curb extensions have been designed for six of the new crosswalks and construction of the curbs will begin in summer 2008.  Curb extension locations were chosen based on higher use of the crossings by younger pedestrians and on safety concerns related to speed or vehicle congestion.

DawsonPark Gazebo
Structural improvements were completed on the Dawson Park Gazebo in June 2008.
»  more about the Dawson Park Gazebo project

• Vancouver/Williams Corridor Infill Strategy
• July-Sept 2006 survey results (PDF, 15 kb), group comments (PDF, 10 kb)
• September Public Open House invitation (PDF, 1,182 kb)
• Vancouver-Williams Transportation Safety Project: Proposed Improvements August 2006 (PDF, 17 kb), Project details (PDF, 37 kb)

• Recommendation — October 2006
• Proposed Crosswalk Locations - Year One (PDF, 501 kb)
• Fremont at Williams Auto-Bike Separation - Year One (PDF, 128 kb)
• Alberta at Williams Intersection Transition with Auto-Bike Separation - Year One (PDF, 163 kb)
• Williams at Prescott Bike Lane Alignment - Year One (PDF, 89 kb)
• Curb Extension Locations (PDF, 409 kb)
• Vancouver at Emerson Lane Use Signs and Markings - Year One (PDF, 454 kb)
• Vancouver at Cook Median Extension - Year One (PDF, 104 kb)
• Project Details
• Neighborhood Collector Street Traffic Calming Tools (costs of signs and more)
  (PDF, 43 kb)
• Pedestrian Safety Impacts of Curb Extensions: A Case Study (PDF, 398 kb)
  City of Eugene, Oregon
• Public Meeting Notes from May 3 and May 11, 2006
• Press Release, April 18, 2006

      Traffic Speed and Crash Study information

• Alberta Street (south of), Traffic Speed Data (PDF, 87 kb)
• Beach Street (north of), Traffic Speed Data (PDF, 160 kb)
• Fargo Street (south of), Traffic Speed Data (PDF, 193 kb)
• Going Street (north of), Traffic Speed Data (PDF, 193 kb)
• Stanton Street (south of), Traffic Speed Data (PDF, 56 kb)
• Vancouver Ave. Crash Information by Location (PDF, 127 kb)
• Vancouver-Williams Transportation Safety Study map

If you have any questions, please contact the following project staff:

• Susan Kuhn, Interstate Corridor URA, Project Coordinator
  503-823-3406 or send an e-mail