Block 216/SW 9th Avenue
Status: Under Construction, anticipated completion 2022
Stakeholders:
- GBD Architects
- PLACE Landscape Architects
- Portland Bureau of Transportation
SW 9th Avenue between Washington and Alder will be completely rebuilt as a part of the Block 216 development. It will be a precedent-setting early piece of the Green Loop, incorporating special paving materials and patterns, a curbless, pedestrian-oriented design, custom landscape planters with seating, lighting on span wires overhead and a direct relationship with retail spaces in the ground floor of the Block 216 building.
Central City in Motion
Status: Adopted 2018, project delivery ongoing through 2030
Stakeholders:
- Portland Bureau of Transportation
- Bureau of Planning and Sustainability
- Central Eastside Industrial Council
Central City in Motion (CCiM) plans a series of mobility improvements serving transit riders, pedestrians and bicyclists in Portland’s Central City. It includes a series of projects that will enable (or implement) the Green Loop. These projects range from crossing or intersection improvements along the Park Blocks and SE/NE 6th Avenue, as well as early implementation projects for segments like SW College between Broadway and 4thAvenue.
Central City Fundamental Design Guidelines Updates
Status: Planning
Stakeholders:
- Bureau of Planning & Sustainability
- Bureau of Development Services
The Central City Fundamental Design Guidelines — the city’s foundational set of design guidelines — were originally adopted in the early 1990s. The guidelines will be updated to reflect the direction of the Central City 2035 Plan, including the plan’s new concepts like the Green Loop. The guidelines will provide more specific direction for how new development should address the linear park through the different districts through which it passes. They will offer strategies and design ideas for the creation of successful ground floor building edges, complementary open spaces and new, blended spaces outside and inside buildings.
Earl Blumenauer Bridge
Status: Under construction, anticipated completion 2021
Website: PBOT Project Page
Stakeholders:
- Portland Bureau of Transportation
- Central Eastside Industrial Council
- GoLloyd
The Earl Blumenauer Bridge is the first major piece of Green Loop infrastructure. It spans the Interstate 84 along a NE 7th Avenue alignment between Lloyd and the Central Eastside Industrial District. It will offer new viewpoints of the city, ample seating areas at both bridge landings and the redeployment of some of Portland’s historic belgian blocks.
Halprin/I-405 Trail
Status: TBD
Stakeholders:
- Halprin Conservancy
The I-405 trail provides a critical link between SW 4th Avenue/PSU and RiverPlace, and was first proposed in Lawrence Halprin’s master plans for the South Auditorium District from the 1970s. Since then the trail has been identified in multiple city documents, including the 2030 Bicycle Plan and the North Macadam Transportation Development Plan of 2009. This particular plan recommended the trail as a “high priority” project adding much-needed accessibility to the South Downtown district distinctly lacking in system connectivity.
“Hill Park”
Status: TBD
Stakeholders:
- Portland Parks & Recreation
- Prosper Portland
- The International School
- RiverPlace
- TriMet
The “Hill Park” is the connection between the I-405 Trail and the existing Green Loop facility that connects at the intersection of SW River Parkway and Harbor Drive and leads to the Tilikum Crossing. The Hill Park will create a cascading open space and mobility corridor offering special views of the river, bridges, city and the surrounding landscape. It will be an amenity for adjacent development, helping to connect open spaces at the riverfront with western parks and open spaces such as the Halprin Open Space Sequence. It will also offer an interpretive set of experiences and structures for residents, employees and visitors to Portland.
NE 7th Avenue
Status: TBD (possible early implementation)
Stakeholders:
- Portland Bureau of Transportation
- GoLloyd
- American Assets Trust
- Kaiser Permanente
NE 7th Avenue will be the north-south spine for the Green Loop through Lloyd. The design concept is for a unique cross section that asymmetrically locates the Green Loop on the east side of the street. The design will connect to the northern landing of the Earl Blumenauer Bridge and run to NE Clackamas, with a possible extension to NE Broadway.
North Park Blocks
Status: TBD
Stakeholders:
- Portland Parks & Recreation
- North Park Blocks Conservancy
- Central City Concern
The Green Loop is aligned down the western side of the North Park Blocks, linking the dynamic new open spaces at USPS redevelopment to the future food cart pod at Ankeny Alley West that is part of the Culinary Corridor. Because the roadway is wider than the South Park Blocks there is more flexibility for mixed functions and experiences within the Green Loop. The loop facility will function as an extension of the park blocks themselves, adding to the open space already there and possibly creating space for new facilities and opportunities in partnership with surrounding social service providers.
O’Bryant Square
Status: Planning
Stakeholders:
- Portland Bureau of Transportation
- Portland Parks & Recreation
- Portland Parks Foundation
- Hennebery Eddy
O’Bryant Square (OBS) was downtown Portland’s central square until the construction of Pioneer Courthouse Square in the 1980s. Recently, the square was closed due to concerns regarding the structural integrity of the primary plaza space above some 100 parking spaces.
OBS potentially provides a critical moment of transition for the Green Loop, shifting the linear park from the east to west side of the square. The loop could skirt one side (or the other) of the park, or perhaps move diagonally through it with a redesign, providing a dynamic design element for the square’s rehabilitation. OBS is also part of the “Culinary Corridor” so any update of the square itself should consider the accommodation of food carts adjacent to the new square.
OMSI Bridge
Status: TBD
Stakeholders:
- Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI)
- Central Eastside Industrial Council
- Portland Bureau of Transportation
- Prosper Portland
The OMSI Bridge would provide a critical Green Loop connection across the Union Pacific Railroad mainline and link the heart of the OMSI campus to the rapidly expanding southern Central Eastside. As part of the Green Loop, it would add a much needed pedestrian/wheels crossing centrally located (and potentially flanking the streetcar bridge) between the two existing at-grade crossings of the railroad and SE 8th/Division and Clay Streets.
Park Avenue Vision
Status: Adopted 2006
Stakeholders:
- Bureau of Planning & Sustainability
- Portland Bureau of Transportation
- Portland Parks & Recreation
The Park Avenue Vision (PAV) proposed a unique streetscape between the North and South Park Blocks, compellingly linking the two green spaces through the built blocks. The vision document, at the time, selected Park Avenue as the primary connection as Park continues in a relatively unbroken line between the two segments of park blocks. The PAV set the foundation for Green Loop’s policy direction and design in this segment.
Like Our Work?
Help support our work on these important projects.