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If a portion of Southwest Bond Avenue in Portland were moved closer to the Willamette River, Oregon Health & Science University would gain room for green space and future development, and an alternate route to the Tilikum Crossing would be provided.

OHSU‘s street plan, still in preliminary stages, would affect future development at its campus in the South Waterfront District.

At last week’s Portland Design Commission meeting, commissioners posed no objections to the idea of moving the street, but asked OHSU officials to return later with more refinements to the plan.

Rick Browning, project manager for the Portland Bureau of Transportation, said that moving the portion of Bond from the Marquam Bridge to the Tilikum Crossing could help create a 鈥渟ignificant green area鈥� for the campus as well as more access to the new span.

鈥淩ight now the only access (to the Tilikum Crossing) is from Moody (Avenue), and Bond will be attractive for pedestrians and bicycles,鈥� he said.

The proposed realignment would not run exactly parallel to the current configuration of Bond Avenue, Browning said, but would amount to about a 60-foot to 90-foot difference between the center lines of the old and new.

The newly aligned road, which would be about 95 feet east of its present location, also would have a steeper grade, with a 10-foot to 15-foot difference in elevation to coincide with the grade of the Tilikum Crossing, Browning said.

Browning also suggested that in the future, Bond Avenue could become a couplet, with Moody and Bond avenues both becoming one-way streets.

Moving the street would also allow OHSU more development space for research facilities on the east side of Bond, increase the size of the Commons green space and provide a better connection for the campus’ pedestrian promenade, said Brian Newman, an OHSU official in charge of planning, development and real estate.

鈥淏y realigning the street, it places our promenade right dead center of campus and will increase the size of the Commons by 10,000 square feet,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t allows us more flexibility on small parcels just to the west of Bond, and we will work with the city on more design details to show how it would benefit the public.鈥�

After build-out, OHSU plans for 2 million square feet of gross building area, and moving Bond Avenue slightly would allow more room for its research facility and the ability to develop small structures, possibly for restaurants or retailers, on the west side of the street.

Commissioner Ben Kaiser said he would like to see development even along the river’s edge.

鈥淚f we could, for the love of God, touch the river, with a plan that works and supports the greenway, to blend from OHSU with restaurants and boat rental,鈥� he said.

But under current code that’s not possible, Newman said, because at that point in the river, the river banks are designated as wildlife habitat.

Commissioner Ted Savinar said he would like to see the 鈥渉ighest and best use鈥� of OHSU’s street layout plans.

鈥淲hat is the best way to design the road system to include retail and sociability?鈥� he asked.

Savinar said in future iterations of OHSU’s street plan he would like to see three or four versions of streetscapes along with traffic flow.

鈥淚t’s not just about building a building and moving a street over,鈥� he said.

Commissioner Don Vallaster suggested that moving the road could allow more contrast in design.

鈥淭he west side could be very different from the east side, and that’s where creativity comes in,鈥� he said.

After the meeting, Newman said that moving Bond Avenue would allow small commercial development on parcels just east of Bond Avenue that at present are too small to pencil out. The move also would allow the university to better manage building envelopes and massing to better respond to the promenade, the Commons and greenway along the river.

鈥淏y moving Bond slightly to the (west) it will improve the experience of user and also rationalize the development opportunities for OHSU,鈥� he said.