Contractors in Portland will be asked to do more to protect pedestrians and bicyclists near their jobsites.

The Portland City Council on Wednesday voted to support administrative rules intended to reduce construction’s negative impact on street users by restricting use of detours to cases of “last resort.” The change was initiated by complaints by pedestrians and cyclists who’ve said road closures due to construction have left them with dangerous conditions to navigate, said Faith Winegarden, the city’s temporary street use permit manager.

“The solution is to provide walkways adjacent to jobsites wherever practicable,” she told the council on Wednesday.

The council voted 5-0 in favor of a resolution formalizing the new rules. Neither contractors nor building community representatives testified at Wednesday’s council meeting. Winegarden said her office has been in contact with several contractors of various sizes. Most have been supportive of new rules, she said.

Another vote is required before the rules can become law.

Currently, a contractor who wants to use the public right of way adjacent to a jobsite to facilitate construction must draft a traffic control plan and apply for a temporary street use permit through the Portland Bureau of Transportation Permit Center.

Under the new rules, contractors should, under normal conditions, provide pedestrians and cyclists with a “reasonably safe, convenient and accessible route that replicates as practicable the most desirable characteristics of the existing route.” The temporary routes should be clearly marked and ADA-compliant.

The rules likely would not apply to projects currently under way, Winegarden said.

The resolution coincides with the “Vision Zero” initiative – supported by the council in June 2015 – that seeks to eliminate loss of life on Portland streets. It’s also consistent with the latest version of the city’s Comprehensive Plan approved by the council recently.

Much of the discussion Wednesday centered around use of the word “should” in the code, instead of the more prescriptive word “shall.”

“It makes it seem like a suggestion, not a requirement,” said Reza Farhoodi, a member of the Bicycle Advisory Committee.

An amendment proposed by Commissioner Nick Fish would change the wording to “shall,” but add “to the extent practicable.”

The post New jobsite street rules on the way for contractors appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

The Portland City Council unanimously approved the 2035 comprehensive plan this week, providing a road map for the city’s growth in the next two decades.

“The impacts of this plan will resonate for decades – even a century,” Mayor Charlie Hales said at Wednesday’s meeting. “It was critical we got this right, and I think we did.”

Portland is projected to gain 260,000 residents and 140,000 jobs during the next 20 years. The comprehensive plan broadly lays out where the city expects to see certain elements, including housing, employment and transportation.

The plan allows for expanded industrial office use in the Central Eastside, and pushes for retention of industrial spaces by limiting housing and retail growth. Also, transportation demand management plans are expected to push developers to think about how to encourage and improve multi-occupancy vehicle transportation around their projects.

The comprehensive plan is expected to be implemented in early 2018. First, it must go to the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development for “acknowledgment.” The state agency will make sure the city’s plan aligns with state land-use goals.

A composite zoning map will be up for discussion at a July 12 meeting of the Planning and Sustainability Commission. That map is critical for future projects, because it lays out what uses are permissible at specific locations.

The post Portland City Council adopts comprehensive plan appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.