 Happy New Year to our SW Capitol Highway readership. We thought you might be wondering how we’re doing on the SW Capitol Highway: Multnomah Village – West Portland project. I’m happy to inform that your city infrastructure bureaus are working hard on several fronts.
Design
Design engineering continues and is currently between the 60% and 90% design milestones. Particular design refinements are occurring at property frontage interfaces to reduce impacts on private property while still maintaining the integrity of the project design. For example, the proposed pedestrian/bicycle and bus stop improvements at the northeast corner of Capitol Highway and Alice Street are being narrowed from 18 feet behind curb to 15 feet in order to avoid impacts to a substantial planter wall. Additionally, the Bureau of Environmental Services continues to refine designs for the stormwater detention basins, particularly those proposed along SW Multnomah Boulevard between 40th and 45th Avenues. 90% design is anticipated to be complete in late spring, with final plans in the fall.
Procurement
The project team is developing and preparing to advertise a Request for Proposals (RFP) for Construction Manager / General Contractor (CM/GC) services for the project. CM/GC is a procurement method in which a contractor joins the project before the design is finished in order to provide ideas that would make the project easier, faster, more affordable and less impactful to construct. The city then negotiates with the contractor on a construction price and moves forward with construction. CM/GC is typically used on large, complex projects such as this one. City Council approved the use of this contracting method for the project on December 5, 2018. We anticipate posting the CM/GC RFP in February.
Right-of-Way
A number of temporary and permanent easements are needed to construct the project and to maintain retaining walls in the future. The project team has defined these exact areas and will be reaching out to affected property owners to negotiate compensation and other considerations over the next six months. Permanent acquisitions of property are not needed for the project, other than property already acquired (or in process of being acquired) by the Bureau of Environmental Services for stormwater detention basins on SW Dolph Court and SW Multnomah Boulevard.
Later this winter you will see notice of a “condemnation ordinance” for the project at City Council. This may sound foreboding, but it is a perfunctory milestone that occurs on almost all projects that work along the edge of the roadway. It simply allows the city to begin negotiating easement agreements with property owners.
Construction Planning
Construction is anticipated to begin in December 2019 and will last through most of 2020. Final paving of the roadway will occur during dry weather in 2021. When the CM/GC comes on board later this year, one important task of many will be to refine the Traffic Control Plan (TCP) for the project. The TCP establishes the methodology and duration of detours for the project. We know a lot of people are interested in this topic so we will communicate the TCP as soon as it is developed and vetted. Further, we will hold a pre-construction open house with the contractor in fall of 2019 so that neighborhood residents can weigh in on construction sequencing, detours, and other construction details.
We also may look into “early work packages” with the CM/GC, in which particular work (such as stormwater basins or utility relocation) could begin before the full plan set is complete and all construction easements are acquired. However we do not anticipate any tree or vegetation removal before August 2019 due to the upcoming bird nesting season.
Please feel free to reach out to the project manager for further information about the status of this major Fixing Our Streets multi-bureau project:
Steve Szigethy
steve.szigethy@portlandoregon.gov
503.823.5117
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