Barbur Boulevard: Designing a Model Civic Corridor for the 21st Century

94 pagesThe transit infrastructure along Barbur Boulevard in southwest Portland creates significant safety hazards due to intermittent bicycle lanes and sidewalks. The need for improved pedestrian, bicyclist, and motorist safety, as well as increased housing and public transportation options in the Southwest Corridor (SWC) of Portland have spurred an assement of the potential for transit-oriented development along Barbur Boulevard. TriMet has asked students in the Landscape Architecture 4/594 Fall Planning Studio to analyze and experimentally design a 2.5-mile segment of Barbur Boulevard to accommodate a center-running light rail line. This project aims to reduce automobile congestion; improve safety for all modes of transportation; increase connectivity between neighborhoods adjacent to Barbur Boulevard and downtown Portland; promote a diversity of employment opportunities, mixed income housing, and urban amenities; and integrate stormwater facilities, trees, and public green spaces into the streetscape. The 2.5-mile segment of Barbur Boulevard was divided into seven distinct study areas. Threeperson design teams were responsible for conducting in-depth analyses of their study area and producing plans for three standard right-of-way cross sections identified by TriMet with potential for the final street design. Each team was responsible for analyzing current conditions within their site across six broad categories: property viability and future development; urban spatial patterns and boundaries; natural capital and systems; land use; off-arterial vehicular circulation; and pedestrian and bicycle safety and circulation. Each of these six categories required multiple analyses and methodological approaches. Analysis maps were used extensively to inform street design and planning decisions throughout the studio. In addition, each team created projections for building footprints and massing, land use classifications, and potential timeframe for redevelopment to accompany their finalized street design plans

Activating Albany's Downtown Waterfront

Recently, the City of Albany, Oregon, carried out a major revitalization of its historic First Avenue and restored much business and activity to its downtown district. However, historic Water Avenue, which was a site for logging mills and industry along the riverfront, remains relatively unused. The primary purpose of this road in relation to downtown is its many parking lots and access to the Dave Clark River Trail. The city desires to bring new life to its old industrial waterfront by incorporating Water Avenue back into the heart of downtown. In addition, the city would like to see Monteith Park, a local gem for summer concerts, reconnected with downtown and allied to the new Historic Carousel attraction that will open across the street from the park. With these goals in mind, students were tasked to provide the city with detailed designs that explored multiple options for the future development of Water Avenue and Monteith Park

Exploring New Mobility Street Designs for a Suburban Downtown in Transition

130 pagesThe following report documents student work that explores the redesign of several streets and the historic core of Gresham’s downtown. Students in the University of Oregon’s Landscape Architecture 4/589 design studio worked with the City of Gresham as part of the Sustainable City Year Program (SCYP) to investigate how streets and related development could be planned and designed to meet and benefit from the emergence of new mobility options such as autonomous vehicles, ride-sharing, and micro-vehicles. Students were divided into teams and tasked initially with studying their assigned areas and developing a set of deliverables detailing existing current conditions. Students then worked, either in the same teams or independently, to create incremental design options for the near- and long-term. These designs were informed by an initial set of parameters, discussed between the studio instructor and the City of Gresham. The design parameters varied and were specific to the identified study area but were generally concerned with issues such as reducing the amount of on-street parking, delineating traffic lanes and narrowing lane widths, and repurposing any reclaimed space for stormwater management, planters, and other creative spatial uses when viewed through the lens of these emerging modes of transportation

68th and Rock Creek Station

92 pagesThis studio project was organized around the plans for a new TriMet light rail line to Tigard, Tualatin, and Washington County. Though this Southwest Corridor project is still in the early phases of planning and design, the studio collaborated with TriMet planners and the City of Tigard to visualize the future of a site that is likely to become a major station area. In addition, the site is seen as a critical location for a Park and Ride structure as this point marks where traffic into Portland drastically increases. The merge from Pacific Highway (99W) onto Interstate 5 (I-5) lies one-half mile east of the site, and the intersection of the two sees daily congestion and long waiting traffic. This site provides opportunities beyond transit. Older development near the site has potential to be acquired by the project for use as Park & Ride, LRT station, and for potential development of parking and transportation-related uses. Other adjacent sites can be critical purchases for developers given the benefits of the transit station. The City of Tigard supports plans for these future developments that include sustainable transit-oriented design, and restoration of environmental assets, such as Red Rock Creek, as opposed to box commercial development that maintains an auto-oriented focus. Students were tasked with considering the area surrounding the future station site as well as places that may be developed in later phases. The class divided into groups of various sizes, each focusing on a different approach to the transit-oriented development (TOD) proposed around the new TriMet station. Most teams developed 80- and 40-scale designs to create a cohesive master plan across the site before taking a more individual approach on an area with a smaller extent and more detail. Groups included: • “Stormwater Impacts”, Chrissy Stillman This design focuses on Red Rock Creek as its own entity. Chrissy calculated on and off-site storm water entering the creek, its ephemeral flooding zones, and the impacts of more hardscape in the area. Much of her design strategies for reducing the “flashiness” of the creek occurred east of the study area toward I-5. • “68th and Rock Creek Parking Structure”, Kailee Bell This design focuses on the opportunity of an off-site parking structure west of SW 68th Parkway that could provide rooftop amenities and access to a multimodal path along the bridged rail line leading into the station. This alternative solution frees up space for transit-oriented development in the site south of the station by providing at least half the required parking within a reasonable off-site distance. • “Place over Parking”, Thomas Copper and Nick Sund This design focuses on the maximum integration of parking in a high-density transit-oriented development site adjacent to the light rail station. This team focused on TOD1, the second thing likely to be built by developers after the station. • “Positively Tigard” Adam DeHeer and Yumna Imtiaz This team focused on a design of the station and the transit-oriented development with an approach of impact mitigation and sustainability. This group focused on the station plaza and TOD1 and worked closely with Chrissy Stillman for assessing storm water impact of their design proposal. • “Tigard Terraces”, Brianna Heese, Emma Stone, Bocong Li, and Tori Murphy This team focused on the topography of the site to integrate a medium density transit-oriented development. The team proposed designs for the station plaza, TOD1, Red Rock Creek, and TOD2 to meet the long-term phasing goals of TriMet and Tigard. Students generally found the site challenging in terms of balancing programmatic requirements with creating livable and enjoyable spaces. The student designs offer the best attempts to combine the two goals and do so in many ways. The required amount of parking was a challenge, and most students found that the best way to create a functioning transit-oriented development was either to invest in a parking structure below development or to site the parking across SW 68th Parkway. Additionally, if Tigard and TriMet desire sustainable and ecological designs, many teams suggest partnering with developers now and planning for elements to be incorporated. Finally, Red Rock Creek presents a potential flood problem for nearby development. Teams recommend multiple ways to reduce the flashiness of the creek, such as capturing stormwater on site for any new development

Sandy River to Springwater Multimodal Corridor Feasibility Study

113 pages ; illustrationsThe City of Gresham, Metro, Multnomah County and the City of Troutdale collaborated with the U.O. Sustainable Cities Initiative in executing a trail planning and feasibility study reported here. Students of landscape architecture conducted the study. It investigated the problem of “closing Portland’s 40- mile Loop” in its biggest gap along its eastern edge through Gresham and Troutdale. The “40-mile loop” was originally proposed by John Charles Olmstead in 1903. It intended to link Portland’s open spaces and greenways to create a public accessible trail system. That loop has grown to a much more extensive contemporary trail system and the eastern gap is arguably the most challenging part of today’s 40-mile Loop system to complete. Unlike most of the rest of the system, there is no existing right-of-way or river or other landscape corridor to follow. A new trail here must traverse the suburban landscape though parks, along roads, along unused rights-of-way, near creeks, or along the edge of private properties. This report summarizes the planning and urban design processes the students undertook, and the proposed solutions for creating a path from the Sandy River waterfront in Troutdale to the Springwater Trail though southeast Gresham.The class first did regional studies of many potential trail links and their good and bad impacts as candidates to assemble into alternative trail alignments. Proposed better alternative trail alignments were then mapped. The class then developed more detailed designs for segments of alignments selected by city and Metro planners. 7 The project began with field studies of many existing trails in the Portland region and a combination of field and GIS analysis of the study areas. During the field trips that visited trails, students recorded trails’ layout and construction, site furnishings, trail experience, access, and context

A Multi-Way Boulevard for Redmond, Oregon

135 pagesThe City of Redmond wants to improve U.S. 97, the main north-south corridor used heavily by through traffic, regional freight traffic, and local traffic. The city partnered with the University of Oregon’s Sustainable City Year Program and an upper-level planning studio of undergraduate and graduate landscape architecture students to explore possible improvements of the corridor in conjunction with the creation of a multi-way boulevard. This report documents the studio’s process, analysis, designs, and recommendations. The studio process included site visits, interviews, code review, design charrettes, seminars, and critiques. Students split into six groups and each group did an in-depth study on one extended site on one side of the highway. Each student then produced an individual plan for his or her assigned area