(Aug. 23, 2022) The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) will begin resurfacing parts of SE 162nd Avenue from SE Stark Street to SE Powell Boulevard. Construction starts Monday, Aug. 29 and is expected to last about seven weeks. Work hours are 7 a.m. to 5 p.m on weekdays.
Construction crews will repave SE 162nd Avenue between Division Street and Powell Boulevard. They will also tackle additional sections of SE 162nd Avenue where it intersects SE Grant, Mill, and Alder streets. Crews will also improve pedestrian crossings throughout the corridor.
Throughout construction, crews will keep one travel lane open in each direction. However, for the safety of the traveling public and our crews, only right turns will be permitted onto SE 162nd Avenue. Flaggers will be stationed at intersections to help pedestrians cross safely and direct people driving.
No on-street parking will be allowed on SE 162nd Avenue for the duration of the project.
This project will not include work on the busy arterials that cross SE 162nd Avenue, so we don’t expect disruptions along SE Powell Boulevard, SE Division Street, or SE Stark Street.
PBOT crews will close the innermost lanes first, starting Monday, Aug. 29, with the traveling public able to still use the outer lanes. After the inner lanes are repaved, the outermost lanes will be closed and the traveling public can use the new inner lanes.
More about the SE 162nd Avenue Safety and Access to Transit Project
People living near SE 162nd Avenue say that speeding drivers and a lack of safe crossings are the top reasons they're reluctant to cross the street. Every day, more than 6,000 drivers exceed the speed limit on the 1.7-mile stretch of SE 162nd Avenue between Stark Street and Powell Boulevard. This makes it challenging for people to access businesses and schools in the area or get to their nearest bus stop.
Through the SE 162nd Avenue Safety and Access to Transit Project, PBOT aims to reduce speeding and make it safer for all travel modes on the corridor.
After the road is repaved, PBOT crews will stripe SE 162nd Avenue with a new lane configuration. The biggest change will be the lane configurations which will go from five vehicle travel lanes to three. This discourages speeding and makes it easier for us to build safer places for people to cross the street. SE 162nd Avenue currently has five lanes dedicated to car traffic, narrow bike lanes, incomplete sidewalks, and crosswalks and curbs that do not meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards.
This project was funded with a $700,000 partnership with TriMet, $1 million from Keep Oregon Moving (Oregon House Bill 2017), and $4.3 million from Fixing Our Streets, the voter-approved 10-cent gas tax.
How do PBOT crews and contractors repave a street? In this “Grind and Pave” explainer video, PBOT crew members show how they extend the lifespan of city streets: