What's Happening Now
The project is substantially complete.
SW Capitol Highway opened to two-way vehicular traffic on Wednesday, July 5, 2023, after a community celebration on July 1. All outstanding pedestrian/bicycle striping was completed in August.
Remaining minor work includes fence and railing work at a small number of private properties, and replacing failed trees and plants.
We thank Southwest Portlanders for their patience and understanding over these past two years!
Construction to Date:
The City of Portland's contractor Landis & Landis Construction, LLC began major construction work on June 14, 2021 along SW Capitol Highway. A detour of southbound traffic began on August 18, 2021 and ended on July 5, 2023. See our FAQ page about the detour.
The first full year of construction on the project saw installation of over 7,000 linear feet of stormwater pipe, over 3,000 linear feet of earthquake-resistant water main, three out of four large stormwater treatment gardens, and 13 roadside retaining walls.
The second year of construction - starting in June 2022 - focused on constructing the sidewalks, curbs, driveway and side street connections, and base paving. Trees and shrubs were planted in the winter and spring of 2023, and the remaining stormwater garden at Dolph Court was completed.
2021 Virtual Open Houses:
A live presentation and Q&A session took place on Zoom the evening of Thursday, June 10th, 2021. You can watch the video here.
Construction news and project updates
Project Description
Below is a map of the main features of the project. Scroll past the map for a more detailed description.
This project is improving safety and mobility for all modes of travel, addressing stormwater management, protecting water quality in local streams, and updating water supply infrastructure to meet modern demands. Portland’s Bureau of Transportation, Bureau of Environmental Services, and Water Bureau are working on the project together to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and enhance service delivery to the Portland community.
The project is adding a continuous sidewalk and protected bike lane on the east side of SW Capitol Highway, and a multi-use path on the west side of the street, from SW Taylors Ferry Road to SW Garden Home Road. The project is collecting and conveying stormwater runoff through inlets and pipes to four new stormwater treatment and detention basins located nearby. The project is also upgrading the SW Capitol Highway water main to a larger, more seismically-resilient pipe between SW Marigold Street and SW Garden Home Road, with additional main replacement on SW Carson Street.
Please note that this project involves traffic detours. Starting in August 2021, all southbound traffic on SW Capitol Highway was diverted to SW 45th and 48th Avenues via SW Garden Home Road, and returning to SW Capitol Highway via SW Taylors Ferry Road. This includes TriMet buses. This detour will remain in place through June 2023 to help the contractor complete the project in a more safe, efficient fashion. In addition, northbound traffic and TriMet buses often have to be detoured during work hours for contractors to safely perform work. PBOT will issue Traffic Advisories in advance of major traffic changes.
Project Background
Providing sidewalks and bike lanes on this segment of SW Capitol Highway has been a community priority for nearly 30 years. This segment, between SW Garden Home Road and SW Taylors Ferry Road, hosts over 8,000 vehicles per day, is served by TriMet’s #44 bus line, and currently has no sidewalks, bike lanes, pedestrian crossings or standard stormwater facilities.
The city’s project development process for this corridor began with the Capitol Highway Plan in 1996 and continued with the SW Capitol Highway Plan Refinement Report in 2011 and the Capitol Highway Corridor Stormwater Concept Design in 2016. In each of these cases, the city faced challenges in developing a buildable project with limited funding and challenging physical constraints.
In 2016 and 2017 sufficient funding came together from the voter-approved "Fixing Our Streets" ten-cent gas tax, development charges, Environmental Services, Water Bureau, and the State of Oregon, allowing the project to advance. The project team worked closely with the community from 2016 through 2020 to refine the design and discuss property and neighborhood impacts and benefits.
Project Funding
This joint PBOT-BES-PWB project is funded through the Fixing Our Streets city gas tax, Transportation System Development Charges, Oregon Lottery-backed bonds authorized by the 2017 State Legislature, Bureau of Environmental Services funds, and Water Bureau funds. Fixing Our Streets is contributing roughly $6.6 million of the total project budget of $30 million, making this the largest project funded by the Fixing Our Streets program. The amended construction contract value is approximately $19 million, with remaining funds attributed to planning, design engineering, right-of-way acquisition, project management, and construction management and inspection.