Tryon-Stephens Neighborhood Street Improvement Project- SW Capitol Hill Rd

Transportation
Engineering And Design
PBOT will be improving several local streets in the Tryon Creek and Stephens Creek watersheds in southwest Portland as part of SW Tryon Stephens Transportation Infrastructure Charge (LTIC) by paving gravel streets, adding sidewalks or walkways, or a combination.
SW Capitol Hill Rd- Pedestrian view on east side of road at SW 19th Ave, near Trail 6
Construction: Late Winter/Early Spring 2025
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Project Overview

This Local Transportation Infrastructure Charge (LTIC) project will improve walking with new sidewalk segments on SW Capitol Hill Rd, street lighting improvements, curb extensions, and stormwater improvements.

Get the latest updates on this project

What’s Happening Now?

(Updated Mar 2024)

The SW Capitol Hill Rd and Troy/Canby Street Improvement Project is beginning 60% design. 

The project is faced with difficult budget challenges. The project budget was created in 2017 and cuts to the design were required due to Local Transportation Infrastructure Charge (LTIC) revenue coming in significantly under forecasts, other project funding sources being cut during the Covid recession, construction inflation, and a lack of feasible debt financing options due to high interest rates and other bureau liabilities.

The PBOT SW Capitol Hill Rd and Troy/Canby Street Improvement Project Team has reviewed the project 30% plans and estimates, as well as feedback from the neighborhood, and categorized each project element into four different project categories:

  1. Advancing to final design and construction
  2. Advancing to final design, with construction postponed to a future date
  3. No further design or construction for the foreseeable future

Project Design

The project elements have been categorized as follows as the project team begins 60% design:

PBOT is proceeding forward with the design and construction of the following project elements:

  • SW Capitol Hill Rd Sidewalk: Northern Segment (W)
  • SW Capitol Hill Rd Sidewalk: SW 19th Ave to SW Nevada Ct South (S)
  • SW Capitol Hill Rd and SW 21st Ave: Intersection safety improvements
  • SW Capitol Hill Rd Sidewalk: SW Moss St to SW Troy St
  • SW Capitol Hill Rd Sidewalk: South Segment connecting Safeway to West Hills Christian High School (W)
  • SW Troy Asphalt Drainage Curb: SW 28th Ave to SW 27th Ave

PBOT is proceeding with final design for the following project elements, but construction will be postponed until more funding is identified:

  • SW Troy St/SW Canby Ct Sidewalk: SW 30th Ave to SW 28th Ave (S)
  • SW Capitol Hill Rd Sidewalk: SW Troy St to A Park (W)

PBOT is not proceeding forward with design nor construction of the following elements:

  • SW Troy St protected walking shoulder (S)
  • Traffic diversion on SW Troy St
  • SW Capitol Hill Rd Sidewalk: SW 21st Ave to SW 19th Ave (S)
  • SW Capitol Hill Rd Sidewalk: SW 21st Ave to SW 19th Ave (N)
  • SW Capitol Hill Rd Sidewalk: SW 19th Ave to SW Nevada Ct (N)
SW Capitol Hill Rd Design Updates After Value Engineering

Project Background

In 2016 City Council adopted the Local Transportation Infrastructure Charge (LTIC), a fee that developers pay along unimproved streets in single-family zoning areas as an alternative to constructing sidewalks. Council then directed PBOT staff to develop an investment strategy for these funds. Using a methodology that included equity, effectiveness and efficiency, staff developed and Council adopted a strategy to invest collected LTIC funds in three areas: Cully in northeast Portland, Division-Midway in outer southeast Portland, and the Tryon-Stephens headwaters area in southwest Portland. These three areas had high needs in terms of unimproved streets that serve as important routes to neighborhood destinations, and underserved populations including high proportions of people of color, people with lower incomes, and people that rent their homes. The three areas also had neighborhood street plans adopted by City Council, identifying locations for investment.

In the Tryon Creek and Stephens Creek watersheds of southwest Portland, the goal of the project is to strategically invest in streets that lead to important destinations such parks, schools, and frequent transit lines, and that have stormwater issues such as erosion and flooding that need to be addressed. In addition, investment in the West Portland Park neighborhood is a commitment to equity in one of the most diverse areas of southwest Portland.

Project Timeline

Topographic survey: 2021 - 2022

Design engineering: March 2023 - Jan 2025

Public Involvement: August- September 2023; March- May 2024; Nov 2024

Construction: Early 2025

Public Involvement

2024

  • March
    • Email Newsletter: Sent an email newsletter invitingSW Portlanders to join the Southwest Neighborhoods Inc Transportation Committee Meeting on Zoom, Monday March 18th 7:00- 9:00pm
    • Presentation: PBOT staff gave a presentation of the updated project design and reviewed background information

2023

  • November
    • Email Newsletter: Sent an email newsletter update containing community survey results, project status, and next steps.
  • October
    • Meeting with Multnomah Neighborhood Association (MNA): Joined MNA for a bike ride along project corridor and attended MNA open house.
  • September
    • Presentation: Presented project to SW Trails and got feedback about the design
    • Virtual Survey: Online survey open for one month gathering feedback about the design and collected data about preferences
    • Open House: Held two virtual open houses on Sep 13th and Sep 14th to give an overview of the design and gather feedback from the community about several design elements. Tryon-Stephens: Capitol Hill Rd & Troy Canby Street Improvements Virtual Open House 9/13/23
    • Postcards: Sent postcards to the surrounding neighborhood alerting them about the project and inviting them to the virtual open houses.
  • August
    • Flyered: Project team distributed flyers to homes located on SW Troy and SW Capitol Hill Rd with project information, online survey, and open house dates to homes on SW Capitol Hill Rd and SW Troy.
    • Tabled: Tabled at Multnomah Days with a poster board displaying improvements and received community feedback about the project.

Project Funding

$2,416,000

Most project funding comes from LTIC as described above. Other funding on the project includes:

  • General Fund: Discretionary city funds authorized by City Council, under the “Up Out of the Mud” initiative
  • Portland Bureau of Environmental Services: PBOT is in a partnership with BES due to the need to upgrade stormwater management infrastructure in the project area
  • SW Trails, Inc transferred grant funds to PBOT from the Coronavirus State Fiscal Relief Fund Grant to build sidewalk on SW Capitol Hill Rd from SW 19th Ave to SW Nevada Ct.

Additional Resources

Tryon-Stephens Headwaters Neighborhood Street Plan

Map