City Council, November 10th - Madrona and 25th Street

New rights-of-way for the changes at 25th and Madrona lead Monday's Council agenda for us.

Parcels identified for acquisition near Madrona and 25th

The project itself is tied to the Norpac expansion. It is interesting that the Staff Report elides this fact, and instead appeals to "safety."

The project is being designed and constructed in the public interest. Traffic studies have demonstrated a public need for these improvements to provide a safe and less congested intersection for the general public.

In an earlier informal presentation to the neighborhood association, city engineering staff noted that the design speeds would be near urban highway:

45 MPH design speed for roads leading to intersection, 40 MPH design speed through intersection to minimize impact to Pringle Creek.

I'm seeing an emphasis on speed and through-put, not on safety. I'm also not sure that these really serve the "general public." They serve the truck traffic of Norpac and other industry specifically.

The City should be less bashful about saying directly, "Agricultural industry is important in Salem, and this investment benefits that sector of our economy." I think there's a good case to be made for this, but wrapping the project in language of safety is at least a little disingenuous. If safety were truly important, the overall shape of the project would be different, and it would include more on 25th itself.

Other Stuff

There's an update on fundraising by Friends of Two Bridges.

To date the Friends of Two Bridges have raised approximately $40,000. The fundraising campaign continues to solicit donations specifically for the following Minto Trail amenities:
• Engraved bricks to be located in one of the four scenic overlooks, $100 each;
• Up to three bike racks, $3,000 each;
• Up to 10 interpretive signs, $4,000 each;
• Up to 12 metal benches, $5,000 each; and
• Sponsorship for the four scenic overlooks designed along the Minto Trail are between $17,000 - $28,000 per overlook.

Not on the agenda, but interesting to note here, the Salem Area Trail Alliance just kicked off their own fund-raising project for the bike park at Wallace Marine, and they are using indiegogo and have a goal of $75,000.

Bricks or online - it seems like something of a generational shift in fundraising approaches. It will be interesting to see how each one turns out. (There will be more to day about SATA in another post.)

Just off of Eola drive there's what looks like an alley that is becoming an official street and therefore needs a name. In the olden days, the partition that is driving the process and subsequent "alley house" would not have needed a new street name! I wonder if this is an example of ways that additional red tape hinders increasing density. (But maybe emergency response hates the alley house phenomenon, I suppose. I know it sometimes foils the pizza delivery.)

Hollywood District, 1960s: It was lively!
Salem Library

There's a proposed buy-out of a limited partner on an apartment complex, whose general partner is the Salem Housing Authority. This is outside our scope here, but the details of the proposed deal are interesting in understanding elements of urban renewal and keeping a stock of safe and affordable housing fairly close-in. The complex is right at the heart of the former Hollywood neighborhood, and it adjoins one of the road spandrels and ornamental emptinesses in Salem, the expanse of bark mulch at the intersection of Capitol, Summer, and Fairgrounds Road NE. The low-density redevelopment of urban "renewal" in Hollywood here is almost certainly a significant reason there was a crime problem; and the need for this buy-out is one of the rippling consequences a generation or more later.

Also interesting, and perhaps more relevant, is a proposed extension on part of the redevelopment of the old Lindbeck orchard property. Development on the proposed nursing home has slowed down, and the initial approvals were going to expire at the end of this year. The applicant sought a two-year extension. There seems to be more going on here also, maybe there will be more to say later. The letter from the neighborhood association in curious in tone. (Do you know more about this?)

Finally, there is a non-update on the West Salem Business District Action Plan. After some delays this summer, things are picking up again, and the Stakeholder Advisory Committee met on the 5th to review some materials. The West Salem Redevelopment Advisory Board also got an update on the 5th. But the Staff Report to Council simply rehearses old matters from the spring! It is curiously empty. There will be an open house on the 12th, and new materials should be public before then - so look for another post. The project is significant because it is a plan being shaped around the footprint of the proposed Third Bridge, and it would be a shame for Edgewater and close-in Wallace to be emptied and "redeveloped" around a ghost bridge.