![]() ![]() Many ideas for transformation of I-5 at this location have been explored. Removing the highway would also create an opportunity to enhance the existing Eastbank Esplanade into a signature park in the heart of the city where people could enjoy the Willamette’s new accessibility via transit, through the regional bike network, and from the many residences and hotels that are within a 30-minute walk from the location. Removing the freeway would enable the Central Eastside neighborhood to take better advantage of its existing transportation options. The 43 acres gained through highway removal would increase business and housing opportunities, which in turn would help accommodate the area’s growth. ![]() More residents can live closer to their jobs, which lessens the city’s need for extensive highway infrastructure.Ĭentral Eastside’s rapid growth makes this an opportune time to consider the removal of I-5, to be replaced by surface streets. At the same time, the neighborhood’s density will increase. Such strong growth will put a premium on housing and likely will lead to rising costs, unless preventative measures are taken. By 2035, Central Eastside is expected to grow by 7,000 households and 8,000 jobs. The challenges for this neighborhood are only increasing with time. This transformation has been constrained by the freeway, leaving a major gap in activity and preventing the neighborhood from reaching its potential along the river. The neighborhood has become a destination for locals and visitors alike because of its high concentration of breweries and distilleries. But in recent decades, many of the larger industrial businesses have decamped to other regional locations, and the area has transitioned into a wider mix of uses that combine offices and housing with small-scale industrial businesses and manufacturers. When I-5 was constructed, Portland’s Central Eastside was primarily an industrial area. Once the new Interstate was built in 1966, Harbor Drive was viewed as redundant, and a citizen-based campaign, Riverfront for People, advocated for and successfully championed its removal and replacement with Waterfront Park. Ironically, the construction of I-5 facilitated the removal of Harbor Drive. On the river’s east bank, I-5 deprives the growing Central Eastside neighborhood of similar access, but offers Portland a chance to repeat history. On the west bank of the Willamette River, Waterfront Park offers Portland’s residents direct access to the river in place of the former route of Harbor Drive, a freeway removed by the city in 1974. ![]()
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