Portland State University is considering banning cars from a one-block section of Southwest Montgomery Street at the heart of campus.

The university will hold a one-month trial run by converting a stubby section of Montgomery between Broadway and Sixth Avenue into a temporary pedestrian-only plaza.

On Monday, the road was already closed to through-traffic. The university said it will bring out seating, temporary lights, planters and street art this week to make the tree-lined street more inviting. On Wednesday, school officials will hold a celebration and kick-off event.

The section of Montgomery is already effectively an island between two significant pedestrian-only areas. It sits between the campus’ urban plaza to the east and the South Park Blocks to the west. The recently remodeled Karl Miller Center, which houses the School of Business, is adjacent to the street. The one-block road is cut off from the rest of the street grid by the other pedestrian zones and has a handful of angled parking spaces.

Julia Mitchel, PSU’s planning analyst, said the plaza makes sense. “Turning this particular block of SW Montgomery into a public space for students will really help establish PSU’s heart of campus, better defining the school’s identity in downtown Portland,” she said in a statement.

The city is working with the university to study the plan and crews are already gathering traffic data. Hannah Schafer, a transportation spokeswoman, said the street was completely closed for two years as construction was underway on the business school. “We didn’t at the time have any major traffic impacts then,” she said. “That’s something that we are mindful of as we go into this project.”

The school said it would get feedback from students and staff and the community on how they view the idea to “evaluate the feasibility of and desire for a permanent street closure.”

It’s not a new idea. The city, PSU and other community groups in 2009 published a report studying ways to make Montgomery a “vibrant walkable corridor” from the West Hills to the Willamette River. “The overarching plan was never fully implemented, but the Pop-Up Plaza is a way to test its feasibility – at least on this one-block section,” the school said in a press release.

The city’s transportation bureau has an initiative known as Portland In the Streets to encourage institutions or community groups to come up with creative uses for streets, sidewalks and parking spaces.

-- Andrew Theen

atheen@oregonian.com

503-294-4026

@andrewtheen

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