The City of Portland's Design Commission voted 5-0 Thursday night in favor of the Portland Timbers' $50 million proposal for stadium expansion at Providence Park.

Since the stadium expansion design will impact the sidewalk and street on SW 18th Ave., the Timbers were required to go through a Major Encroachment Review with the Design Commission. As part of Thursday's vote, the Design Commission recommended that the City Council allow the Timbers to move forward with the design and major encroachment, which includes the creation of a covered arcade and the expansion of the sidewalk on SW 18th Ave.

The approval is an important step in enabling the Timbers to move forward with their plan, which would add approximately 4,000 new seats to the east side of Providence Park.

The club still has a few more hoops to jump through in the process, but is on the right track. The Timbers will still need to go through a foundation-permit submission and review, receive Portland City Council approval on the major encroachment and complete and gain approval of an updated good neighbor agreement.

Since the Timbers originally unveiled their proposal, a key change has been made to the design. The design now includes the construction of three new levels, instead of four. The design also includes a larger roof on the east side of the Providence Park, as well as the widening of the sidewalk and the covered arcade on SW 18th Ave. The Timbers partnered with Portland-based Allied Works Architecture to come up with the design.

Construction on the project could begin as early as the 2017 offseason and conclude ahead of the 2019 season if the proposal is finalized by September. If construction does not start this year, it would be pushed back to the 2018 offseason with the goal of completing construction ahead of the 2020 season.

-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com

503-853-3761 | @jamiebgoldberg