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Oregon Health & Science University wants to shift the Bond Avenue alignment east toward what will eventually be a public park. The proposed alignment is in pink. The alignment approved in 2009 is dashed.

(City of Portland)

A second phase of the South Waterfront Greenway may end up with a new neighbor: a 70-foot-wide roadway with sidewalks.

That shift has the city's Design Commission concerned.

On Wednesday, the Portland City Council will consider allowing a new road to be built directly next to land set aside for a waterfront park in the South Waterfront District.

UPDATE: The City Council voted 5-0 to approve the realignment.

As originally envisioned back in 2009, Portland would build a 100-foot-wide greenway along the river and buildings would be developed to the west. On the other side of those buildings would be a newly built Bond Avenue featuring two lanes of northbound traffic.

But Oregon Health & Science University now wants the city to move the roadway 85 feet to the east so the road directly abuts the greenway.

Doing so would allow the university to develop its property more easily, officials said. University leadership hopes to create a campus setting with large buildings. But under the current plan, the road alignment bisects its property and would create a 90-foot-wide island that would be difficult for OHSU to develop.

Commissioner Amanda Fritz, who oversees the Portland Parks Bureau, last week said she liked the idea of having buildings farther away from the greenway.

Even so, Portland's Design Commission voiced reservations about moving the road alignment before ultimately signing off in a 2-to-1 vote.

The street falls within a special design area that's expected to help merge the roadway with open space, including the use of pavers, curbless streets or cobblestone. Plans from 2009 called for a 44-foot-wide roadway, including parking and bike lanes, with 13-foot-wide sidewalks on each side.

In a letter sent to the City Council in December, members of the Design Commission questioned what impact the road realignment would have on the greenway.

"The Design Commission, as stated previously, could be supportive of the concept of a realignment," the wrote. "However, the Greenway deteriorates somewhat with a street closer to the Greenway. Therefore, the proposal should give back a little, but to what extent?"

OHSU officials offered to provide the city with an extra 10 feet of property between the road and greenway, according to records.

The city's plan, which heads to the City Council for a 2 p.m. vote, would instead call for a five-foot minimum between the road and greenway.

OHSU has also said it plans to build a commons area, west of Bond Avenue, that would open toward the greenway and would serve as publicly accessible space.

Last week, The Oregonian/OregonLive wrote about the first phase of the South Waterfront Greenway -- a $15.1 million project that cost 2 1/2 times more than expected and opened six years late.

-- Brad Schmidt

503-294-7628

@cityhallwatch