Ground broken for 148th Avenue sidewalks

Northeast 148th Avenue getting $1.7 million investment from Portland Bureau of Transportation.

Two weeks after a tongue-lashing audit, the city's Fixing Our Streets fund has broken ground on 3,000 feet of new sidewalks in East Portland.

The $1.7-million project on Northeast 148th Avenue adds the equivalent of 15 downtown blocks of new sidewalk near the snaky edge of the Glendoveer Golf Course.

The public golf course's popular running track on the west side of the street won't be impacted, as construction will occur only on the east side of the street, where single-family homes abut intermittent sidewalks.

The work — set to wrap this winter — will include redoing nine corner ramps and 15 driveways. The Portland Bureau of Transportation says the new pavement will help pedestrians reach Halsey HydroPark, Glenfair Elementary and several TriMet bus stops.

The Fixing Our Streets fund, which delivers street repairs using a local trucking tax and the city's 10-cent gas tax, was under fire from government auditors who said the fund was missing its deadlines.