Street plaza on SE Division removed as fate of other carfree blocks remains uncertain – BikePortland

When the pandemic hit in 2020, one of the most consequential actions taken by the Portland Bureau of Transportation was to create a process for restaurants and cafes to quickly transition into sanctioned, outdoor dining areas (what PBOT called the Healthy Business Program). Fear of the virus was widespread and having seats outside was one way business owners held on during those chaotic years.

For transportation reformers, it was an exciting time because the tables and chairs provided natural traffic calming and helped give many people a new perspective on how we could use streets. And on blocks where a full street closure was permitted, we saw community life emerge as it always does when people are given space that’s free from cars.

That’s what happened at SE 31st and Division. Imperial Tap Room was eager to have the extra space and customers flocked to the carfree block. One reader who contacted us recently said the plaza, which accommodated patrons of Imperial and other restaurants in the area had been, “a great carfree gathering space, attracting large crowds, families, etc. with live music, food pop-up events, and a place to sit.”

So when he heard PBOT had ordered the removal of the plaza and noticed the tables were gone and car drivers were back in the space, he reached out to BikePortland. Why? he wanted to know: “The removal of a carfree public space on a heavily pedestrianized corridor is a bummer,” he shared.

I agree!

According to Megan Doherty, part of the public realm and street activation team at PBOT, the plaza outside Imperial Tap Room was never an official plaza. It was one of the last holdovers from the pandemic when PBOT would allow one restaurant to close a full block to car traffic. PBOT’s new Outdoor Dining Program (the permanent version of the pandemic’s Healthy Business Program) allows businesses to use only the parking lane.

Similar to the situation I reported on in Kenton, where an adjacent business owner fought back when his pandemic-era plaza was at risk of being lost to the new, updated policy, PBOT says they were initially willing to work with the owners of Imperial Tap Room to transition the space into a more permanent (carfree) plaza. However, according to an email from Doherty to another BikePortland reader who asked about the status of SE 31st and Division, city fire codes deemed the location unfit for a plaza.

“A fire in the duplex behind the building of Imperial [Tap Room] set off a Fire Review of the site and it was determined not feasible for a street closure. Imperial will still have some space in the street and have sidewalk café seating as well,” Doherty wrote.

As much of a bummer it is to lose this plaza, it’d be an even bigger one if the City of Portland cuts funding for the entire program. At a meeting of the Portland City Council Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on April 21st, PBOT staff said their plaza program could be eliminated as part of a $5.3 million reduction required to balance the budget for their project planning division. (In locations where plazas are feasible, like the one coming to SE Hawthorne and 34th, they can happen regardless of the city budget because their funding comes from outside sources.)

The fate of PBOT’s plaza program is still uncertain. All eyes will be on Mayor Keith Wilson’s budget, which is expected to be released May 5th.