At its April 13 meeting, the BWNA Board voted 13-2 to approve a summer 2026 public street plaza trial on NE 44th Avenue just north of Fremont. BWNA’s vote was conditioned on Beaumont Business Association (BBA) approval and thus joint sponsorship. The BBA Board’s April 20 vote had not taken place by this newsletter’s press deadline, but approval was expected.
Both associations considered feedback gathered during a February outreach effort. Independent surveys revealed broadly favorable attitudes toward a seasonal plaza trial; 76% of BBA respondents and 80% of BWNA respondents expressed support. Potential negative effects of the closure of 44th Avenue were among the top concerns identified by respondents to both surveys, with the loss of approximately ten on-street parking spaces; the needs of nearby businesses related to deliveries and customer loading also figured prominently.
Opposition was expressed by two businesses in the immediate vicinity and roughly half the residents on 44th Avenue between Fremont and Beech. Primary concerns of these stakeholders included potential intensification of residential parking scarcity, nuisances such as litter and excessive noise, and loss of retail customers due to increased difficulty transporting bulky, heavy purchases.
With a clear understanding of stakeholder concerns, the BBA-BWNA team spent March working with the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) to identify compromises to minimize any negative impacts. Most importantly, in a departure from its standard process, PBOT agreed to full plaza removal, including re-opening 44th Avenue, after the three-month trial period. Typically, a plaza would remain on a year-round basis depending on the findings of a post-trial evaluation. Also noteworthy was an agreement to retain two existing, angled parking spaces by reducing the plaza extent.
Thus, at the April 13 board meeting, after considering all of PBOT’s compromises to ameliorate stakeholder concerns, and knowing the vote was for a trial period only, BWNA board members gave the project a green light.
The BBA, BWNA, and PBOT will conduct extensive outreach and evaluation following the trial, and, if there is widespread support, full inclusion in PBOT’s plaza program on a year-round basis will be considered.