Underpass project, slow economy leave Fairview businesses at a crossroads

Reduction in traffic along 223rd during long project has hurt local shops

By Shannon Wells

The Gresham Outlook, Nov 18, 2009, Updated Nov 20, 2009

Jim Clark / The Outlook

Barb Sellers, owner of Divine Mocha on Northeast 223rd Ave., chats with regular customer Bob Fowler on Monday, Nov. 16. Since the 223rd Avenue underpass has been closed for renovations this year, Sellers has seen vehicular traffic drop “90 percent” and her business suffers as a result. To stay afloat, she serves as her own barista and rents out adjoining space.

ADVERTISEMENTS

As a project to widen and upgrade a railroad underpass near her Fairview coffee shop drags on, Barb Sellers has good and bad news to report.

Good news? After months of a crippling recession and greatly diminished vehicular traffic because of the 223rd underpass closure, the off-the-beaten-path Divine Mocha actually remains in business.

The bad news is that Sellers, 74, has to go it alone.

“My intake is so small, there’s no money to hire a barista,” she said from her inviting coffee and food emporium on a warm, cloudy Monday afternoon. “I’m facing several foreclosures. It’s tough, but I’m gonna make it.”

Despite her determination, Sellers admits her concerns from a year ago have proved correct. The project, which started in January, involves replacing a 1916 Union Pacific railroad bridge to widen the roadway below to more safely accommodate cars, trucks, bicycles and pedestrians between Halsey Street and Sandy Boulevard.

The project, Sellers noted, has cut traffic to barely a trickle.

“I’d say it’s diminished maybe 90 percent,” she said.

On top of that, Multnomah County transportation officials are now saying the portal won’t be open to traffic until April 2010, nearly five months later than originally planned.

Brian Vincent, engineer with the Multnomah County Land Use and Transportation Division, said problems coordinating Washington-based contractor Rodarte’s schedule with that of Union Pacific Railroad likely contributed to the delay.

“It was an aggressive schedule,” Vincent said. “All the stars had to align, but they did not.”

Sellers is not alone among fellow business owners in and around the 223rd intersection, in wondering why the delay couldn’t have been avoided or at least foreseen.

1 | 2 Next Page >>