Future TOD property gets spruce-up
Metro staff is working across departments and with partner agencies to improve safety and maintain plants and trees in a future transit oriented development property in Gresham.
The four-acre site is in the Gresham Civic Neighborhood, near a MAX station soon to be under construction. Slated for mixed use - businesses and homes - the site has become overgrown with blackberry vines, trees in varying stages of decay and invasive plants.
Neighbors were concerned about some trees that had fallen over onto adjacent properties, causing slight damage, and heavy brush which blocked views through the property.
Metro arborists, wildlife monitors, biologists and TOD project managers coordinated the brush clearing and the removal of the most dangerous trees. A crew of inmates from the Multnomah County Sheriff's Corrections Office was enlisted to cut and load wood, which was then delivered to agencies that serve low-income households.
The TOD site is owned by Metro. Next month, TriMet will break ground at on the new light rail station, which is located at the northeast corner of the property. The new station, on NW Civic Drive between Burnside and Division streets, will include pedestrian crossing improvements, new shelters, ticket vending machines and platform furnishings and interactive artwork. The station is scheduled to open this fall.
Gresham Civic Neighborhood is one of the region's first large-scale, mixed-use neighborhoods. The development supports homes and jobs, encourages walking and transit use, and has improved connections to other destinations within Gresham.