Linnton (t)rail
Portland, Oregon — 2023Bringing life to a Portland neighborhood waterfront.
Services
Architecture
Landscape
Urban Design
Linnton Greenway River Trail Project
Looking to improve the lives of citizens who reside, work, and enjoy this salty village and reclaim what is (& has been) rightly theirs for decades.
We worked with the neighborhood of Linnton, a former mill town and forever industrial village along the west banks of the Willamette River north of downtown Portland, on the visualization and marketing efforts for a federal/state-funded initiative that looks to continue a long-stalled project improving a portion of the neighborhood’s river bank.
The site for the trail is located on an industrial property that has an overlay zone, which mandates a portion of the parcel (25 feet) be used for a Greenway. This zoning designation allows for industrial development while also allowing for public use and enjoyment of the waterfront.
In 1998, as a requirement for purchase of the site, the industrial landowner proposed a twenty-five-foot-wide trail area to be measured from the top of the riverbank inland for the length of the riverfront property. Development of the trail was assigned to Portland Parks & Recreation in 1999. Since then, no further progress has been made.
Aerial view of steel yard and easement zone along river
Proximity of proposed trail to central Linnton
This 25 feet is where we came in— providing a base design within this drawn easement, as well as an additional design which considered a more dramatic lookout structure jutting off the river bank.
These early schematic diagrams show the two options— a Base Design option meeting all of the legal, agreed upon requirements, and an additional option that could allow the landowner to enhance the project with a lookout deck over the water and/or beach access at the terminus.
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Base Design Option
Design Alternative with viewing platform
