It’s official — the City of Portland is the new owner of 82nd Avenue — a 7-mile-long, high-crash corridor also known as Oregon Route 213.

Portland City Council unanimously approved taking ownership of the roadway from the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) back in April. This is a big undertaking because the cost of maintenance + safety improvements needed to bring the road up to city standards will be … quite high. A $185 million commitment by the state legislature, ODOT + the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) will make those much-needed updates possible.

People who live and work near the dangerous roadway have called for the city to take over its management for a long time — 19 people have died on 82nd Avenue in the last 15 years, according to PBOT. The Building a Better 82nd project will now begin, with critical fixes between Northeast Killingsworth and Southeast Clatsop streets scheduled for completion by the end of 2024.

Here are the critical fixes PBOT will tackle first:

Fill lighting gaps to improve visibility
Add 18 new crossings
Improve signal timing, vehicle detection, and communication equipment
Update + add street signs, roadway striping, and signal heads
Repave 2 miles of roadway
Upgrade curb ramps to meet ADA requirements
Rebuild nine traffic signals

Construction on future transportation investments is slated to start in 2026, following project planning + design phases in which the city will work with the public to figure out how to invest $105 million in further improvements. You can expect to see online and in-person community forums, focus groups, surveys + partnerships with local organizations like Oregon Walks and APANO begin this fall.

If you live along 82nd Avenue, you’ll now contact PBOT for service requests for everything from potholes to utility work permits.