Article From Portland Mecury:
HELP FOR BURNSIDE has been a long time coming. Our city’s downtown artery squeezes up to six lanes of traffic between skinny sidewalks, infuriating both tourists and drivers. But downtown business owners are strongly divided over a $17-20 million plan that aims to fix Burnside.
Backers of the proposed West Burnside/Couch Couplet are gathering support for the controversial plan that has taken a decade to design. But critics are also gaining steam with their concerns that the project will tear the heart out of Portland’s downtown.
“We’re talking about the Portland Plan and 20-minute neighborhoods and this project is contrary to all those,” says Stan Penkin, a member of the Better Burnside Alliance, a business group that formed in June to protest the couplet. “There are many things that can be done to tame Burnside, but this is a bad idea.”
