Portland city councilors representing District 3 are fed up with the frequently broken elevators at the Bob Stacey Crossing, which are supposed to allow cyclists and people with mobility issues to reach the pedestrian bridge—which crosses over train tracks—without having to climb a steep flight of stairs.
The elevators have been out of service off and on for years due to various damage, including smashed glass. Without the elevators, cyclists and mobility-challenged people have to travel 13 blocks when a train is present, and six blocks when no train is running, to cross the tracks.
While the Portland Bureau of Transportation has made fixes here and there, repeated vandalism and a lack of funding to install shatterproof glass has hobbled the bureau’s plans to keep the elevators in service…