Many of our readers have expressed concerns over the city’s plan to remove 243 light poles across 12 different parks. Officials said the fixtures had “structural anchoring issues that could pose life and safety hazards to the public.”
This week, Commissioner Dan Ryan announced changes aimed at speeding up the project’s timeline.
On Wednesday, April 5, Ryan will present an emergency ordinance to City Council that will allow the parks department to buy all of the replacement lights at once. The project is expected to cost $15 million.
Since work started in February, Portland Parks and Recreation has removed the faulty fixtures at Colonel Summers, Irving, Sellwood, and Sellwood Riverfront parks — their replacements will be installed when they’re delivered in approx. six months. Temporary lights may be set up until that happens.
The remaining parks on the list will not have their light poles removed until they can be quickly replaced with new ones.