Reed Canyon Blog

Here’s some info on the Crystal Springs Creek project this summer (excerpted from the At Reed newsletter); for additional info, read up on the project proposal posted on the canyon website:

This summer, the city of Portland and Reed College will begin a project to enhance Crystal Springs Creek and remove barriers to fish passage. This project is the first of many fish barrier removal projects in Crystal Springs Creek that will occur ove the next few years.The SE 28th Avenue project is a collaboration between the college and the city’s Bureau of Environmental Services. The college will re-meander Crystal Springs on the property at 28th and Botsford Drive and will add more native plants. A “green street,” including a new bioswale and sidewalk, will be constructed along the frontage of the restoration site. Additionally, the two-foot diameter culvert under SE 28th Avenue will be replaced with a larger culvert that will improve fish passage.

Construction is expected to begin around mid-July and conclude in early September. A small section of SE 28th Avenue north of Botsford will be closed completely, and a larger section will be open to local traffic only. You will be able to access the west parking lot and Botsford Drive. Pedestrian and bicycle traffic will be diverted around the project site.

The removal and replacement of the culverts on Crystal Springs will be especially beneficial for Coho and Chinook salmon and steelhead trout, all of which live in the creek and are listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act.