ben fryback

@bfryback.bsky.social

1467 Followers 860 Following

Transportation Engineer (In Training) posts and thoughts are my own Salem, OR

full post text in whats up Wilsonville Facebook group As the City advocates for approval of the Town Center plan this November, the City's promotional videos have not, so far, included key details or timelines for amenities such as public parking and a permanent food court. In April 2024, City Planner Miranda Bateschell told the city manager-appointed Building Height Task Force that these amenities were projected to be 20 to 30 years away (see image). Most here are unaware of thousands of apartments planned for inside Town Center. The image shows the compromise Home Depot presented in 2024. In an effort to work with the City's high-density vision, Home Depot proposed five separate five-story multi-units on approximately five of the Fry's property's 15 acres. THIS PROPOSAL WAS REJECTED BECAUSE IT DID NOT PROVIDE THE LEVEL OF DENSITY THE CITY DEMANDED. Home Depot is no longer an option. The City Council meets today at 5:00 p.m. One agenda item is the proposed ballot measure language for the Town Center plan, along with results from a recent telephone survey. One question some residents may have is whether the ballot language clearly explains the plan's central component: the proposed number of apartments. It is absent. Instead of a timeshare-esque pitch where the color "green" is being used to invoke a slew of psychological feel-goods, I'd rather see info on parking, the number of apartments, the timeline for a food court and/or other amenities and how exactly traffic/congestion impacted.
Wilsonville city council slide showing a bunch of nice buildings in a big strip mall type area
max type 2 in ye olde paint scheme
chart showing the number of RM2 lots in salem, organized into bins of lot size. lots below 6000 sq ft are crosshatched
image of a crowd watching a band in an alleyway
image of a bunch of bicylists in a crowd
me picking cherries
Oregon coast bike roure map with me on the cover
Architectural drawing of a type one max train at 15th and Yamhill
"every encounter will make sense" sticker on the wall
no loitering sign behind a park bench
image of a pigeon in a stairwell
screenshot of early access game "running train"
news guy standing in front of a screen that says "the housing meatball"
bicycle with Japanese craft beer on the front rack
pov of a bicycle riding around in an oval in front of the Oregon State Capitol
bicycle odometer says BOOB
Oregon state Capitol looking good in the Twilight
a headline from CBS news. "Trump says he aims to suspend gas tax "for a period of time""
video of the car interior
interior of a Siemens venture traincar
person on a swing overlooking the san Francisco bay area
image of jazz musicians at local edition in san Francisco. in the front row, from left to right.
image of a dashing young man at the beach. he is wearing a nice sweater he thrifted
interior of a model train museum
image of a bicycle in front of the sign for the Klamath falls train station. an Amtrak train is in the background
a Facebook post of a woman asking for "prayers" because a black person sat asked if she could sit next to them on the bus. the full post is not shown. the visible text reads: "I am asking my family and friends for prayer. An African American Black man asked if he" nothing else happened.
Pedestrian crosswalk sign behind a light pole
Two bicyclists making their way through a Christmas tree farm on a hill
image of my tent in the forest next to a river
me riding my bicycle on a road at the beach with one other bicyclist
close up image of single people in carriages pulled by two horses, causing congestion
watercolor painting of a cactus in front of a sunset
picture of my bicycle on the back of an Oregon Department of Transportation minivan
hand holding a gumball sized ball of grease
picture of my bicycle with no wheel and upside down in my living room
video of a cal Raleigh 60 home run bobblehead on the tray table of an Amtrak train. the window is in the background showing the passing scenery
jumbotron showing a message encouraging people to take the new light rail extension
photo of me holding a ferry boat with chicken tenders in it while wearing a jacket that says "Washington State Department of Transportation"
4 buses all bunched coming in 23 minutes
Washington Centennial logo on the back
vintage WSDOT jacket
photo of the talgo series 8 cabcar
image of the la grande-enterprise highway in the 1920s. it is a single lane gravel road
image of winding gravel road through a recently harvested tract of timber
me taking a selfie with a scenic mountain vista at twilight
sign reading "uphold the constitution, vote Republican"
picture of 2 bikes in front of Taproot cafe in Salem
a view down Broadway in Eugene
floorplan of the 13th floor party zone
screenshot of Google streetview showing a sidewalk ending because of a property owner's opposition to. a project
photo of a large beer with a ham, cheese, and cracker board
graphic tshirt depicting a guy getting electrocuted touching a catenary wire above an Amtrak Acela train the words read "WHY JUST DIE? ELECTRI-FRY! Start your day with 25k!"
screenshot of the amtrak booking website for a trip between seattle and salem, OR
screenshot of the floor plan for levels 1-3