Salem’s sidewalks, roads and parks are in for some upgrades
People in Salem can expect new streets, parking lots, and a skate park in east Salem as the next round of city capital projects get underway.
In November of 2022, voters approved a $300 million infrastructure package that focused the majority of its spending on improving streets, sidewalks and parks over the next decade.
That money is combined with other sources, including federal and state grants, gas taxes and more, to pay for projects outlined in Salem’s capital improvement plan. The city council recently adopted the plan.
Here’s a guide to major work coming to Salem over the next year. The city also has an interactive map of upcoming projects to explore what’s next.
Park playgrounds and athletic courts on the horizon
Expect to see new playground equipment and athletic courts in many of Salem’s parks by next summer. The parks slated to get new playgrounds include:
- Brown Road Park which is expected to get a total of $1.4 million by 2026 to install pathways, playground facilities, a picnic shelter, and upgrades to an existing community garden.
- McKay Park is expected to get a total of $2.4 million by 2025 to install a new restroom facility with utilities and user access path, a picnic shelter, a new playground, and basketball courts, and for the renovations of two soccer fields and surrounding warm-up areas with sub-drainage, new irrigation, and natural turf.
- Minto-Brown Island Park, Brush College Park, McRae Park and Woodmansee Park will also get $600,000 each by 2025 to replace playground equipment and to renovate playground facilities.
Highland, Hoover, Morningside, River Road and Sumpter parks are getting a combined total of $4.3 million by fiscal year 2025 to rehabilitate and replace athletic sports courts.
The improvements include tennis courts and pickleball courts at Highland and River Road parks and multi-use athletic courts at Hoover, Morningside and Sumpter parks.
Typical multi-use courts are L-shaped and can be used for both tennis and basketball.
McGilchrist Street upgrades to reduce flooding, improve traffic
Drivers in Salem have likely noticed the street closures on Southeast McGilchrist Street. The inconvenience heralds improvements to the road and creek drainage.
The street from Southeast 12th Street to Southeast 25th Street, is receiving several upgrades expected to reduce traffic congestion and increase safety. The first phase of the project is expected to be completed later this year.
Trevor Smith, public information officer for the city’s public works department, said it is important to note that businesses in the area remain open and can be accessed by Southeast 19th and 22nd streets.
The project will expand McGilchrist to three lanes and include updates such as sidewalks, streetlights, a cycle track, a center turn lane, turn lanes at the east and west ends of the project among other new amenities.
The project will also include upgrades to existing traffic signals, improved railroad and creek crossings, and environmentally friendly stormwater collection infrastructure.
The total cost for the upgrades will be $20 million, with about $13 million coming from a federal grant. Some of the funding will come from the city’s utility fund and Urban Renewal Agency.
Smith said currently the McGilchrist Street project is moving into its second phase soon which will include a new culvert under McGilchrist Street to handle the water from Pringle Creek.
The intersection of McGilchrist and Southeast 22nd Street was closed during construction from April 1 to July 1 of 2024. The second phase of the project is expected to begin next year, and the project will be ongoing through 2027.
Dog park pavement at Minto-Brown
Park users will see a smoother ride and less mud at Minto-Brown Island Park when two formerly dirt lots reopen with pavement in the fall.
The project will cost $1.5 million, funded by the infrastructure bond.
The project includes repaving parking lot No. 2, which was recently completed earlier this month, and the main lot, No. 3. Along with paving, the project will add landscaping and make accessibility upgrades.
Funds will also go to improve drainage, allowing collection of stormwater runoff from the newly paved areas.
Construction began in fall of 2023, according to a news release from the city.
The park’s playground will also get some new equipment from the bond later, and better drainage in that area. The project will cost a total of $600,000 using bond funds, with the majority of spending in 2025.
Smith said crews will begin working on parking lot No. 3 in a matter of weeks and that the project is expecting to finish it by September.
Road improvements on Liberty Street, Southeast Commercial
If you’ve driven into downtown along Southeast Liberty Street lately, you probably noticed crews are currently giving it a makeover.
The bond passed by voters in 2022 included $3.3 million to rehabilitate Southeast Liberty Street from Southeast Trade Street to Southeast Mill Street.
“People are seeing it right now. They are digging up the sidewalks and redoing the ADA ramps,” Smith said of the rehab. “They are going to fix the pavement on that intersection and put down some of that green bike demarcation.”
The rehabilitation projects will be complete in 2025.
A section of Southeast Commercial Street in the South Gateway neighborhood is also getting a makeover from Southeast Fabry Road to the I-5 ramps on the city’s south edge.
The project costs $3 million, and Smith said this project is just getting started, and crews will begin reducing lanes in preparation.
“We are going to grind it down to the gravel, relay the pavement and do new improved bike striping and put in some curbs and make generally a better road,” Smith said.
The project includes curb ramp replacements to bring the street into compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.
Salem Civic Center seismic retrofit
Nearly $40 million from the city’s infrastructure bond to pay for upgrades to the Salem Civic Center to make the structure safer in the event of an earthquake.
The project includes a seismic retrofit, replacing the roof and windows, repairing the parking garage and upgrading Peace Plaza. Construction would start in summer of 2025 and would be ready for staff to move back in by fall of 2026 or early in 2027.
Smith said crews are currently surveying the civic center and working on the architectural design for the project. City employees will move out of the building to temporary offices for the duration of the project.
The same seismic retrofitting was done on the Salem Public Library in 2022.
The Civic Center has an open air courtyard and several distinct structures that house city government offices and the city council chambers.
“They are going to go in between those buildings and in various other spots and they are going to reinforce it with strong metals and rebar and other materials so that the buildings won’t shake into each other, they will kind of wave as one,” Smith said.
Geer Park skate park
Major improvements at the 44-acre Geer Community Park including a skate park, and more green space for dogs and people to play, are just around the corner.
Construction on the new skate park could begin before the end of the year, Smith said.
The Geer Park development project has a budget of $2.9 million. It also includes new pathways, a viewing area, and a picnic shelter next to the skate park. This project is expected to be complete by 2025.
A second project focused on further developing Geer Park has a budget of $3.6 million and is expected to include renovations of the two baseball fields and soccer fields, new irrigation, natural turf, and a new off-leash dog park.
Amenities like drinking fountains, shade trees, pet waste bag dispensers and trash cans are also going in. The project is expected to continue into 2026.
The Geer Park developments will be paid for using a mix of bond money, state grants and city funds.
Transportation, pedestrian and bike safety improvements
A hodgepodge of projects to improve transportation, pedestrian and bike safety are in the works including on Broadway and Pine, Commercial from Southeast Oxford Street to Southeast Madrona Avenue, and Southeast Deer Park Drive.
There are also sidewalk updates slated for various locations downtown, some of which are currently in the works. Those upgrades could include new sidewalks, pedestrian alley lighting, and street furniture.
On June 19, drivers probably noticed construction work on Northeast Broadway Street from Northeast Pine Street to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway. Work in these areas will continue for around six months.
Construction will require shutting down two lanes in each direction along Northeast Broadway Street with one continuous turn lane and a bike lane in each direction. The improvements will include a new traffic signal, curb ramp upgrades, trees, and pavement rehabilitation at the intersection of Broadway and Pine streets.
Work began in March on new bike and pedestrian upgrades coming to a long stretch of Southeast Commercial Street running between Daynite Donuts and the south Salem Fred Meyer. The second phase of this project is expected to include restriping the roads, and the installation of bike lanes with green high-visibility markings.
Southeast Turner Road from Mill Creek bridge to Southeast Deer Park Drive will get street improvements this year which will include a realignment of Southeast Turner Road at Southeast Garth Road with Southeast Deer Park Drive. Southbound and westbound left-turn lanes will also be added.
Contact reporter Joe Siess: [email protected] or 503-335-7790.
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Joe Siess is a reporter for Salem Reporter. Joe joined Salem Reporter in 2024 and primarily covers city and county government but loves surprises. Joe previously reported for the Redmond Spokesman, the Bulletin in Bend, Klamath Falls Herald and News and the Malheur Enterprise. He was born in Independence, MO, where the Oregon Trail officially starts, and grew up in the Kansas City area.
