City to continue work to beautify downtown sidewalks
City of Salem crews will soon upgrade much of downtown by replacing sidewalks, giving trees more room to grow and adding more lighting.
The work comes over a decade after the city’s 2011 strategic plan listed streetscape improvements as one of its top priorities.
Starting Monday, crews will begin repairing the south sides of State Street, Northeast Court Street and Northeast Chemeketa Streets. Each street will have repairs to the block between Northeast Commercial and Liberty Streets, with the work expected to last through November according to a city press release.
The work includes new concrete sidewalks, curbs and drainage. Crews will also add new lighting, and replace tree grates with roomier options to improve tree health and add plants around their bases. There will also be landscaping improvements to the entryways of alleys.
The next repairs, in the spring or summer of 2026, will be to the north side of the same blocks.
So far, the city has renovated 13.5 block faces downtown, out of a total of 91.5 block faces, according to Kristin Retherford, the city’s community planning and development director. Completed block faces include the downtown blocks on Commercial Street and Front Street between Ferry Street and Center Street.
The city’s plan for improving the downtown streetscape said the work will help bring shoppers downtown and increase property value.
During a series of open houses in 2017 and 2018, city officials asked downtown business owners and residents for ideas on how to improve the streetscape. Key community messages from the meetings, according to the city’s plan, were to focus on people over cars, and add more greenery and art.
The Urban Renewal Agency approved the Downtown Streetscape Plan in 2019, and some work was done to improve sidewalks in 2020, according to the city webpage. According to this year’s budget, the budgeted cost of the remaining work is $4 million per year in Riverfront-Downtown Urban Renewal Agency funds, and will end when all phases are complete. Retherford didn’t have an estimate of when that would be.
Contact reporter Abbey McDonald: [email protected] or 503-575-1251.
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Senior Reporter Abbey McDonald joined the Salem Reporter in 2022, where she covers homelessness and housing. She previously worked as the business reporter at The Astorian. A University of Oregon grad, she has also reported for the Malheur Enterprise, The News-Review and Willamette Week.
