The intersection of N Willamette Blvd and N Rosa Parks Way (formerly known as N Portland Blvd.) is slated for construction of what PDOT refers to as “a bicycle and pedestrian refuge/auto channeling island.”
According to their press release, the construction will begin tomorrow and should conclude by the end of April.
Money for this project came from PDOT’s Community and Schools Traffic Safety Partnership.
Neighborhood residents made their dissatisfaction known during a North Portland budget meeting with Sam Adams and PDOT Director Sue Kiel back in January. They say it is unsafe because some motorists do not respect the right turn only sign when heading north on Willamette onto Rosa Parks Way, a move that will be impossible with the new median.
This median should also help reduce speeds, which is another major concern of residents in the area.
Bicyclists are advised to expect delays and possible temporary lane restrictions and detours during the construction.
Rosa Parks Way? I take it they renamed Portland Boulevard.
yep. they renamed it. I just added that fact to the story.
Yeah, they renamed it, but it’s sort of the same way they renamed Front Street to Naito Parkway – the street signs now have both names.
That is how they rename streets in Portland—both names stay up for five years. When I moved to Portland, MLK was also Union, but the latter name disappeared after a while.
There was an interesting discussion going on about this intersection on the “Back Fence Forum” for North Portland Residents.
The title is a little sensational, and so is some of the commentary, but I think there is some good background info regarding the situations at this intersection. There are two neighbors that live there that have very differing opinions on the subject.
Law suits comin for sam and PDOT
http://www.portlandonline.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=620&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=
http://www.portlandonline.com/northportland/index.cfm?c=35568
Happy Trails
-S
Thanks for covering this, Jonathan.
As you could guess, this is part of my daily commute to downtown. It will be “interesting” to see how this works out.
Are there any speed bumps in this new corridor? I can’t decipher the drawing too well. But if not, hopefully there will be enough warning lights and fast and visible crossing signals.
Will this do a better job discouraging thru traffic southbound on Willamette? That is also prohibited, but ignored by some drivers. Bikes can do this, but thru motorized traffic is supposed to continue east on Portland/Rosa Parks to Greeley.