Lance Marcus died Tuesday night
while driving on SW Barbur Blvd.
(Photo: Facebook profile)

45 year-old Lance Marcus died on Tuesday night after driving his car into a power pole on SW Barbur Blvd near Miles Street. The Portland Police report that Marcus was driving "at a high rate of speed" before he hit the pole.

In October of 2011, just a few tenths of a mile north of where Marcus died, 25-year old Nisha Rana was also killed when police say she "failed to negotiate a curve" while driving "at a very high rate of speed."

Back in 2010, just one mile north of those tragedies, 28 year-old Caleb Pruitt was also driving "at a high rate of speed" (according to the police) when he rounded a corner on SW Barbur Blvd near the Town and Country Apartments and collided with 26 year-old Angela Burke. Burke was walking her bicycle at the time and was attempting to cross the street.

Barbur Blvd is notorious in Portland transportation circles. It's one of the City's High Crash Corridors and it has been subject of hopeful planning documents and neighborhood activism for years. However, despite this attention, it remains a classic, high-speed arterial where people continue to drive too fast and people continue to get hurt and killed. A few weeks ago a new "Friends of Barbur" group came together to try and hasten improvements. Here's what they wrote on their website: (more...)

Detail of proposed sign. See larger image below.

Responding to concerns about poor quality bike access on two narrow bridges on SW Barbur Blvd, the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) has proposed a new flashing sign that would warn road users about the presence of bicycle traffic. The new sign is being considered as part of the $5 million Newbury & Vermont Street Bridge Rehabilitation Project.

ODOT announced the new sign at an open house for the project last night and they've updated their project website with a graphic of the proposed sign. They are currently asking for feedback as to whether or not it would be worth installing. The plan would be to install four signs total — two per bridge and one in each direction. They come with an automatic sensor, which means the lights would flash without someone on a bike having to stop and push a button. ODOT says this would be the first sign of its kind on any highway or bridge in the entire state.

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A rendering by Owen Walz of what SW Barbur Blvd could look like where it passes over SW Vermont.
- Click to enlarge -

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ODOT's Jessica Horning at the
bike advisory committee meeting last week.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

Pressure is mounting for the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) to consider a road diet on SW Barbur Blvd but the agency seems unwilling to even seriously consider the idea. Neighborhood activists, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, the Portland Bureau of Transportation, and a growing list of advocacy groups and organizations want Barbur to have safer and more pleasant bike access and they feel now is the time to do it. ODOT is about to spend $5 million to rehabilitate two bridge structures on Barbur (at Vermont and Newbury streets), but current plans call for no significant bike access improvements.

ODOT's Region 1 Transit and Active Transportation Liaison Jessica Horning (read our profile of her when she was hired in November) and their bike/ped coordinator Basil Christopher presented the project to the PBOT Bicycle Advisory Committee last week. (more...)

ODOT map.

The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) plans to spend $5 million to rehabilitate and repave the Vermont and Newbury bridges on SW Barbur Blvd just south of downtown Portland. Southwest neighborhood activists, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, the Portland Bureau of Transportation and others see the project as a golden opportunity to improve bike access on the bridges; but so far, ODOT has no such improvements in their plans.

At issue is that the existing bike lanes on SW Barbur Blvd suddenly disappear over each of the viaducts. This lack of a bike lane on the bridges means people on bicycles must squeeze dangerously close to motor vehicle traffic that travels at 55 mph. These conditions are hair-raising for people that use them today and they're exactly the type of thing that prevents people from biking in the first place.

Over the bridges, Barbur has four standard travel lanes (two are 10-1/2 feet, two are 12-1/2 feet) over the bridges and a three foot sidewalk on each side.

Here's a graphic (from ODOT) of the cross-section as it stands today: (more...)

As seen just south of SW Whitaker St.
(Photos: Jim Parsons)

As we reported back in September, PBOT has repaved SW Barbur Blvd just south of downtown Portland. As part of that project, they've widened the bike lanes and have painted a striped buffer. The new buffered lanes are about 3/4 of a mile long and go from SW Caruthers near I-405 south to SW Lane at Naito.

The new lanes were completed late last month. Our roving correspondent Jim Parsons snapped a few photos... (more...)

Green thermoplastic and other measures should help
add visibility for, and respect of, this bike lane.

The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is making good on a commitment to improve the safety of people who ride bicycles on SW Barbur Blvd. Fresh off the last month's installation of a rapid flash beacon near SW Hamilton Street (where a woman was struck and killed back in 2010), the agency is about to embark on the Barbur Boulevard Bike Improvement Project.

According to information released today, the project will include several changes aimed at providing a "better transition for bicyclists traveling southbound on Barbur Blvd at Capitol Highway." The changes include:

• Installing a green bike lane (see concept drawing below)
• Adding bicycle signing ("Right Turn Yield to Bikes")
• Trimming hillside vegetation to improve visibility
• Installing curb along the bike lane where it’s missing, which will help keep the bike lane clear of debris

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A rapid flash beacon at work.
(Photo from beacon manufacturer)

The Oregon Department of Transportation flipped the switch on a new crossing treatment on SW Barbur this morning. The location, south of SW Hamilton Street near Rasmussen Village, is just up the road from where Angela Burke was struck and then killed on December 15th, 2010 by Caleb Pruitt as he sped south on Barbur.

Burke was walking her bike, attempting to cross the street, when she was struck. Pruitt received a 60 month prison sentence in the case. (more...)

Here are the details:

SW Barbur Blvd. High Crash Corridor Safety Project

PUBLIC OPEN HOUSE

Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Drop by anytime between 6:30 & 8:00 PM
Optional Overview Presentation at 7:00 PM
Markham Elementary School (cafeteria) (10531 SW Capitol Highway)
Nearby TriMet Transit Access: Bus Line #44
Somali and Arabic interpreters available.

Stop by to learn more about transportation safety on SW Barbur Blvd. and share your feedback about:

• Existing conditions
• Pedestrian, bicycle & transit deficiencies
• Problem areas

People lit candles and gathered at a gravel turnout on SW Barbur Blvd to remember Angela Burke and to raise awareness of safety concerns.
-Full Gallery-
(Photos © J. Maus)

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