The new median on NE 15th at Going.
(Photos: Charles Powne)

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PBOT planner Denver Igarta and the
reasons he cares about livable streets.
(Photo © J. Maus)

As a transportation planner at the Bureau of Transportation (PBOT), Denver Igarta has had a front-row seat to the development of Portland's burgeoning network of low-stress, "neighborhood greenway" streets. Now Igarta will head to Europe to "uncover the secrets of residential streets that were built to first serve people rather than cars."

Igarta has been selected as an Urban and Regional Policy Fellow by the German Marshall Fund. His research will include a one-month, four city tour with stops in Munich, Germany; Rotterdam, Netherlands; Copenhagen, Denmark; and Malmö, Sweden. (more...)

Approximate route of new bike boulevard
coming to east Portland.

The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) is close to the start of construction on a new "neighborhood greenway" that would parallel 82nd Avenue in northeast and southeast Portland. PBOT has put out a request for proposals to find a construction firm to start and the project is scheduled to begin next month.

The three-mile route would mostly use 86th and 87th Avenues and would stretch from NE Hassolo Street (near I-84) to SE Bush (south of Powell). The project is one of many neighborhood greenway projects PBOT is working on throughout the city (their plan is 15 miles of new neighborhood greenways (a.k.a. bike boulevards) each year through 2013).

To create a more comfortable and accessible route that parallels 82nd Avenue (an ODOT-controlled arterial), PBOT will use the familiar tools of speed bumps, curb extensions, sharrows, speed bumps, cycle-tracks, tree plantings, new signals, signage, and so on. (more...)

The City has been working on the new bike boulevard/neighborhood greenway on NE Klickitat Street. Readers Esther and Timo sent in the photos below of the brand new speed bumps and an interesting decoration on one of them. Does anyone know what the spider signifies? (There's also a Batman symbol on the same street). (more...)

PBOT has begun installation of the new artistic elements on the SE Clinton bikeway.
-More photos below-
(All images by Paul Cone)

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PBOT's Greg Raisman shared a list of new
neighborhood greenway projects last night.
(Photo © J. Maus)

The City of Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) released a new list of potential neighborhood greenways last night. The list of projects represents the third phase of implementation in PBOT's ongoing effort to create a complete network of low-stress, family-friendly bikeways.

Below is the list (and a detailed map) as it was presented to the Portland Bicycle Advisory Committee last night: (more...)

See below for before/after shots.

This morning I shared how PBOT's neighborhood greenways could have a dramatic impact on how it feels to move around our city's residential streets. A perfect case in point is the NE Holman Street project.

Back in May, I took a closer look at the project, with a focus on a "pocket park" idea that was being thrown around. The concept was to take the existing, small and ordinary park at NE Holman and 13th and make it something special. Envisioned as a gathering place for the community, the revamped Holman City Park would be extended all the way across Holman, with through-access for biking and walking only. (more...)

Untitled from Joshua Cohen on Vimeo.

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PBOT is considering new bicycle crosswalks,
like this one in concept stage for
SE 53rd and Stark.

Crosswalks are standard engineering treatments designed to help people get across streets with a bit more safety; now the City of Portland is looking to do something similar for bike traffic with bicycle crosswalk markings, a.k.a. the "cross-bike".

The concept itself has been floating around PBOT since about 2007, but the idea has yet to gain real traction. The other night, while looking over plans for an upcoming road project, I was surprised to see them as prominent features. Turns out that PBOT hasn't forgotten about them.

PBOT bicycle coordinator Roger Geller shared a bit more about bicycle crosswalks via email today. Check out the Q & A below for more... (more...)

PBOT's Jeff Smith with one of the street sign
toppers coming soon to SE Clinton Stb.
(Photos © J. Maus)

Great news for one of Portland's busiest bikeways... After nearly three years since it was first announced, the Bureau of Transportation is set to begin installing elements of their Clinton Street Bike Boulevard Enhancement Project.

PBOT staffer Jeff Smith came to the Bicycle Advisory Committee meeting on Tuesday to share more about what you can expect to see on Clinton Street in the coming months and to explain the intent behind the project. (more...)

PBOT's Rich Newlands gave an update on
the project at a recent Bike
Advisory Committee meeting.
(Photo © J. Maus)

The City of Portland Bureau of Transportation is rolling ahead with their 50's Bikeway project. The $1.5 million, federally funded project aims to make a 4.5 mile north/south corridor between the Hollywood and Woodstock neighborhoods more comfortable and efficient for people on bikes.

Tomorrow night (9/29) is the second meeting of the newly formed Citizen's Advisory Committee for the project and there are plenty of big issues to weigh in on. According to PBOT project manager Rich Newlands, who shared details of the project at a recent Bicycle Advisory Committee meeting, the biggest challenge for the project is how to make room for bike traffic on SE 52nd south of Division. That stretch of road not only has high volumes of (relatively fast) motor vehicle traffic, but PBOT estimates they'd have to remove 200-250 on-street parking spaces to make room for bike lanes. (more...)

Concord, a "Neighborhood Greenway,"
is adjacent to Beach School.
(Photos © J. Maus)

The City of Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) has announced their first "Neighborhood Greenway" ribbon-cutting ceremony. The event will take place Wednesday afternoon at Beach School in the Overlook neighborhood of North Portland.

PBOT wants to showcase their growing network of residential streets that have been engineered to prioritize the safe movement of bicycles. These streets are also known as bicycle boulevards, but PBOT will brand them as 'Neighborhood Greenways' to show that they're not just great for bikes, but that neighborhoods also benefit. The "greenways" aspect is a nod to how some of the streets include bioswales, new street trees, and other "green streets" features (more on the name change here and here). (more...)

"Calming soon" -- get it? Detail of new postcard PBOT will be mailing out soon.

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Crews from PBOT's contractor on the project
have already installed a few sharrows on
N. Bryant Avenue.
(Photo: PBOT)

This week, the City of Portland Bureau of Transportation will begin to install new signs and pavement markings on bike boulevard streets. The money for the project comes from a $1 million award the city received last year from the the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

PBOT project manager Kyle Chisek said the first of these new signs and markings will be installed in Sellwood, the location of PBOT's first of many "next generation bike boulevards." Specifically, the new markings and signage will be installed on SE Spokane Street (6th Avenue to 19th Avenue), SE 19th Avenue (Spokane Street to Linn Street), and on SE Umatilla Street (6th Avenue to 23rd Avenue).
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Riders on the Clinton St.
neighborhood greenway.
(Photo © J. Maus)

The City of Portland Bureau of Transportation plans to change how they refer to projects that calm residential streets and put an emphasis on non-motorized traffic. The term "neighborhood greenways" will soon replace "bicycle boulevards."

I alluded to this new term in a story last month after noticing a new title on PBOT's main website for these projects and have since confirmed the plans with PBOT project manager Kyle Chisek. He says they will make "neighborhood greenways" the public name for the projects but that bicycle boulevard will remain the technical term because that's how they're referenced nationally and in the 2030 Bike Plan.
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MLK at Going looks a lot different now.
-More photos below-
(Photos © J. Maus)

The City of Portland Bureau of Transportation is moving forward on their Going Street Bicycle Boulevard project.

One of the centerpieces of the estimated $250,000 project is the crossing of MLK Jr. Blvd. For the uninitiated, MLK is a major north-south arterial that's technically a state highway (99E). That means it handles a lot of fast motor vehicle traffic and because it is so unpleasant to cross in many places it acts as a de facto barrier between neighborhoods.
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SE 52nd Avenue -- soon to be bike boulevard-ized.
(Photo: PBOT)

This morning, Portland City Council formally accepted a $1.3 million grant for the 50s Bikeway, a project that was first identified as a priority in Portland's 1996 Bike Master Plan. Today's acceptance of the grant is a procedural formality (technically, it's the signing of an Inter-Governmental Agreement between PBOT and the Oregon Department of Transportation), but it also allows PBOT to begin the final planning and outreach stages of the project.

(Graphic: BikePortland.org)

Once complete, the 50s Bikeway will be a 6.7 mile mix of bike lanes (some exist already) and bike boulevard treatments (like medians and other traffic calming elements). The planned route begins in Northeast Portland at 57th and Thompson and goes south on 53rd Avenue to cross I-84. The route then jogs to 52nd and continues south to Woodstock Blvd. (more...)

Detail of new "channelizing islands" recently
installed on SE Spokane St.
(Photos © Adams Carroll)

The City of Portland Bureau of Transportation is just weeks away from unveiling one of the most important bike-related infrastructure projects in years. Their new bike boulevard on SE Spokane Street in Sellwood is the first of their "next generation" bike boulevards and the first of 60 miles of bike boulevards they have planned for completion between now and 2013.
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Marcella Red Thunder on the way to
pick her daughter up from school.
(Photos © J. Maus)

There has been a lot of talk and action around bicycle boulevards lately.

The term is used to describe low-traffic streets where bicycles are encouraged and supported through a number of engineering measures. They're all the rage in the bike planning world and they're one of the top priorities of the City of Portland in moving forward with its "transportation transformation."

But lately I've noticed more and more non-bike and non-auto traffic on our local streets (skateboarders mostly) and have realized that the bicycle-centric term doesn't quite do them justice. (more...)

U.S. Congressman Earl
Blumenauer has made his
transportation project
requests public.
(Photo © J. Maus)

[Via Mapes on Politics]

U.S. Congressman Earl Blumenauer has made his list of "High Priority" transportation projects public, and several of them are for bike-related projects in and around the Portland metro area. According to Blumenauer, the list was created to "ensure communities are full partners" in Congress's efforts to re-write the federal transportation bill.

Capitol Hill lawmakers are in the process of creating the new bill, and as per usual, there is expected to be a lot of political wrangling and scrambling on how the hundreds of billions of dollars are spent. A small percentage of funds in the bill will go toward "High Priority Projects" that are specifically designated by Members of Congress. (more...)