Bike lanes coming soon.

The Bureau of Transportation has announced their intention to move forward on the re-striping of SE Division between SE 60th and 80th. The decision comes after a public meeting held Tuesday where neighborhood residents and other stakeholders expressed strong support for the "road diet" and addition of bike lanes as a way to improve safety on the street.

PBOT reports that 50 people came to the meeting and a "large majority" supported the Phase 1 improvements which include: (more...)

A bike lane could be in Division's future

A road diet on one of Portland's most dangerous "high crash corridors" is looking more and more likely as the Bureau of Transportation gets set to hold its final open house on the SE Division Street Safety Project later this month. PBOT has proposed re-striping Division between 60th and 82nd from its current configuration of four standard lanes to a new configuration that would have two standard lanes, a center turn lane, and two bike lanes.

Since PBOT presented their plans last year, neighborhood groups and citizens involved in the process have been very supportive of the idea. The Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) has also thrown their weight behind the project, and they're urging PBOT to extend the proposed lane configuration further west to SE 52nd in order to connect to the forthcoming 50s Bikeway and a nearby park.
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SE Powell, a wide and intimidating arterial known for its safety problems, is one of the three corridors PBOT will look to tame in 2013.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

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Ready to rumble?
(Photo: Missouri DOT)

As part of their ongoing High Crash Corridors program, the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) is considering installing rumble strips on NE Marine Drive.

PBOT bicycle projects staffer Jeff Smith is currently looking for feedback on the plan. Since Marine Drive is a very popular route for weekend riders and racers training for competition, Smith has emailed the idea to local riding groups like the Portland Wheelmen Touring Club and the Oregon Bicycle Racing Association.

PBOT is focusing on Marine Drive (between I-5 and NE 185th) for a safety analysis and improvements because it has a "substantially higher" fatality rate that the citywide norm (17 out of 1000 crashes is fatal, compared to 3 out of 1000 citywide). Adding to the safety issues on the street are high speeds and a lot of truck traffic. According to PBOT data, between NE 33rd and 185th, an average of 82% of all motor vehicles exceed the speed limit (with about 11% exceeding the posted speed by 10 MPH or more).
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