(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

From my perspective, the most positive and important project (in terms of improving bicycle access) the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) has completed in many years is their redesign of NE Multnomah Street. The project not only put the street on a serious diet — from five standard lanes and narrow bike lanes to three standard lanes and wide, protected bike lanes — its transformation was spearheaded by unusual suspects. Instead of being pushed for by citizen activists and advocates, the project was largely pushed forward by powerful, local business interests*.
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The color is officially known as beeswax if you were wondering.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

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New buffered bike lanes have been installed west of MLK Jr Blvd as part of the ongoing changes to NE Multnomah Street through the Lloyd District.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

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What used to be a sad little bike lane on NE Multnomah is now a protected bike lane.
- More photos and video below -
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

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Physically separated bikeways are coming to NE Multnomah Street through the Lloyd District!
(Graphic: PBOT)

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PBOT project manager Ross Swanson
explains the plans to BAC members.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland

The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) is trying to broker a compromise between real estate owners and developers in the Lloyd District and concerned citizens who want high-quality bicycle access on NE Multnomah Street. When staffers brought the latest plans for the Multnomah Street (NE) Main Street Pilot Project to the monthly meeting of the PBOT Bicycle Advisory Committee last night, several committee members expressed skepticism and objections to the philosophical underpinnings of the project, saying that PBOT was giving away too much in terms of bike access in order to meet the Lloyd TMA's demands for auto parking.

At issue is how to allocate roadway space on NE Multnomah. PBOT is looking to transform it from a boring, 1980s-style, five-lane thoroughfare with no auto parking (and rarely used four-foot bike lanes), to a more vibrant and welcoming three-lane cross-section with protected bikeways and dozens of new, on-street auto parking spaces. (More background on the project here.) The street is already slated for a new 900-unit residential tower and other developments are expected in the future. (more...)

[Publisher's note: As we shared on May 16th, PBOT has unveiled plans for the Multnomah Street Main Street Pilot Project. The road this project has taken to this point has raised many concerned eyebrows. One of them is Craig Harlow. Harlow was chair of the stakeholder advisory committee for the NE Holladay Street project (which is — whether PBOT wants us to remember or not — closely tied to the Multnomah project) and he sat on the "task force" for the NE Multnomah project. Below, I've shared a letter from Harlow to PBOT project manager Ross Swanson - JM]

Dear Mr. Swanson: (more...)

Detail from PBOT drawings of proposed changes on NE Multnomah St.

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Lindsay Walker of the Lloyd TMA
looks over the project maps with PBOT
Traffic Engineer Rob Burchfield and
City Bike Coordinator Roger Geller.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

Last night the City of Portland and representatives from the Lloyd Transportation Management Association hosted an open house for their NE Multnomah Street Transportation Pilot Project. It was the first time the public was shown the proposals for this project.

If you recall, back in October a citizen committee ended a 10 month public process with a 12-1 vote in favor of moving forward in making NE Holladay the main east-west spine for safe and convenient bicycling through the Lloyd District. That lone dissenting vote was held by the most powerful man in the room (or perhaps just the most feared) — Wade Lange of commercial real estate firm Ashforth Pacific. Lange — who was also representing a San Diego real estate firm that had just purchased $92 million worth of Ashforth property (the majority of which is on Multnomah Street) — never made it clear exactly why he opposed the project on Holladay; but despite being outvoted 12-1, he convinced the City of Portland to turn their attention away from Holladay and toward Multnomah instead. (more...)

Going on a diet.

On May 15th, the Lloyd Transportation Management Assocation (TMA) and the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) will unveil their plans to significantly alter the roadway design on NE Multnomah Street. Or in their words, give it a "transportation transformation."

The open house announcement for this project — which we first reported on back in December — was sent out to stakeholders today. Here's a snip from the invite:

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