ODOT and PBOT planners presented the
designs to the Bike Advisory Committee
last month.
(Photo © J. Maus)

ODOT, in partnership with PBOT, will unveil their plans for a I-5 freeway expansion project near the Rose Quarter at an open house in the Lloyd Center Mall tonight.

The plan, which is being done as part of the larger Central City 2035 and N/NE Quadrant plans, would add about 1,500 feet of additional lanes (in each direction) and a breakdown shoulder on I-5 between the I-84 interchange through the Rose Quarter. In addition, a host of other changes are being considered that will have a dramatic impact on surface streets and mobility in the area in general. (more...)

A few pieces of the future
path already exist.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

The City of Portland Parks & Recreation bureau has announced the beginning of the North Portland Greenway Trail Alignment Project — launching a 14 month process similar to the one they're doing for the Sullivan's Gulch Project.
When complete, the process will (hopefully) turn a 10-mile long, non-motorized path that will extend the northern end of the Eastbank Esplanade to the Columbia River, from dream to reality.

This is big news for a big project that has been many years in the making. Over six years ago I recall attending the very first public meeting of this project. It was hosted by citizen volunteers calling themselves, "Friends of the Greenway." That group morphed into the full-fledged non-profit "npGreenway" which is still going strong today. npGreenway did a ton of heavy lifting to advocate for this project and bring it to where it is today.
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Detail of proposed
improvements to SW Barbur Blvd.

ODOT has whittled down a list of 89 "non-highway transportation projects" vying for $21 million in federal flexible funds, to just 35. Three City of Portland projects have made it onto the second round; but unfortunately, a project that could have built the first segment of the Sullivan's Gulch Corridor did not make the cut.

With cities around the state clamoring for federal funds as their local budgets shrink, the competition is fierce. ODOT received requests totaling $89 million for the $21 million in available funds, which the state has set aside specifically for "non-highway" projects. (more...)

Artists rendering.
(Graphic: CRC)

Columbia River Crossing project staff announced today that they've awarded a $4.22 million contract to begin "pre-construction" of the estimated $3.5 billion project.

The contract will go to a Washington-based firm (Max J Kuney Company). In a press release, the CRC project said the firm will, "conduct a construction techniques test project in early 2012."
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A woman waits for the light at NE Lloyd in the new bike lane just installed on NE 12th Ave in the Lloyd District.

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How can we make Williams safer and more pleasant to use?
(View looking north on Williams just before N Failing.)
(Photos © J. Maus)

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December 5th!
(Photo © J. Maus)

Multnomah County confirmed today that the biking and walking path on the Morrison Bridge will re-open permanently on December 5th. The path has been closed since early June while contractors work to replace the bridge's steel grating due to safety concerns.

The project was supposed to be completed by mid-September but has been delayed due what The Oregonian refers to as a "messy environmental and bureaucratic fight." (more...)

Detail of new sign
that will be posted at
entrance to Waud Bluff Trail.

Next Tuesday, officials from the City of Portland Parks and Recreation bureau will join community leaders at a groundbreaking ceremony for the Waud Bluff Trail; a short, paved path that will connect North Portland and Swan Island near the University of Portland.

After six years of waiting, Swan Island businesses, trail advocates, and thousands of residents eager for safer and more direct access to the Willamette River have rejoiced at seeing this project move forward.

Unfortunately, for people riding bikes (and others using wheeled modes of transport), the trail will present several challenges. (more...)

PBOT Planning Manager Paul Smith
explains the project to
open house attendees.
(Photos © J. Maus)

On Tuesday night at the Hollywood Senior Center, the City of Portland hosted the first official public open house for the Sullivan's Gulch corridor project. Nearby residents and others simply curious about what could be a major new carfree thoroughfare came to learn more about the project.

As I pulled up I ran into veteran regional trail planner and Metro employee Mel Huie. Mel shared my excitement that the project is finally at this point. "It's been a long time," he remarked. When I asked how long, Mel said he first recalled talking about it about 15 years ago. (more...)

Artist rendering of SW Moody taken from project website.

Tomorrow, the Portland Bureau of Transportation will lift the lid on their SW Moody Project that includes what will be downtown's first-ever cycle track. (more...)

One of the few paved segments
of the corridor on
Swan Island.
(Photo © J. Maus)

The City of Portland is ready to start the public process on the North Portland Willamette Greenway Trail, a shared-use path that will someday extend the Eastbank Esplanade 10 miles — all the way to the St. Johns Bridge.

Citizen activists first came together to advocate for the project nearly six years ago. In May 2009, Metro ponied up $450,000 to help plan the route. Now, the City of Portland Parks & Recreation is looking for people to serve on the official Project Advisory Committee (PAC). (more...)

If all goes well, this will become
a more frequent sight in East Portland.
(Photo © J. Maus)

As we shared on Wednesday, the Portland Bureau of Transportation is ready to roll on a set of projects that are likely to give a major jolt to the anemic active transportation network in East Portland.

The draft East Portland in Motion implementation strategy an impressive body of work that combines PBOT's strengths in bikeway engineering, a collaborative planning approach, and their commitment to fund projects that aren't car-centric. It's also noteworthy for the level of knowledge and engagement brought to the table by citizen groups like the East Portland Action Plan bike subcommittee (a.k.a. EPAPBike). (more...)

Cross-section of proposed project
that would link the Springwater
to the Trolley Trail in Milwaukie.

While much of the media attention for the current round of Metro's regional flexible funding allocation revolved around the Portland bike sharing project, there are a host of other (extremely important) projects and programs that have been selected.

Metro is accepting public comments on all the projects until 5:00 pm on October 13th. Metro wants to know, not simply whether or not you support a project, but how you'd like to see it implemented. (more...)

New striping gives bike traffic a
buffer from cars on NE Wheeler
behind the Rose Quarter.
(Photos © J. Maus)

The Portland Bureau of Transportation has begun implementation of a project to make bicycling near the Rose Quarter more comfortable.

NE Wheeler Ave between Winning Way and the Rose Quarter Transit Center now has wider bike lanes in the northbound direction and a new buffered bike lane and sharrows for bike traffic headed southbound.

The project is one of three "Lloyd District Bikeway Development" projects the City embarked on in December 2010. This particular project was targeted for changes because there is a gaps in the bikeways between N. Vancouver Avenue (at Broadway) and the Rose Quarter Transit Center.
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Commissioner Amanda Fritz and Mayor
Sam Adams listening to testimony on
the 50s Bikeway project today.
(Photos © J. Maus)

Portland City Council voted in unanimous support of the 50s Bikeway project today (Commissioner Saltzman was not present).

The $1.5 million, federally funded project will fill a 4.3 mile gap in the north-south bikeway along 52nd and 53rd Avenues from SE Woodstock to NE Thompson. A mix of bike lanes and bike boulevards, along with crossing improvements at eight major arterial streets, will connect the nearly 20,000 nearby residents and 12 schools within a half-mile of the route with a low-stress biking experience.
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The 50s Bikeway project
is at City Council today!
(Map: PBOT)

The 50s Bikeway project will be up for a vote at City Council today. While it's expected to get the required three votes of support, you can also expect some loud opposition to one specific piece of the project — a diverter planned for SE 52nd just north of Division.

Before I get into that, here's a quick reset of the project: The $1.5 million, federally funded 50s Bikeway will create a 4.5 mile bike-friendly corridor on 52nd/53rd Avenues from NE Thompson to SE Woodstock. The public process for the project began back in January. Since then, the Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) has held a robust public process (41 public meetings) that wrapped up with the second of two open houses at the end of June. (more...)

A new plan by PBOT would convert
the auto parking on this stretch
of Holladay into a 10-foot
wide shared auto/bike lane.
(Photo © J. Maus)

The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) has released a new plan for how to turn NE Holladay Street into a major, two-way bikeway from the Rose Quarter Transit Center to Holladay Park in the Lloyd District.

Advocates initially pushed to make Holladay completely carfree; but that idea was off the table by the time PBOT began an official public process for the project back in December 2010. Then, real estate developers, various Lloyd District stakeholders, and even the Portland Development Commission piled on with objections to the "loss" of any parking on NE Holladay — an element of the project that's considered imperative to make the required space for a comfortable bikeway. (more...)

Looking west from NE 82nd Avenue onto what could be the location of the first paved portion of the Sullivan's Gulch Corridor.

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Drawing of the future Waud Bluff Trail, which could open as early as spring 2012.
- Download PDF -

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PBOT planner Mauricio LeClerc presented
plans for the Pearl District last night.
(Photos © J. Maus)

After NW Lovejoy was decommissioned as a bikeway by the city, NW Marshall Street was supposed to take its place. The Bureau of Transportation added sharrows, smoothed out cobblestones, and installed signage and pavement markings to direct bicycle traffic from the main thoroughfare (Lovejoy) onto Marshall.

Unfortunately, it's not working out as planned.
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