[Update: According to a PDOT press release, this new signal is operational as of 9:00AM today, 10/10/06]
Photo: flickrplease
The intersection at E. Burnside and 41st streets will soon be much safer for bicyclists and pedestrians. PDOT is installing a new, high-tech crossing signal that is slated for completion by the end of September.
Here’s more from an official PDOT statement:
“The signal eliminates a major barrier in one of only three continuous north-south bikeways on Portland’s eastside (the I-205 path and the Eastbank Esplanade and the Vancouver/Williams bikeway being the others) and one of the only bicycle-friendly crossings of the I-84 freeway.”
Photo: flickrplease
And here’s the inside scoop from PDOT’s Bicycle Coordinator Roger Geller:
“The need for a signal at this location was identified in the “North-South Forties Bikeway Project Staff Recommendation” Report in August, 1998.
This project is funded by a $140,000 ODOT bike/ped grant. This signal is unique to Portland—copied more or less from a H.A.W.K. (High intensity Actuated WalK signal) used by Tuscon Arizona’s Department of Transportation. It will have a ped/bike indication for crossing Burnside (motorists will still have to abide by the stop signs). This eliminates the threat of motor-vehicle cut-through traffic.”
For more information on this project contact Roger Geller at (503) 823-7671 or roger[dot]geller[at]pdxtrans[dot]org.