In an effort to making biking safer, and increase compliance with a stop sign, the City of Portland’s Office of Transportation has given the green light for three improvements to the notorious Broadway/Flint/Wheeler intersection in North Portland.
sign, attempting to enter N. Broadway.
(Notice current lack of stop bar in bike lane.)
(Photo © J. Maus)
This intersection has been a thorn in the side of PDOT for years and is a common site for close-calls and collisions between bikes and cars (especially this summer with more people biking than ever before). But recently, several factors have spurred PDOT to take an even closer look at the issues here.
Those factors include a growing awareness for improving bike safety by key local partners including an adjacent property owner (Betsy Reese of Paramount Apartments) and a bike safety committee brought together by the Portland Water Bureau (whose facility is nearby).
“From our evaluations, it is apparent that there is an unacceptably high rate of non-compliance with the stop sign on N. Flint at N. Broadway.”
— Greg Raisman, PDOT
Another key factor figuring into PDOT’s concentration on this intersection is that Broadway is a future Streetcar route and that project will bring both major design changes and a massive funding opportunity that PDOT hopes to be involved with. PDOT traffic safety specialist Greg Raisman says he has been evaluating the intersection closely and has watched hours of video and made visits to the site.
From my own experience with this intersection, combined with comments I’ve heard from Raisman and local stakeholders, it’s very clear that something needs to be done. However, it’s also clear that the situation is complicated.
been placed at the intersection of
N. Flint and Broadway.
(Photo © J. Maus)
The engineering configuration is inherently difficult to work with (high volumes of bikes, cars, and pedestrians combined with curves, a downhill, and high speeds) and the behavior of all road users is far less than exemplary.
Also making fixes to this intersection tough is the fact that PDOT doesn’t want to do anything too expensive or large-scale with the good chance it would all be ripped up once the Streetcar comes through.
However, given these realities, Raisman and PDOT staff are keenly aware that some short-term measures are needed immediately and Raisman confirmed with me this morning that PDOT has entered in work orders (meaning these improvements will be done any day now) for the following:
Install a stop-bar and “BIKE STOP” pavement markings across the bike lane on N. Flint
Raisman points out that the existing stop bar (the white painted line where vehicles are meant to stop) doesn’t reach all the way across the bike lane (you can see this on Google Maps). This measure is being taken to increase the amount of bicyclists that stop at the stop sign. Raisman says from an analysis of video and field observations as well as crash data,
“it is apparent that there is an unacceptably high rate of non-compliance with the stop sign on N. Flint at N. Broadway”.
Raisman estimated that about 15% of bicyclists blow the stop sign so fast that they end up in the motor vehicle lane on Broadway.
longer be able to travel straight across Broadway.
Left-turn only from N Wheeler
Vehicles coming northbound from N. Wheeler onto Broadway are currently allowed to go either straight (north) onto Wheeler or left (west) onto Broadway. Raisman says that in video and field observations, two problems emerged,
“First, the sight distance to travel across Broadway to the north leg of Wheeler (between NW Cancer Specialists and the Paramount Apts) is not adequate due to the distance it takes to cross coupled with the speed of traffic and curve in the road on Broadway. Second, too many motor vehicles and some bicycles are traveling against the flow of traffic on Broadway to cross from Wheeler to the north leg of N Flint. In video samples, this situation resulted in unsafe situations between motor vehicles traveling on Broadway and those crossing Broadway.”
just before Wheeler, will get more
breathing room with a wider bike lane.
(Photo © J. Maus)
Widen the bike lane on Broadway and update the striping
Raisman says PDOT will widen the bike lane on Broadway through the westbound curve as it passes the I-5 offramp and comes into N. Flint. The wider bike lane will be achieved by narrowing the adjacent motor vehicle lane (which Raisman noted is currently wider than necessary). This is being done because PDOT noticed a “significant portion of bicyclists” (Raisman estimated 10%) were not able to maintain their lane position while making this curve. Watch for a complete re-striping of the bike lane and adjacent motor vehicle lane.
Completion of these three fixes should happen any day now.
Raisman says that next steps in improving safety at this intersection include continuing to meet with the Water Bureau’s bike safety committee (which also includes reps from the BTA and the owner of the Paramount Apts. Betsy Reese), and working with the Streetcar planning effort on “a solution that works for them and their budget.”
In the long-term, Raisman says, “We’re hopeful we can come up with a solution that’s a lot better than what we have on the ground now, but it’s going to take some time to get there.”
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In related news, this evening the Water Bureau is sponsoring a Bike/Truck Safety event. More details here.