Slideshow below – (Photos © J. Maus)
Yesterday, city maintenance crews put the finishing touches on Portland’s 19th bike corral (number 20, just a block away at SE Pine, should be done any day now). This one is in front of Crema Bakery on SE 28th at Ankeny.
The first thing I noticed as I approached on the southbound side of 28th is how nicely the new, angled orientation of the racks works. Putting the staples at an angle makes them easier to slide into and it also means that bikes don’t stick out into the street as much (something I’m sure PBOT is happy about).
This corral also makes this intersection feel like even more of a bike district. SE 28th, with its bridge over I-84, is a very popular north/south bike route. And Ankeny is one of the busiest bike streets (and one of the original bike boulevards) in Portland.
As I said, 28th is a busy route, but with only one travel lane in each direction and on-street parking on both sides, it’s not always the most pleasant place to ride (not a lot of space for bikes and taking the lane sometimes results in shouting matches). Thankfully, Metro awarded the new Twenties Bikeway project $2.38 million in the recent round of regional flexible funding (more on that project in a separate post).
wide bike lane on this street.
Where will it go?
The Twenties Bikeway project is slated to make 28th much more friendly to bikes. But (and thanks to a reader for pointing this out) the plans for this segment of SE 28th (between Burnside and Stark) call for the removal of on-street parking on one side and the installation of new, 4.5 foot bike lanes on each side.
The questions I’m still trying to find answers to are: Which side of the street is slated to have car parking removed (there will be a bike corral on each side)? And, how will PBOT fit a 4.5-foot wide bike lane between the new corrals and motor vehicle traffic?
UPDATE: According to PBOT Bicycle Coordinator Roger Geller, the Twenties Bikeway project is still years away and the final design for 28th is yet to be determined. “It’s way too early to say how the corral will be impacted in a design treatment for 28th,” he wrote in a comment below, “In other words, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
Stay tuned for more corrals coming to SE 28th. PBOT’s Sarah Figliozzi says one is slated in front of Fonda Rosa/Beuhlaland at Couch Street and in front of Tabla/Bishops at Davis.
Check out more photos in the slideshow below (or browse the gallery):
— If you’re curious how PBOT selects locations for these bike corrals, read our story from yesterday, How PBOT plans for bike corrals.
Thanks for reading.
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This is so very awesome. I’ve been waiting for this for years – there’s never been enough parking over there. Now we just need at least one more on NE 28th somewhere near Beulahland, and that whole neighborhood will be set!
I think that these are great, but I’ve always thought that they wouldn’t work in Boston because they’d get whacked by the snowplows. I know that you don’t (usually) have much call for snowplows there, but how do they propose to do streetcleaning- will they just let crud build up, or will they manually clean them up? Or are they relying on good samaritans to keep cigarette packs and discarded coffee cups out of the gutter there?
Car owners are always whinging about alternate street parking and streetcleaning, but nice debris free road edges are great for bikers!
Remove one side of the on street car parking and put in a two way cycle track. Duh.
RE: snow removal.
The corrals are designed to be easily installed–and just as easily removed. That was one of our design criteria so that if we needed to get into that area to do some type of street or other utility maintenance it would be relatively easy to lift them up, do the needed work, and then put them back down. For regular daily maintenance (i.e. dealing with the “crud”) we enter into maintenance agreements with the adjacent business/property owners. The signatory is responsible for keeping the area clean.
As for the 28th bikeway project. That is still years away. What the ultimate design of 28th will be has yet to be determined. It’s way too early to say how the corral will be impacted in a design treatment for 28th. In other words, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it…
You’ve got to figure if they’re there before the Twenties Bikeway arrives they will have to be accounted for by that project…
Beulaland’s block definitely needs a corral. There’s never any bike parking on that block.
I’m guessing they will ultimately not remove car parking between Glisan and Stark and instead have “sharrows,” but I guess we will have to wait and see.
Buelahland also needs better food…but that is a comment for another blog.
@3
Word.
Or better yet; remove both car parking on both sides and have a cycle track on each side.
why do we have to wait ‘years’ for sharrows on E28th? Every day the installation of sharrows on E28th is delayed, is another day of lost opportunity to educate motorists that bikes are allowed a full lane (ORS 814.430(2)(c)), and another day that another cyclist is harassed by a motorist on this popular cycling route.
Wouldn’t it make more sense to pick a street like 24th (& jag over to 28th or 21st for Fwy crossing)? 24th has much less traffic and the businesses are less dependent on the street parking (fewer restaurants and cafes). 28th is thriving, but might not be if half their parking is gone. I think 24th is actually a lot wider too. Personally, I try to bike on streets with less traffic unless there’s no practical alternative.
That’s why Ankeny is such a great bike boulevard. Not much traffic because the cars are all on Burnside. Let them have it!
why do you need a cycle track when it is so easy to take the lane on 28th. agree with comment 10 that you don’t have to wait to paint sharrows. could have done it while the crew was out there painting the corral.
Awesome!
May we next have a bicycle corral outside of Vendetta, on NE Skidmore & Williams? There are dozens and dozens of bikes locked to every conceivable sticking up thing most evenings there! (Pretty please?)
What is this? I yell about this when commenters use the phrase, but I’m surprised to see you doing this J. This is off topic, but I’d think you of all people would know that this is rarely legal. That’s a business district, so the speed limit is likely 20 m.ph.. Bikes can go 20. ORS 814.430 does provide an exemption if you are moving the same speed as traffic around you.
The spirit of the above ORS is that of staying out of the way. Now, if webtrends didn’t teach you how it feels to have your mode vilified for personal gain, then how do you think I feel constantly defending my mode from outraged motorists? Over, and over, and over again, I’m bombarded with this same public sentiment: “Why must bicycles ride illegally right down the middle of the road?”
The hypocrisy of condemning webtrends for creating unnecessary motorist hostility, only to turn around and advocate breaking the law in this way, is infuriating coming from some one who should know better. If you would like to split hairs, and I’m sure most of you would, then this is a bad example of this. Argh.
But! Do you really think a noob is going to understand the distinction J? Didn’t you climb up my butt about noobs, and their needs, more than once? Then why continue using that term, and yes that action, when you know it’s illegal, and incredibly inflammatory?
Besides. It’s pure fiction. No one on a bicycle is taking something from a car. You are deliberately placing yourself in harms way with the tacit dare to run your ass over as pretty much your only protection. Under Oregon frickin’ law, you are obliged as a slower mode, as a human powered mode, to stay the heck out of the way. Where are you people’s manners, anyway?
hug for Vance – *squeeeeeeze*
@ vance #14 – you don’t need to be going the speed of traffic to take a full lane; if there isn’t room for a motor vehicle and a cyclist to safely share the lane, you can take the lane on your bicycle at whatever speed you are going.
@ Max #11 – there are two reasons E24th is a poor second choice for cycling compared to E28th:
1. E24th doesn’t cross I-84
2. E24th doesn’t contain the commercial destinations cyclists want to access on E28th
BURR #16 – Understood, but the exemption provides that you may navigate an obstacle, and does not then allow you to ride in the lane of traffic for longer than necessary to avoid the obstacle.
There’s no reason to justify not riding as practicably close to said parked cars either, and the issue I raised is one of, “Taking the lane.”, not the semantic nuances of the law.
It is presumed by me that the phrase means to take the lane. Taking a lane, and avoiding an obstacle are two different things. “Take the lane”, “Avoid obstacle”. Yep, still way different, and one is rude and totally illegal to boot.
You may also ride around supine clowns, George W. Bush, spent atomic fuel, and any parts of flying saucers you come across. You may not ride your bike like you are in your car, pretty much ever. Doing so is to instigate trouble that all cyclists must take responsibility for.
#8 Dont diss my local. Love there Mac and Chhese
#10 pedal faster and they wont be able to pass you- the lights are timed for 25 MPH so if you hoof it (on a bike) you can go from 28th and stark all the way to Broadway/weidler w/o stopping.
vance – every single state has bicycle guidelines that say not to weave in and out of parked cars when cycling (not that there are many spots on E28th between, say, Sandy and Stark where there aren’t parked cars). I choose a spot to ride approximately 3-4 feet from the parked cars, so I don’t get doored, and I hold my line. If the motorists want to pass me, they can do it when opposing traffic is clear and they can cross the center line to do so. If it upsets them that I’m only going 12-15 mph, too bad for them.
Burr – I hope you appreciate that many of those commercial destinations you like on 28th exist because there is some (not a lot) parking. Taking half of the parking off 28th is not good for business. Restaurants especially are having a really hard time. I’m not saying 24th is ideal, but it’s safer and less damaging to commerce – and really about 2 minutes from the freeway crossings. It’d be nice if Morrison was a bike bridge. But it’s not. Hawthorne is (about 2 minutes away also). I think 24th & 28th are analogous.
Also, just because bikes are allowed a full lane doesn’t mean they should “educate” drivers by exercising that right unnecessarily. Drivers do have more legal rights than we do (for now), and if they choose to be equally rude, life would suck. I lived in LA. Drivers are generally far more respectful and watchful of cyclists here.
That’s something worth nurturing.
I didn’t say anything about removing parking to make space for bikeways (e.g. lanes or paths), in fact I’m against that idea. I simply want the city to paint sharrows in the existing lanes.
Removing motor vehicle parking and replacing it with bike parking is something else altogether, which I support.
Max Rockbin said:
“Also, just because bikes are allowed a full lane doesn’t mean they should ‘educate’ drivers by exercising that right unnecessarily”.
What do you mean by that? What is “unnecessarily”? Can you elaborate, por favor?
I think Max wants cyclists to ride in the door zone and/or weave in and out of the parked cars.
I just meant that if there’s room for a car and a bike side by side, no need to take the whole lane. I know that’s not the case on most of 28th, but, for example at signaled intersections like 28th & B’side or Glisan, bikes will often take the front spot in the middle of the lane instead of going to the curb. I think that if driver’s can see you, and if there’s room, bike’s should go to the curb at signals instead of slowing traffic through the intersection.
On streets less narrow than 28th, I think bikes can go as close as the rider feels comfortable to the right side of the lane. I’m not recommending any weaving (unless there’s a big unparked interval or you’re holding up a long line of cars, it might be nice to let them through) or anything that would sacrifice safety.
At 28th and Glisan, and at other major arterial crossings, there are actually locations designated for cyclists so that they trigger the sensing loops embedded in the pavement to change the signal. These designated locations are in the travel lane, not at the curb.
BURR:
Right. Sensors in the road.
But if there’s a car in the lane (which there usually is and is the only time this whole discussion has any meaning), the car triggers the sensor. No cars? Go ahead into the middle of the lane. Tree falls in forest/no one hears it, etc.
During busy times, the lights are generally on timers.
you’re right Max, a car and a bike can’t occupy the same place in the road at the same time. what’s your point again?
@ Max (#24): Going over to the curb at intersections sets cyclists up for a right hook. No thanks. 25 mph is the maximum speed on this stretch of street. So, when there are road conditions such as heavy traffic, cyclists, pedestrians, darkness, bad weather, etc… drivers BY LAW might have to travel slower than the posted speed limit to comply with the Basic Rule: “a motorist must drive at a speed that is reasonable and prudent at all times by considering other traffic, road, and weather conditions, dangers at intersections and any other conditions that affect safety and speed. The Basic Rule does not allow motorists to drive faster than the posted speed, nor does it set absolute speeds designated for all conditions.” This means that travelling at 25 mph may not be reasonable or prudent, and a slower speed may be necessary to comply with Oregon’s Basic Rule.
Max-
I think that intersections are the perfect place to take the lane, and it is the safest way for bicyclists to be seen and not killed by right turning cars. I do it on my bike and would prefer a lane taking bike at an intersection to someone creeping up my right side while I am stopped. Besides on 28th you are not getting anywhere real fast, even if you gun it and go 30, you will just be stopping in 8 blocks anyway- it isnt a major vehicular thruway like 39th or 12th. Just slow down and enjoy the ride.
It would be nice if you are taking the lane after the intersection if you could get the led out though, if your going to go 6MPH maybe you could let me by before I torch my clutch trying to go that slow.