The City of Portland Bureau of Transportation wants to put a section of SE Holgate Street on a long overdue lane diet. From SE 92nd to 122nd, PBOT will reduce the current five motor vehicle lanes down to three, making room for buffered bike lanes in each direction.
lanes in this stretch, but PBOT says it
only needs three.
The buffered (also called “enhanced”) bike lanes would be similar in design to the ones slated to be installed on SW Stark and Oak next month. On Holgate, City plans call for a 6.5-foot bike lane (adjacent to on-street parking) and then an additional 3.5-foot buffer zone. Motor vehicles would have one lane of travel in each direction along with a center turn lane (on-street parking would remain intact).
PBOT did an analysis on this stretch of Holgate and found that current traffic volume does not warrant five lanes.
access to new MAX
station at Holgate.
According to PBOT, this stretch of Holgate (from 92nd to 122nd) was originally designed as a five-lane roadway in order to accommodate freeway access at I-205. That is no longer an option, but the road has retained its five-lane configuration for years. PBOT now intends to put that space to more efficient use thanks to grant funding from TriMet.
PBOT planner Denver Igarta says the project will cost roughly $30,000. TriMet put up the funds as part of an effort to more effectively connect people to transit and jobs. Their new I-205 Light Rail “Green” line opens in mid-September and it will have a transit station at Holgate. These improvements to Holgate will give people on bikes a much easier and pleasant access to that station.
Also as part of this project, PBOT will also improve the I-205 bike path where it crosses Holgate. Because the crossing is “difficult to see due to the curve of the roadway”, they want to enhance it with a “ladder bar crosswalk,” additional signing, and perhaps even a refuge island someday down the road.
This project should be welcome news for folks in outer southeast who have long complained that their area is bikeway deficient. The work is scheduled for completion this August.