Multnomah County will celebrate the completion of improvements to NE 223rd Avenue in Fairview (12 miles east of downtown Portland) today. The $7 million project replaced a railroad bridge that crossed over NE 223rd near I-84 and it also widened the road under the bridge.
NE 223rd is a link to the bike path on Marine Drive and recreation opportunities at Blue Lake Park, but prior to this project it was extremely narrow. The project widened the existing lanes and added bike lanes and sidewalks. You can get a good sense for how much more inviting this road is now by looking at the before and after photos below…
Before.
(Photos: Multnomah County)
(Photos: Multnomah County)
After.
(Photos: Multnomah County)
(Photos: Multnomah County)
See MultCo.us for more information on this project and today’s celebration event.
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awesome! no more tight passage.
Is that a row of cars parked in the bike lane on the left? Why aren’t they being towed?
@Peejay The same reason that pedestrians are walking down the middle of the road: it isn’t open yet.
@Peejay, looks as though it is a construction detour, I don’t think they are parked.
A huge thanks to all concerned. No more terrified white-knuckled racing!
yay! that -was- a scary place. i’m hoping this means you can continue from 223rd onto fairview now rather than having to take sandy.
And if you’d like to ride it in a group, there’s now a Pedalpalooza ride for it:
http://shift2bikes.org/cal/#17-1684
Similar situation at 122nd between Freemont and i84, but 2 lanes in each direction.
The road is too narrow so the bike lane ends southbound and you have to merge into a lane of traffic uphill at low-speed. Taking the lane right at the Freemont light is what I do.
Northbound on 122nd you have to either have to contend with a bike lane that’s a couple of inches wide after the storm drains and put yourself at high risk of getting right-hooked downhill at the light OR fight your way across 2 lanes of fast moving traffic to get onto Freemont for the i205 path. Add riding at night and rain for even more danger and excitement.
This is where 1 of the 3 cycling fatalities was last year in Portland.
WOW! that’s an awesome improvement… not that I ever get over that far northeast but if I do I’ll be glad it’s fixed…
Question: What is the purpose of the DMZ (no-man’s-land) in the middle of the roadway?
Could that space not have been used to make wider lanes for all road users? … or is there a turn behind the photographer and this will become a {suicide} turning lane?
Natty
The view is toward the south from a point just south of Sandy. 223rd terminates at Sandy. The striping “controls” north bound traffic while the pavement widens into two lanes, a left turn lane and a right turn lane onto Sandy.
I used to ride up that part of 223rd all the time. It used to spit you out into the middle of a two-lane road. Cars were generally pretty nice to me even during the morning rush hour. Still this is definitely and improvement, I’ll have to check it out next time I’m in the area.
I agree with stig the bottleneck under the I-84 overpass on 122nd is a little scary. Going south you get squeezed into the very edge of a traffic lane. It’s a major street too so there are normally big trucks going about 35. Going north is a little bit worse. The road isn’t paved very well there are a few baby potholes and a split that runs right down the center of the bike lane. Sometimes branches hang down over the lane at about head height. That helps make it a little bit more fun.
The parking is likely that of the project staff since the project area is a closed road(?)
It looks like they are also about to plant trees in the open areas on the sidewalk… I love trees, but is this a good location to plant trees? The ROW and ped space is narrow and there are trees above the slope (and I assume… there is limited sun light at roadway level).
Perhaps also, too bad that the uphill bike lane was not a bike track? More useful?
Now that’s called an improvement. You can’t tell it’s the same road by looking at the before and after pictures.
Todd # 14
I worked on this project, and there are no tree wells in the sidewalk. Just phased concrete pours.
Natty (#10) – it’s the transition to a left-hand turn lane for the intersection with Sandy, about 50 yards behind the photographer.
Bob_M (#11) – eh? 223rd continues all the way to Marine Drive – or did they change that with this project? The right lane should be right turn and straight through – 223rd is a major route to the developments around Blue and Fairview lakes, as well as the regional park.
Matt
OOPs
you are correct sir