in the neighborhood.
(Photo: Gretchin Lair)
The City of Portland Bureau of Transportation will hold a public meeting on June 22nd to hear feedback on the SE Holgate buffered bike lanes. The lanes were painted last August as part of a demonstration project along with similar lanes on SW Oak and Stark streets in downtown Portland.
Since the new lanes were installed, PBOT has heard loud and clear that not everyone who uses Holgate is thrilled with them. Back in May, KATU-TV did a prime-time ‘Special Report’ on the lanes, interviewing several disgruntled business owners and coining them the “bike lanes to nowhere.”
(Photo © J. Maus)
PBOT bike planning staffer Jeff Smith says the meeting is part of an evaluation of the lanes being done for the city by researchers at PSU’s Center for Transportation Studies. “Because these design treatments are new for Portland we want to take a thorough look at how well they’re performing.”
So far, there aren’t similar neighborhood meetings planned for the Oak/Stark lanes, which means it’s likely that the negative media attention on the Holgate project is the motivation for this public outreach. Speaking to that, Smith says, “Folks in the neighborhood have been pretty adamant about wanting an opportunity to express their opinion(s) about the bike lane in person.”
Gretchin Lair, a nearby resident, noticed signs going up in the neighborhood about the meeting. In an email to BikePortland, she wrote, “I hope everyone who commented on the “Bike Lane to Nowhere” post can come to support outer SE bicyclists. :)”
Here’s the meeting notice from PBOT with more details:
