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Some human help at a very dangerous intersection


A flagger working with PBOT paving crews stops car traffic at Broadway and Williams to make sure people on bikes get through safely.
(Photos © J. Maus)

“I’m flagging to make sure they don’t run bike riders over.”
— Flagger

As regular readers know, the intersection of Broadway and Williams is one of the most dangerous in the city. Add in streetcar construction on Broadway and a paving project on Williams and it becomes a serious safety concern.

A few weeks ago, we highlighted just how unsafe construction projects had made this intersection. Thankfully, streetcar construction has subsided for now, but City of Portland crews are currently working on the repave (and bike lane widening) project.

But apparently they’ve heard our concerns because now there’s a dedicated flagger on scene specifically to ensure a higher degree of safety for bike traffic.

I first heard about the flagger from reader K. Bott, who wrote:

“Riding in to work this a.m… there was a construction worker with a stop/slow sign … his ENTIRE job is to stand there and stop traffic from going right on green when there’s a cyclist heading straight through the intersection. He commented to the cyclist ahead of me – “We want you guys to be safe” — and then had a very clear communication with a driver who decided to turn right on green despite the stop sign in his face. (Worker shakes stop sign a bit for extra attention – “SIR! This means STOP, sir!”)”

I went this morning to get a photo and confirm what the flagger was doing. As Ms. Bott said, he’s out there, standing in front of cars if neccessary, to make sure they don’t turn right into passing bikes. When I asked him what he was doing, he said, “I’m flagging to make sure they don’t run bike riders over.”

Here are a few more shots of this fantastic flagger in action:

Flagger at Broadway Williams-9
Flagger at Broadway Williams-4
Flagger at Broadway Williams-3
Flagger at Broadway Williams-6

Thanks PBOT! Any idea how much it’d cost to just keep him there forever? (He could put out a tip jar.)

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