has one reader dreaming of solutions…
See his below.
If you’ve ever biked across the I-5 Bridge from Portland to Vancouver, you are aware of the annoyingly serpentine route you’re expected to take once the dedicated bike path ends and you’re forced to cross N. Tomahawk Island Drive (map).
Reader Dave B. (whose day job is “Transportation Design Engineer” for a private firm) is a regular I-5 bridge bike rider. Earlier this month, while biking across the crosswalk at N. Tomahawk, he got yelled at by a man driving a large SUV. “I get halfway across and have to brake to a halt as the driver of a suburban decides not to stop for me,” shared Dave via email, “Then he brakes to a halt and proceeds to berate me for not getting off my bike and walking across the crosswalk.”
Of course Dave doesn’t have to walk his bike. Not only does Oregon law allow people on bikes to pedal in crosswalks, but the crosswalk is the designated bike path and is signed specifically as a bike crossing (see photo at right).
Beyond that one interaction, Dave feels the intersection is just inherently problematic:
“The crossing is incredibly unsafe because of the speed of the vehicles exiting the freeway [it’s an offramp] and the difficulty they have seeing a bike from around the corner. Also, it’s in a mid-block location which drivers don’t anticipate and the sight lines are horrible.”
As someone who has crossed here many times, I can vouch for Dave’s experience and frustrations with this intersection. So, what can be done about it? Dave sketched up one possible solution which would only require a re-striping of the lanes.
Here’s his sketch:
Island Drive. I-5 is in the upper right.
The key part of Dave’s solution is to move the crossing to the corner, instead of mid-block.
“I think it could be done pretty cheaply and could make this crossing a lot safer. I just wanted to throw it out there and hope that something could be done about it. I would love to see something change there as it really could use a fix.”
What do you think of Dave’s solution? What are your experiences at this location?