The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) has installed several components of their 12th Avenue Overcrossing project. The project was finalized back in September when PBOT earned unanimous support from stakeholders. The project is intended to improve bike access on 12th Avenue (as it crosses over I-84) as well as on NE Lloyd and NE 11th in the Lloyd District.
(As you take the visual tour below, keep in mind that prior to these changes, PBOT signal timing engineers have done major upgrades, analysis, and tweaks to the lights to help move traffic along as efficiently as possible.)
The major piece of the puzzle is a new bike lane that runs the length of the overpass and then provides dedicated space for bike traffic to make the left turn onto NE Lloyd. Below are a few photos of how that turned out.
Here’s the view just past NE Irving as you head north…
Mid-span on the overpass…
This guy seems to like the new lane (looking south)…
And here’s how PBOT did the transition as you approach NE Lloyd (notice the signage)…
This section of road was previously a bit sketchy for some people because there was no clearly defined place for bikes. The new markings change all that…
Looking south…
There is a very high volume of right-turning traffic at this location and cars still pass through the bike lane, so keep your wits about you…
I also noticed that some people think the new bike lane is a right turn lane…
Once you head north after the overpass, you’ll notice that PBOT has added buffered bike lanes to both sides of NE 11th Ave…
From another angle…
Here’s the southbound lane of NE 11th at intersection with Lloyd…
Headed eastbound on NE Lloyd toward NE 12th, PBOT has installed one of their now familiar colored bike lane/bike box combinations at the “T” intersection of NE 11th…
Here it is looking east…
And looking west…
Other changes you’ll notice are new sharrows that have been installed on the NE 12th overpass. There are about eight new sharrows in all. One of them is on NE Lloyd just as you transition onto the overpass and then there are new sharrows in both lanes on the overpass…
Still to come with this project are pavement markings that will clarify and encourage the presence of bicycles on the 10-foot wide sidewalk on the west side of the overpass. This will give people the option of taking the lane and using the sharrows on NE 12th, or riding up on the sidewalk with people on foot.
Have you ridden through this area since the changes? What do you think?
For more on this project, visit PBOT’s website.