PBOT will host open house tonight for ‘NE Rodney Bikeway Project’

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

10 years ago

You’re invited!
(Photo sent in by reader)

Just in time for the annual uptick in bike traffic, the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) is moving forward with a project that could alleviate bike congestion on one of the busiest streets in the city. Many people already eschew North Williams’ narrow and crowded bike lane in favor of NE Rodney a few blocks to the east because the residential street is much calmer, quieter and less stressful.

At an open house tonight, PBOT will share details on their plans to turn two miles of NE Rodney — from Broadway to Killingsworth — into an official “neighborhood greenway.” According to a flyer PBOT has mailed to area residents, the goal of the N Rodney Bikeway Project is to “provide a safer, shared-use environment for bicyclists.”

While funding for neighborhood greenways has all but dried up, this project is moving forward because it’s technically part of PBOT’s North Williams Traffic Operations and Safety Project. The idea for adding traffic calming and other bike-centric features to Rodney emerged two years ago as a recommendation from that project’s Stakeholder Advisory Committee.

Back in February, we shared PBOT’s initial design drawings for the Rodney greenway. Like other greenway streets throughout the city, the plans call for speed bumps, bikeway network wayfinding signage, 20 mph speed limits, and sharrows. We expect most of the changes to the street to be relatively straightforward. However, as is often the case, the big discussions and design debates will likely center around crossings of major streets.

We could see a two-way treatment
like this (at NE Going/33rd) at Rodney and Fremont.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Six intersections in particular will get special attention from PBOT engineers: Russell, Fremont, Shaver, Skidmore, Alberta, and Killingsworth. As we reported back in February, the most significant crossing treatment will happen at Fremont, where PBOT must grapple with a tricky off-set intersection. They’re currently looking at two options: adding curb extensions, bike lanes (on Fremont) and a new crosswalk; or adding a flashing beacon and a two-way cycle-track on the north side of the street (similar to the Going/33rd intersection).

At last check, both the Williams and Rodney projects are expected to be fully completed by the end of this summer.

Here are the details on tonight’s open house:

N Rodney Bikeway Project

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