From barflies to neighborhood officials, most east Portlanders seem to agree on the highest-priority biking improvement for east Portland: a few really good neighborhood greenways.
Consensus has benefits. The 130s Greenway is scheduled to be built next fall, and the 100s and 150s greenways are in the works.
(Image courtesy City of Portland. Annotated by BikePortland.)
The 4.8-mile 130s route would connect the area’s best east-west paths by providing safe crossings at six major streets (SE Holgate, SE Powell, SE Division, SE Stark, E Burnside, and NE Glisan), city spokeswoman Diane Dulken wrote in an email Tuesday. It’ll zigzag along (from south to north) 128th Avenue; 130th Avenue; 131st, 132nd or 133rd Avenue; 130th Avenue; 129th Avenue; 128th Avenue; Pacific Street; 131st Place and 132nd Avenue.
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Because almost all the side streets in this part of the city are offset from one another, it’ll require significant investment in short stretches that zag alongside major streets.
The project is funded by $1.3 million in mostly federal grants that were won after a political fight for cash led by the Bicycle Transportation Alliance and approved by Portland City Council in one of Sam Adams’ final acts as mayor.
Like other neighborhood greenways, the 130s would add speed bumps, directional signage and a 20 mph speed limit to the streets it designates. The city says traffic diverters won’t be needed because the offset streets already deter people from using the route as a cut-through while driving.
The 130s Greenway will be one block from David Douglas High School and directly connect Gilbert Heights Elementary, Menlo Park Elementary, the University of Western States and various parks, churches and commercial nodes.
As for the 100s and 150s greenways, those projects “are still lines on the Bike Plan map” and therefore less specific about their routes, Dulken wrote. “We will start design on those projects when the funds become available in 2016.”
Those projects are funded by $1.5 million from the Regional Economic Opportunity Fund, which also comes from a federal grant, and $100,000 in local matching funds.
This post is part of our special focus on east Portland this week.