Broadway Bridge updates: A broken shoulder and upcoming closure

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Terry Barton’s broken shoulder.

We’ve been following the Broadway Bridge re-painting project since the first complaints about it started coming in back in August.

The biking and walking pathways have been dramatically narrowed to make room for construction scaffolding. Despite flaggers on both ends to ferry users through, we’ve been worried that someone would get hurt. Now we’ve heard about the first (to our knowledge) serious injury caused by this narrow riding environment.

Portlander Terry Barton contacted us yesterday with the bad news: He suffered a broken shoulder on Friday afternoon after a crash caused by trying to navigate through the construction zone. Barton told us he’s been riding through the “mess” since it started and that he’s had several close calls with people both walking and biking. On Friday he was headed downtown when he miscommunicated intentions with someone walking toward him in the narrowed portion of the path. “I clipped him and then flew over my handlebars,” Barton shared with us.

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Barton found our coverage of the project after researching onling about the unsafe conditions and says he’s considering taking legal action against the county.

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(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

In other news about the project, Multnomah County announced today that they plan completely prohibit motor vehicle traffic from October 11th through the 27th. The paths on each side of the bridge will remain open during the closure, but streetcars, buses and all other motor vehicles will not be allowed on the bridge, “to ensure public safety.” People driving are encouraged to use the Burnside, Fremont or Steel bridges instead.

The County says the project is on schedule to be finished by the end of March 2016.

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car owner and driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, feel free to contact me at @jonathan_maus on Twitter, via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a supporter.

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Mike Quiglery
Mike Quiglery
8 years ago

Ever consider walking your bike through these kinds of areas?

SD
8 years ago
Reply to  Mike Quiglery

Its unnecessary to walk your bike if you are comfortable riding slowly. It also takes up less space when you are on your bike instead of being next to it.

Dan
8 years ago

With all due respect, if you were passing a pedestrian in the section of the Broadway Bridge shown in the photo, how could you go fast enough to endo? The whole thing looks like it’s less than 4 feet wide.

lop
lop
8 years ago
Reply to  Dan

I walked over the bridge the other day. Most cyclists were considerate enough but a couple insisted on racing through inches away from me. Can’t say I would’ve felt that bad for them if one of those guys clipped me and broke their shoulder.

Paul Wilkins
Paul Wilkins
8 years ago

Sounds as though someone was operating a bicycle too fast for the conditions.

Alex
Alex
8 years ago

That’s terrible. Hopefully positive changes will come from this. I know the folks at MultCo are receptive to communication and are sympathetic.

I think it is a difficult situation that may be best resolved by simply diverting bike traffic to other bridges.

Beth
8 years ago
Reply to  Alex

There are signs already suggesting that bike riders use the Steel Bridge, whose sidewalks up top are equally narrow.

scott
scott
8 years ago
Reply to  Beth

On the top of the Steel bridge, bicycles are supposed to use the roadway, not the sidewalk.

Nathan
Nathan
8 years ago
Reply to  scott

Because the car and bus drivers looooovvveee that. 😉

Dan A
Dan A
8 years ago
Reply to  scott

Uh, yeah, I don’t recommend that. Just ride slowly on the sidewalk.

scott
scott
8 years ago
Reply to  Dan A

Recommend not to follow laws? How does that work?

Dan A
Dan A
8 years ago
Reply to  scott

Do you regularly ride in the middle of the lane on top of the Steel? If so, I aspire to be you. Looks terrifying.

scott
scott
8 years ago
Reply to  Dan A

I ride it often. I find the lower deck to be twice as infuriating with kids, pedal cars, dogs, and all manner of things walking back and forth for selfies and such. The top level makes much more sense to me. Some people get all revvy/honky, but I don’t care and it’s unreasonable to think that I would ever have some kind of Death Proof car psycho behind me bent on murder.

Dan A
Dan A
8 years ago
Reply to  scott

I don’t know what “Recommend not to follow laws?” means. You can take the lane there, or you can ride on the sidewalk. Both are legal, one is less likely to make you the victim of road rage.

scott
scott
8 years ago
Reply to  Dan A

I don’t think you are correct. When the sign says “Bicycles In Bridge Roadway” (not sure about the exact wording) I think you have to use the road. Also, there are a lot of sidewalks where it isn’t legal to cycle, and when it is, you can’t go above “walking speed” so 3-5 mph.

Dan A
Dan A
8 years ago
Reply to  scott
scott
scott
8 years ago
Reply to  scott

I stand corrected on bicycle sidewalk laws.Did they change for downtown too? The bricks? Still, I’ll take the roadway up top.

Dan A
Dan A
8 years ago
Reply to  scott

There are some places where riding on the sidewalk is specifically banned, and it’s usually painted on the ground.

browse
browse
8 years ago

I biked over the Broadway Bridge path yesterday, traveling west bound. I moved at a slow walking speed and the other people I saw, on bike and on foot, were quite gracious about taking turns leaning far to one side to let each other pass.

RH
RH
8 years ago

I grazed my finger on the bridge railing the other day…scaffolding on one end of the bridge is wider than the other…caught me off guard. Not sure why they only flag one end of the bridge and not the entire thing. Scaffolding is on both ends now.

Allan Rudwick
Allan
8 years ago

How much time would it take to finish if they closed the bridge completely and worked faster

RH
RH
8 years ago
Reply to  Allan

Or have multiple crews/shifts working on it 24 hours/day. It’s not a loud process and seems basic…sandblast off paint, repair, repaint.

DNF
DNF
8 years ago
Reply to  RH

Not a loud process? Was this a joke? I’ve gone by when they were sand-blasting and its deafening (literally, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near it for long without serious hearing protection).

RH
RH
8 years ago
Reply to  DNF

Yeah, so when your ear is one foot from the sand blaster, it’s loud. Not loud enough to disturb peoples sleep if they are working on it at 4 am though trying to finish up the project.

Buzz
Buzz
8 years ago
Reply to  RH

Have you even been near there? It’s not just the noise of sandblasting, there are at least two large air filtration units (semi-trailer size) that make a huge racket, and they are not far from several multi-unit apartments.

Chris I
Chris I
8 years ago
Reply to  RH

You can’t use the words “not a loud process” and “sandblasting” in the same sentence if you want us to take you seriously.

Angel
Angel
8 years ago
Reply to  RH

I’m glad that they are also thinking of the workers, and not making them work all night long. There are health hazards associated with working the night shift.

B. Carfree
B. Carfree
8 years ago
Reply to  Allan

A few years back California wrote incentives into some road projects in SoCal. The sooner the contractor finished, the more money was paid. Not surprisingly, the contractors generally finished fast enough to get the maximum time bonus. That sort of contract writing is leadership, imo.

Adam
8 years ago

If he clipped a person walking, and couldn’t stop in time, then he was likely riding too fast for conditions. Is the person he hit okay? At any rate, I hope Terry heals soon.

Middle of the Road guy
Middle of the Road guy
8 years ago

“serious injury caused by this narrow riding environment.”

No, you were not traveling at a speed appropriate for that environment and you failed to take precautions to avoid an ‘accident’.

Gary B
Gary B
8 years ago

I noticed Jonathan didn’t use the word “accident.” I appreciate his consistency.

spencer
spencer
8 years ago

Thats a bummer. Heal up quick. I echo Paul’s comment, I’m a fast rider but that path is so narrow that we should all be moving cautiously to avoid contact.

Endo
Endo
8 years ago

I hate that people are blaming the victim here. Why should he have to slow down? If the conditions weren’t so poor he wouldn’t have broken his shoulder, the city is totally at fault here, not the cyclist.

rainbike
rainbike
8 years ago
Reply to  Endo

Ha ha ha ha ha. That’s a good one.

meh
meh
8 years ago
Reply to  Endo

Yes those pesky vulnerable users on a MUP. The cyclist is a victim of his own bad actions.

Paul Wilkins
Paul Wilkins
8 years ago
Reply to  Endo

I get your irony.

Adam
8 years ago
Reply to  Endo

Replace “bike” with “car” and ask that question again.

Chris I
Chris I
8 years ago
Reply to  Endo

Just like when a car driver speeds through a construction zone and clips a worker, right? I mean, cars are made to go fast, why would the construction crew expect them to slow down and be operated in a safe manner?

spencer
spencer
8 years ago
Reply to  Endo

isnt the pedestrian he hit actually the victim? how about we all own up to be responsible for not hitting others, not smashing into stuff, and not playing the blame game when we do mess up? it absolutely sucks to break a shoulder, and the cyclist involved is going to be lucky if he recovers full function. i wish the cyclist a full recovery, but his fall is certainly NOT the contractor’s fault.

John Liu
John Liu
8 years ago

Sounds like he was riding too fast and hit a pedestrian. Should have been riding at near walking speed, or walking his bike. Especially since he was familiar with the conditions during construction. Probably lucky he didn’t go over the railing, or send the pedestrian over the railing. Hopefully the pedestrian wasn’t injured.

B. Carfree
B. Carfree
8 years ago

In fairness to the rider, bikes become much less stable at low speeds and actually require more width as they slow down.

I’m dismayed that the county is comfortable allowing a grossly substandard environment for pedestrians and cyclists while maintaining full access for motorists. Perhaps a better solution would be to close off the bridge to motorists while the work is ongoing. If the little darlings can handle a week and a half of bridge closure, surely they can handle a couple of months. Oh, I forgot. Cars first, last and always.

Buzz
Buzz
8 years ago
Reply to  B. Carfree

Actually, the motorists have half access, one lane is closed in each direction, so the reduction in width of the roadway and the sidewalk are about equal percentage wise.

Spiffy
8 years ago
Reply to  Buzz

it’s not the same… cars had 4 full lanes, peds had 2 full “lanes”… now cars have 2 full lanes and peds have 2 half “lanes”…

meh
meh
8 years ago
Reply to  B. Carfree

Really, you think that it’s the fault of the closure if a cyclist can’t control their vehicle at a slow speed. Then maybe get off and walk across the bridge if you can’t ride safely. At some point there has to be personal responsibility for one’s action.

dr2chase
dr2chase
8 years ago
Reply to  B. Carfree

“Much less stable” is hardly the case. Less stable, sure — I can’t ride no-hands below about 8mph. But actually unstable? I can ride at a walking speed for minutes at a time. For example: https://vimeo.com/118340310

Steve
Steve
8 years ago

When in doubt, “consider legal action”. Nice. If you don’t like the conditions choose another route. He says himself he has ridden through the site numerous times prior. I hope he heals soon and has learned a bit also.

Random
Random
8 years ago
Reply to  Steve

Next time I drive through a 50 MPH construction zone at 70 and get into an accident, I’ll “consider legal action”, since it was obviously the fault of the construction company.

Stephen Keller
Stephen Keller
8 years ago

Hm…, it might be wise to edit that x-ray image to obscure Terry’s personal data. Of course, the cat’s probably out of the bag by now.

Chris I
Chris I
8 years ago
Reply to  Stephen Keller

And Legacy Emanuel? He would have saved money by going to Kaiser.

Todd Hudson
Todd Hudson
8 years ago

>he’s considering taking legal action against the county.

And then they’ll close the bridge completely to bikes. Great!

Spiffy
8 years ago

In other news about the project, Multnomah County announced today that they plan completely prohibit motor vehicle traffic from October 11th through the 27th. The paths on each side of the bridge will remain open during the closure, but streetcars, buses and all other motor vehicles will not be allowed on the bridge, “to ensure public safety.” People driving are encouraged to use the Burnside, Fremont or Steel bridges instead.

they don’t say that the bridge lanes will be closed… so this news release to me says that I can bike in the lane on the bridge with no motor vehicle traffic to worry about…

they really should clarify that the bridge lanes will be closed to all traffic and that bicycles may only cross using the sidewalk…

Gerald Fittipaldi
Gerald Fittipaldi
8 years ago

I hope the pedestrian sues the cyclist for biking wayyyyyy too fast for conditions. The nerve this guy has to think it’s the city’s fault.

Terry Barton
Terry Barton
8 years ago

How do you know I was going way to fast.Were you there?

Todd Boulanger
Todd Boulanger
8 years ago

I have biked through this work zone a few times and I was wondering if they had considered removing sections of the bridge railing (separating cars from bike/peds) to allow easier rerouting of bicyclists off the path and onto the closed but “open” roadway lanes?

Todd Boulanger
Todd Boulanger
8 years ago

Additionally, now that the bridge has been closed to cars and trams, I wonder if the County would reconsider adding a tarped tunnel 1 lane wide to facilitate bi-directional bike traffic through this workmen and away from the pedestrians on the pathway?

Todd Boulanger
Todd Boulanger
8 years ago
Reply to  Todd Boulanger

sorry…meant work zone and not workmen (damn text editor!)

John Liu
John Liu
8 years ago

Todd Boulanger
sorry…meant work zone and not workmen (damn text editor!)Recommended 0

Don’t want bikes weaving between the workmen, and you wouldn’t want to breathe the dust and paint particles.

Opus the Poet
8 years ago
Reply to  John Liu

That’s what the tarp over the top is for, to keep the dust and paint off the cyclists, similar to the tarping on the pedestrian walk.

joel
8 years ago

“he’s considering taking legal action against the county”

HAH! someone should count their lucky stars they didnt otb over the railing and into the vacant lot below. sue the county! because guy, by his own admission, clipped the ped? take some responsibility for your own actions, acknowledge that you were riding too fast for conditions and shooting a gap that was too narrow for your skill set, and heal up quick. next time, STOP, lean against the railing, and let the ped pass. that narrowed stretch isnt wide enough for a bike to politely pass a ped unless the ped yields to the bike out of sheer generosity, and everyones just gonna have to suck it up until this is done, cause a certain amount of room is needed around the bridge structure in order to sandblast and repaint.

HJ
HJ
8 years ago

Honestly I have little sympathy in this case. It’s a construction zone. It’s a very tight squeeze. If I had a pedestrian coming up on me while riding through there I’d unclip a foot and very slowly scoot past.
Let’s face it, you have to be going a certain minimum speed to do a full endo and that speed is one that would be totally inappropriate for the situation described.
The bottom line is the city needs to maintain the infrastructure. They’re doing that. It’s going to cause some inconveniences. I’d consider slowing down for the whopping grand total distance of 1 bridge a pretty minor inconvenience. And no, they don’t need to make huge luxurious high speed bike corridors available through the construction. That’s just absurd. All they need to do is leave a passable path and they’ve done that.

Kevin
Kevin
8 years ago

I’m curious about what Terry means when he says he “miscommunicated intentions with someone walking toward him”. There shouldn’t be any question of which direction either party should move if they’re coming towards each other; move to the right. Did Terry indicate he was going to the right and then move left or vice versa? Either way, it sounds like he instigated this collision.

I am certainly sympathetic to him for the broken shoulder and hope he heals well, but judging from the limited information available, I can’t help but believe that he was responsible. I assume the pedestrian hasn’t been identified since they’re not mentioned in this article. It would be interesting to have them come forward and tell their side of the story. Hopefully they were uninjured when they got clipped.

Terry barton
Terry barton
8 years ago
Reply to  Kevin

I don’t know what the author mean either.I was slowed down to get around the predict and he didn’t move in either direction.I veered to the left to avoid hitting him.The are should be closed off to bikes.

ynn
ynn
8 years ago

Why are people who ride bikes so quick to claim “I’m the vulnerable user” when there’s a dangerous interaction with a person driving car?
Then when a person who rides a bike clips a person walking, they are the victim? Isn’t the vulnerable user the person who is walking?

Dan
8 years ago
Reply to  ynn

If you look at the comments above, it’s pretty unanimous that the cyclist was in the wrong. So, I don’t think your description of all “people who ride bikes” is quite accurate. Personally, I think it’s the height of hypocrisy to complain about a car not giving you 3 feet when passing, and then buzz a pedestrian on the Hawthorne (or Broadway) Bridge — sounds like we’re on the same page.

Gary B
Gary B
8 years ago
Reply to  ynn

He didn’t say he was the only victim–he’s not suing the pedestrian. You may believe he’s not a victim, but I don’t think we should overstate his position.

Dan A
Dan A
8 years ago
Mark
Mark
8 years ago

What’s so hard about getting odd and walking? If we can’t, we are no different than auto drivers who wizz by us to close.

Terry Barton
Terry Barton
8 years ago
Reply to  Mark

Getting off and walking takes up too much room

Mark
Mark
8 years ago

Getting off…not getting odd…

Terry barton
Terry barton
8 years ago

I’m not that fast of a rider.I swerved to the left but the pedestrian didn’t move to one side or the other.Witnesses said that it appeared that he was Itrying to make me crash or was drunk.I think that there should be flaggers during peak hours or no bikes allowed at all.There isn’t enough room for both on such a busy bridge.Its even more difficult to walk my bike across the bridge during construction

lop
lop
8 years ago
Reply to  Terry barton

What do you consider not that fast? Did the crash happen going downhill? It can be pretty terrifying on foot for a bike to roll by on a shared four foot path at 15 mph. Are you sure the other person was trying to make you crash? Maybe he was trying to get you to slow down and pass at a respectful speed. Why didn’t you stop and lean your bike to the side to let the person walk past?

Terry Barton
Terry Barton
8 years ago
Reply to  lop

I don’t know I saw him coming and slowed way down so I could get around him.Usually my experience has been I ride to the far left and the ped moves to the far right and nothing happened.Witnesses says that he deliberately tried to make me crash.In retrospect,I think that bikes shouldn’t be allowed.It that was the case,this wouldn’t have happened.Also there have been flaggers before.This time there was no flaggers

Terry Barton
Terry Barton
8 years ago
Reply to  lop

I slowed down to get around him.My experience has been pesos move to the right and bikes move to the left.The bridge workers said that he purpose went out of his way to make me crash.

Michael
Michael
8 years ago

The be all end all is take responsibility for yourself and your actions. It’s not the county’s fault you endo’ed and it’s not for unsafe situations. Yes, it’s difficult and less safe than previously. If you’re not comfortable with your skills or the intent of someone else go slowly. Accidents happen and I’m very sorry this person ended up with a broken shoulder; but really, a lawsuit? Life happens and it’s not always someone else’s fault

Justin
Justin
8 years ago

Great, so now he sues, costs the taxpayer money because he couldn’t handle his bike (and don’t know, but sounds like going to fast). Why are we so quick to sue and compulsively blame any injury on someone else?

I’m not sure how much more we expect the bridge crews to do – I mean, they have to put up scaffolding, they put flaggers out there, etc. Perhaps there are things I am not thinking of.

Terry Barton
Terry Barton
8 years ago
Reply to  Justin

There were no flag gets.They need to make it so peds are on one side bikes on the other.

SJ
SJ
8 years ago

I take this route every day. I can’t imagine being bold enough to clip a pedestrian and then sue anybody. The bridge is open to bikes. Riders need to be careful. Period. They could have just closed the bridge to bikes altogether. Would this have been preferable? Lawsuit? Give me a break.

Matt
Matt
8 years ago

Small issue (potentially bigger issue)- you might want to remove/blur the medical record number from the X-ray.

Terry Barton
Terry Barton
8 years ago

Taking legal action was just a thought that I had because there were no flaggers and that the bridge should be off limits to bikes.If I had it to do all over I would avoid the bridge altogether.The city need to take responsibility by herring flaggers or banning bikes altogether.Furthermore,my experience has been,peds are polite enough to move over.This is what I was expecting.The bridge painters said that the ped purposely was attempting to make me crash.

dr2chase
dr2chase
8 years ago
Reply to  Terry Barton

Because you crashed, bikes should be banned? If you’re sharing space with pedestrians but still going fast enough to trash your shoulder in a crash, I don’t think I want you making decisions for other people.