(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)
Having a reduced speed limit and 15 feet of space dedicated to biking and walking on Naito Parkway for three full months is a welcome improvement. But it comes with a trade-off: In order to get full support for the project from Waterfront Park event organizers, the City of Portland is allowing trucks to use the lane as a loading zone.
“Providing a safe space away from motor vehicle traffic for people needing to load and unload has always been one of the key goals of Better Naito.”
— Timur Ender, policy advisor for Commissioner Steve Novick
These trucks force people on bike and foot to go around — often by merging with auto users on the busy street or squeezing by next the curb. This increases the potential for a collision and it causes some bike riders and walkers to simply give up and go somewhere else. Just one day after the City and Better Block PDX celebrated the start of the project people went to Twitter and started sharing their concerns.
The issue isn’t new. People who bike on Naito raised this same complaint last year and we called the presence of trucks and vans “a buzzkill.” I was willing to look the other way last year because it was just a two-week trial and I realized Better Block was under a lot of constraints just to pull off the project. But now that Better Naito is back for three months and the issue has already come up, I feel it deserves a closer look.
Is dealing with large trucks blocking the lane an acceptable tradeoff in order to have this much wider and safer lane to bike in for three months?
The City and Better Block are not hiding the fact that the loading zones are part of the deal. They’ve even published a schedule of loading hours. The idea was for trucks to only use the loading zone during off-peak hours but unfortunately that has not been the case so far. The City’s website says the lane is “to be clear during times of heavy use (rush hour)” but this morning I saw four different trucks — including a large semi-trailer rig — parked in the lane before 9:00 am.
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To try and understand what’s going on, we asked Better Block and the City for comment. They feel the benefits of more space on Naito and solid relationships they’ve built with festival organizers outweighs other concerns.
Better Block leader Ryan Hashagen said he considers the safety of people loading and unloading festival equipment to be just as important as any other user of Naito. “Freight loading and unloading is necessary for these festivals existence and that’s where the idea for Better Naito originated from,” he said. “Better Block feels that 15 feet of space and working with the festival organizers is a step in the right direction for all users. We’re asking for patience.”
Timur Ender, a policy advisory for City Commissioner Steve Novick echoed Hashagen’s comments. “Providing a safe space away from motor vehicle traffic for people needing to load and unload has always been one of the key goals of Better Naito,” he said. “The Festival organizers have been great working with the City to do their best to minimize and expedite the loading operations along the curb.” Ender also pointed out that prior to Better Naito, festival organizers would close the lane with their own permits without coordinating with the city and without considering biking and walking traffic.
Here’s more from Ender from an email to BikePortland:
“This year, instead of temporary, unpredictable lane closures solely for loading zones, Better Naito will be providing a safe space for everyone 24 hours a day until the end of July. Further, this year the festival organizers have coordinated with the City to allow two-way bicycle and pedestrian travel. Again, from the City’s perspective, this is a huge win that provides a more consistent and predictable environment for everyone.
Portland is a big town and there is a lot going on, especially at the Waterfront during the summer festival season. This is something to celebrate. We have people coming from all over the world for these events. Will space sometimes be tight? Of course. But that’s the nature of being a vibrant city and a place where people want to come.
As always with this sort of pilot project, we will continue to monitor feedback that we receive from the public. We will also be proactive with upcoming events like Fleet Week to minimize the inconvenience to the travelling public. The key point to remember is that Better Naito is a flexible space and not just a bikeway. There is 15 feet of space separated from motor vehicle traffic; this often means there is enough room for people biking and walking to safely navigate around these vehicles.
In conclusion, given the alternatives and history of uses in this constrained area, we feel Better Naito provides a safe space for everyone and we kindly ask for people’s patience when there are necessary loading operations taking place.”
We asked on Twitter today if the loading zone is an acceptable trade-off. Kimberlee Stafford (who’s in the red shirt avoiding a white van in one of the photos above) said, “Not really. After two unpleasant experiences (today and yesterday), I’ll probably go back to riding on the path in the park.” And Kirk Paulsen said, “Yesterday I was generally happy with the space, today I’m a little sad with how it’s being used. Definitely mixed emotions.” Steve Bozzone said he’s fine with the trade-off. “Particularly for festivals,” he said. “Otherwise it’s bikes and peds crammed into the regular bike lane with no protection.”
What do you think?
— Jonathan Maus, (503) 706-8804 – jonathan@bikeportland.org
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I’m in your picture, about to accommodate the semi-trailer by riding, barely, on the inside of it. Immediately afterward, a passenger car was driving in the bike lane northbound. If they were a delivery vehicle, I’m not sure what they were delivering. I think it’s a reasonable accommodation if it’s monitored and there is some sort of enforcement. Your photos and my experience seem to show that it’s anything goes.
Getting enforcement is usually the hardest part, even when it’s a dedicated cycle track. I used to commute around this http://whosblockinglsttoday.tumblr.com/ and that was a lane that was never supposed to be used for loading/unloading, unlike this project. Once people see other vehicles parking in a lane they tend to think it’s ok to park or at least unload there and join in.
Like it or not, It is actually illegal for a vehicle to unload in a bicycle lane.
http://oregonbikelaw.com/can-motor-vehicle-stop-park-bicycle-lane-charley-gee/
It’s annoying, but really nothing you can do about it until you change the law.
“not illegal” time to start looking for my brain.
I think it’s important to talk about solutions.
here’s a few thoughts:
— How about we use the entire eastern side of Naito for this project. One lane can be used for loading/unloading and the other lane can be used for biking/walking?
— How about if Commissioner Novick wants credit for this he also comes up with the budget to adequately enforce the permitted times and practices of the loading/unloading situation?
— How about we ask the festival organizers to load and unload OFF the roadway and instead use the grass of the park and/or various turnouts?
— How about we only allow festival organizers to use small vehicles to load and unload?
Just some ideas.
I have mixed feelings on this. Part of me is very grateful for the work of Novick, PBOT and Better Block to pull this off. It is AWESOME. But I also feel like we’re being told essentially.. “Hey shut up and stop complaining about this safety issue because you should be thankful you got anything at all.” And I don’t like that.
I like the first idea. Make both southbound travel lanes into a two-way street and use the inside northbound lane for truck unloading. Then have the people unloading the trucks walk across the cycle path with their boxes and roll-dollys, giving way to bike ant walk traffic. The loading of larger items (tents, etc.) should be done early morning or late night when usage is the lowest.
make both west-side lanes a 2-way and let the trucks park in the northbound of that, blocking all motorized traffic until they’re done unloading…
if motorists really want things delivered by motor vehicle on their road then they won’t mind the interruption…
You had me at enforcement. If loading/unloading is going to be allowed during certain hours then it needs to be forbidden via force, fines, and cutting off future access when that agreement is violated. Putting people in that much danger and shrugging it off is just asking for someone to get hurt.
I had the same idea about using one of the Northbound lanes for loading and unloading.
If the current Northbound lanes were blocked completely by private vehicles and the current Southbound lanes were converted to 2-way, I’d be in support of that. People driving will complain about not having direct access to on-ramps, but who cares? They will complain about anything anyway. May as well get something that’s safe for everyone and still gets things delivered.
Is there a plan in place for when the space is inappropriately used by trucks/cars?
I imagine that some of the problem is a lack of communication form the waterfront event organizers to the many trucks that are parking in the ped/bike space. If the event organizers were culpable for the misuse of the space, they might make an effort to have the trucks follow the rules.
That’s me in the red shirt and quoted by Jonathan above. I totally agree with Mark. I am glad that Better Block has provided the space, and I understand the need to make accommodations for loading for events. That said, I certainly wasn’t expecting to have move into the lane with oncoming traffic during rush hour in order to avoid that van driving down the bike lane. Some education for the festival organizers about allowed loading hours would probably go a long way. But if I need to expect trucks in the lane during rush hour, I would rather use the path in the park.
Right, so maybe if they’re going to block the temporary path in a way that a last-minute detour forces users into oncoming traffic they need to sign a detour farther in advance when the path is blocked. Seems like basic stuff.
There’s a clear & not so difficult solution – give up 2 lanes of the road for better Naito. Naito becomes 2-lane road, 1 lane of parking, 2-way bike route.
Or just have the driver move the bollards out a few feet to maintain a minimum amount of space around the truck on both sides. I know, everybody at PBOT has an 11ft wide car, but those 6.5ft-wide ones fit pretty easily in 8ft at 20mph.
This “tradeoff” is just like every other tradeoff that bicyclists and pedestrians have to make. Having a safe space to bike 23 hours a day with an (unpredictable, based on this article) hour of heart-pounding, teeth grinding tension should be clearly unacceptable. This is the same argument that is made when a bike lane disappears to provide free parking for cars or is phased out with little warning because there just isn’t space.
If they wanted to do this right and still provide loading access the easy answer is flaggers and/or signage during loading times. Provide cyclists and pedestrians with guidance to a safe route through Waterfront Park or elsewhere during times that vehicles are loading/unloading for these festivals. By shrugging and saying that this was the plan all along to abandon users of this space, randomly or scheduled, is just incredibly wrong.
Closing down the lane is not the problem, it’s the complete lack of information presented to the users in a timely fashion that is. This project is creating conflict by guiding and encouraging vulnerable road users to use a particular path and then cutting off their access in a manner that puts them at significant risk. These pictures are frightening if they are a sign of where we are going as a city.
How about no freight parking/unloading during rush hours, 7 – 10 am and 3 – 7 pm, M – F?
That’s essentially what the rules are now (7am-9am; 4pm-7pm), but they’re not being enforced, and thus, people are breaking them.
some day we’ll be important enough for them to enact a law that never allows loading/unloading in a bike lane just like they have for car lanes…
In Europe, especially Germany & Belgium, pedestrian zones and bike lanes become loading zones from 10 pm to 6 am, and bikes and peds yield the right-of-way to heavy trucks; other times, delivery trucks need to be guided in by a police escort, like a construction zone, very slowly, at a pedestrian pace, and parking is not allowed – go in, deliver, then get out.
so tired of people shrugging these things off while they spout COMMERCE as if that makes it ok…
IT DOES NOT!
boot double-parked vehicles… no excuses… UPS? laundry delivery? boot the wheel and then tow them… no excuses…
need a space to unload? then buy some… you don’t get to block people just so you can pawn your wares… large trucks need somewhere to park? either buy some space for them or get smaller trucks… your delivery is not everybody else’s problem…
there’s no good reason the truck can’t park a few blocks away and have an electric hand truck to move the goods across the street…
your lack of solutions should not inconvenience everybody else…
shame on all the players involved for allowing this situation…
there’s simply no excuse for this…
sadly, it’s entirely legal to park a vehicle for loading and unloading in a bike lane:
https://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/811.560
Where did trucks load and unload before?
Did they simply block a lane of car traffic whenever they wanted to and for as long as they felt like, and get away with it, with no ticketing/enforcement?
Or do they have more freedom to park there now, since the lane is “only” a bike/ped lane?
Has Better Blocks simply created a really nice loading zone?
they parked in the bike lane. see exceptions 3 and 4 in my link above.
they couldn’t have parked in the bike lane before we had bike lanes…
the events got permits to close the lane.
I’ve seen delivery trucks “double park” in traffic lanes during weekday daytimes, often at Pioneer Square on 4th or around the Standard Building, temporarily, to make or pick up deliveries.
Seems that it would be better if they were all the way to one side or the other. As it is, there’s not a lot of space on either side.
why not designate a shorter portion for loading and unloading instead of allowing it anywhere in the whole area. That portion could have further narrowing of the 2 through lanes reducing the need to “squeeze” past.
If the Better Block lane only had northbound bike traffic I might be OK with the loading zone blockages. But now we have southbound bike traffic being forced to ride into oncoming lanes or pinched against the curb (thereby blocking pedestrians).
I’m not sure what “off peak” hours are defined as for the purposes of their loading activities, but I think it should really be restricted to overnight and very early morning, when there’s no foot traffic on the waterfront path. During those hours, the occasional biker could use the waterfront path without much obstruction from pedestrians, and trucks could use the Better Naito lane for loading.
Or perhaps during whatever loading hours there might be, northbound Naito should be completely closed to personal motor vehicles. The left lane could become the biking lane and the right lane could be used for loading (so that cargo doesn’t have to cross the bike lane). This would be more frustrating for motor vehicle traffic on Naito, but would be the most effective solution to accommodate biking, walking, and cargo. Just shut northbound Naito completely at the Hawthorne Bridge on-ramp up to the Steele Bridge.
As we all know, this is not the only place in town where loading and unloading of trucks conflicts with bike lanes. The only long term solution is to change our approach to delivering goods in dense urban areas. If we are to approach the design standards of good european bike and pedestrian transit space then we must also move toward european regulations and attitudes toward truck delivery. In Germany there are no trucks allowed on the highways on Sundays. In Florence deliveries can only be made early in the morning, and in Copenhagen special small delivery vehicles are used in the urban centers. None of these approaches may fit Portland, but we need to use issues like this to start the conversation.
Why can’t trucks just be forced to use the three existing turnouts?
Or move the fencing east by 15 feet so the trucks can park on the grass.
but then they wouldn’t need to close a lane of Naito to make room for peds…
The Better Naito folks really need to get on the event people to stick to the designated loading times. There are, what, five hours out of 24 each day that aren’t available for loading? They want this project to make it easier for events — but if the event folks can’t follow their rules, they’re going to lose a lot of support from those of us who walk and cycle through here.
Here’s what I’d like to hear from them about trucks loading in vehicle-free times:
“Yikes, sorry about that! We’re checking in immediately with event organizers to make sure they are following the loading time schedule! Thanks for letting us know!”
Okay, Better Natio people! (Your lane confues me anyway and I was already riding in traffic to avoid..)
“Freight loading and unloading is necessary for these festivals existence”
I’m okay with goods and items needing to be delivered and picked up reasonably. However it needs to be managed and enforced better, not only here but everywhere around the city. None of the pictures show any loading/unloading taking place. This isn’t unique to the waterfront festivals.
“Portland is a big town and there is a lot going on, especially at the Waterfront during the summer festival season. This is something to celebrate. We have people coming from all over the world for these events. Will space sometimes be tight? Of course. But that’s the nature of being a vibrant city and a place where people want to come.”
Yes, indeed. There is a lot going on during the ‘summer festival season.’ So much going on, so very very very many festivals, so very many people, I’ve come to dread summers here. Summer = hunkering down at home and avoiding Portland at all costs, now, for some of us, even as we live in it. It also means a tatty, dusty, smelly, unusable Waterfront Park, completely denuded of green. Summer in Portland, now, is apparently for tourists.
For some of us this TravelPortland-courted frenzy ‘o’ FUN is the antithesis of “something to celebrate.” It’s something to loathe. And it’s not ‘vibrant’ but oppressive.
I feel the same way… none of the events are special and they can all be summed up into one county fair per year… and they shouldn’t have it where residents want to enjoy one of the city’s premier parks… the only time you’re able to sit on green grass in that park is in the winter after it’s had many months to recover from becoming dirt in the summer…
Maybe Portland should have a dedicated festival space instead? I know a perfect spot close to downtown and the river. All that’s needed is the removal of one measly elevated highway!
Hear, hear, Spiffy! Adam–Waterfront Park is the de facto dedicated festival space, apparently. And if they ever remove that damned freeway, I (greedy me) want that space for the community (not tourists), too! 🙂
Even Strøget in Copenhagen has delivery times for freight before the shops open in the AM, so I am generally OK with this. The key here is that there is no enforcement, so the peak time exclusions are not being taken seriously. It should be strictly enforced and get you a hefty fine.
Northbound Naito is part of my daily commute and 90% of the time I take the bike lane because I turn up Morrison Street and there’s no good exit from the esplanade there. Based on these photos, it looks much worse than before the change. 🙁 At this point, I might as well abandon Naito altogether and cross town on 6th or something. Nice thought, but so far, this looks like a failure to me.
Are we better off with Better Naito than the alternative? I think we would absolutely have to say yes. Is it ideal that trucks are loading and unloading in that space? Absolutely, no. That said I would rather have Better Naito than no better Naito. Plus this problem is not unique, just today a car was entirely in the bike box on Burnside at a red light. These types of lane blockage sadly are not unique to one project or area.
The alternative is a fast-moving northbound bike lane and an acceptable southbound bike lane on the other side of the street, so…it depends on how often trucks are parked in the lane, but so far I prefer the alternative.
I prefer no Better Naito…
normal: fast lane, blocked only during festival load/unload…
Better Naito: slow lane, oncoming bike/ped traffic on both sides of you at all hours, cones with signs to avoid at every intersection, blocked more often during festivals…
If you read the “O” you’ll see that the “f***ing bicyclists, who pay absolutely nothing toward roads” are being blamed for causing an entire lane to be removed from Naito and are causing congestion throughout the city.
It seems like Ender and other city staff are trying to justify the closure on the basis of shared use. How about the city staff at least trying to educate the general public to the loading operations? I know it would fail, but they could at least try.
I guess I won’t bother trying to ride in the loading zone/part-time cycle path.
the up-side is that this is now a shared path and not a bike lane, so you’re not legally required to ride in it…
that seems like the best way to show that the shared space is not appreciated…
i’ve only read about 1/4 of this, so you can be sure i feel completely and undeniably as though i’m an expert on this situation…so here’s my thot:
Better Naito was NEVER about bike access…it was ALWAYS about the fact that there are a ton of waterfront festivals during the summer…so they have a ton of equipment and delivery needs to the waterfront….so someone came up w/ the brilliant: lets-just-block-the-lane-closest-to-the-park…..and we’ll call it a bike-lane so everyone will love us…..(at least until the summer festivals die off)
am i being too cynical? to me seems like when the hotel on check in offers u the “green option” of not having turn down service and clean towels every day…so that we can “save the environment” when they are really using it to fire laundry staffing
No, you got it 100% correct.
Yes, this sounds about right. Gud, I’m dreading festival season. Portland festivals multiplied like Tribbles in the past few years. Ditto tourists.
I think using both eastern lanes is the ideal approach. But simply requiring small vehicles seems the easiest and most palatable. From your pictures, it seems that normal vehicles (pickup trucks, delivery vans), parked all the way to one side, would allow plenty of space for ped/bike use during *off-peak* hours. Not ideal, but enough. I doubt there’s anything coming by semi-truck that can’t be transferred to a Transit van, save maybe large tent structures.
Semis minimized and in the middle of the night, small delivery vehicles during off-peak daytime hours, no loading/unloading during the peak hours.
Given the level of danger involved, I think it would make sense to put “lane merging” signage out when the bike lane will be blocked and bikes (and pedestrians) are forced to use the auto lane. No one would accept vehicles parking in an auto travel lane without special signage… why does PBOT accept it when it’s “only” a bike lane?
Just rode through a moment ago. Was confronted with a convoy of school buses. Total chaos! The last bus pulled into the lane and came straight at me and would not yield an inch. For a moment we were in a standoff not moving but nose-to-nose, I could either ride over the school bus, or go into head-on traffic. The driver finally started to move over to give me some room and yelled, “Get out the lane” as we passed. I’m trying to be patient.
There was another truck parked in the bike lane this morning around 8:00 – a time when the bike lane is supposed to be clear.