A quarter-mile of Portlanders lined Southwest Naito Parkway’s temporary protected bike lane Thursday evening to form bollards with their bodies and call for the next “Better Naito” to be permanent.
We hope everyone had a great time!!! pic.twitter.com/c3pMQWc247
— Better Block PDX (@BetterBlockPDX) September 29, 2017
For half an hour following 6 p.m., the participants formed a line along the bike lane that stretched from Salmon Street Fountain, just north of the Hawthorne Bridge, to the area beneath the Morrison Bridge. Crowd estimates varied as participants came and went, but one precise count put it at 104, another at 117.
“This was the largest gathering to support a bike lane in Portland, period,” co-organizer Kiel Johnson said in a text Thursday night.
Late-wave commuters who rolled past during the event were greeted by smiles, a few cheers and once in a while high fives. Signs were waved at passing drivers, some of whom responded with seemingly short and happy honks.
“I was surprised and I was thrilled with the number of people who turned out,” said another co-organizer, Emily Guise of BikeLoudPDX. “They were really into it. It was a pretty wide range of ages too.”
Johnson served as mobile hype man, rolling back and forth on Paul Jeffries’ speaker-encrusted cargo bike blaring songs like Bowie and Queen’s “Under Pressure” (“People on streets / ee da de da de”).
Guise worked the crowd too, at one point leading the line of participants in a “wave” that rolled itself down the street, too.
“The people who were riding by when we were cheering them on, they seemed pretty pumped for the most part,” she said.
BetterBlockPDX, the local street-reimagination group that first conceived and installed the lanes for an on-street test two years ago, was present too. Gwen Shaw, who designed the project as part of her traffic engineering degree from Portland State University and now works for the local office of Toole Design, was beaming.
The Street Trust sent a contingent, including Executive Director Jillian Detweiler with a fluorescent “I Love Better Naito” sign of her own:
Some signs didn’t leave much of their agenda to the imagination:
Others, like Michael Ard, waxed more poetic:
And others seemed to embrace understatement:
KATU News’s Reed Andrews, covering the event for the local ABC affiliate, smiled as he shouted his account of the event into a headset. KPTV sent a crew, too.
(Photo: Josh Chernoff)
The Willamette Week and Portland Mercury both published advance articles. Willamette Week’s referred to the “hero Twitter users” who in June hijacked the regional chamber of commerce’s attempted campaign against the project and sent a flurry of emails in its support to city council.
The Mercury simply called Naito’s protected bike lanes a “Very Good Idea.”
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This was the third summer in a row that a protected bike lane and walking path have been installed along Naito. The first two years, Better Block PDX operated it during Waterfront Park’s festival season only; this year, the city did a more durable design, complete with bike signals and 400 removable plastic bollards, for five months.
This year, the city also completed a short but excellent path at the north end to help people safely cross the Steel Bridge onramp.
It seems likely that a permanent version of Better Naito could be funded next year as part of the long-brewing (and newly rebranded) “Central City in Motion” plan to improve walking, biking and transit in the central city.
And as we reported Thursday afternoon, the city has separately lined up funding and conceptual engineering for a possible project that could permanently expand the protected bikeway all the way south to Harrison, while adding a new traffic signal at the Hawthorne Bridge to speed auto throughput there and reduce Streetcar backups to the south. That project, too, could be built next year.
If installed, a full Better Naito from the Steel Bridge to Harrison would create a direct, continuous biking network between downtown Portland and the Lair Hill area, reducing bike-walk conflicts on the riverside path that runs through Waterfront Park and the RiverPlace development to the south. It’d also bring the protected bike lanes within a few (hilly) blocks of Portland State University, which is probably the city’s No. 1 biking destination.
Whatever the future may bring, organizers seemed triumphant about Thursday’s turnout. Johnson is currently crowdfunding a campaign to turn a photo from the event into a billboard with the caption “Portland supports protected bike lanes,” to be deployed when the city council is considering the issue.
“We got a lot of media coverage for Better Naito and the need to make it permanent, and it also demonstrated a lot of support for Better Naito,” Guise said Thursday night. “So I think that’ll be important in getting the funding to make it permanent from city council. And I also think it’s important for the skeptics to see that.”
— Michael Andersen: (503) 333-7824, @andersem on Twitter and michael@portlandafoot.org
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Maybe the folks violating the law by riding in the marked pedestrian lane should be ticketed? lol
as should the people standing in the bike lane forming the chain…
Great job PDX! Saw it on the news. They even used a bit of Streetfilms footage when they mentioned NYC!
Thanks Clarence! Your coverage of the NYC event (like all the excellent Streetfilms) was very inspiring!
Not a problem. When I heard NYC was doing it and that we were like the 3rd or 4th city to do in the last few months, I knew I had to make a nice video since there was no decent video from any of the other events!!
They did a great job of getting it in the news, the coverage of which was overwhelmingly favorable.
This is impressive given that protests are so common in Portland — you could probably get an even bigger crowd to protest the levels of dihydrogen monoxide in the municipal water supply…
Any idea what the record for largest human protected bike lane in NYC is? in SF it is 50
A Cycle Superhighway. That’s the ticket.
https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/roads/cs9/?cid=cs9
It would accomodate small autonomous vehicles as well as pedestrians and bikes. No cars. Electric vehicles would travel in platoon mode at rush hour, then remain in urban core (for last mile service) until rush hour in the afternoon.
Unlike rail or BRT, modular Personal Rapid Transit can break off from the platoon, feeding a variety of destinations. No new infrastructure, rails, bridges or roads necessary.
– Navya is running in Las Vegas, Paris and Australia. It seats 11 seated and 4 standing.
http://navya.tech/
– Local Motor’s Olli has a similar 12-passenger autonomous vehicle and are being tested in the Washington, D.C. area.
https://localmotors.com/meet-olli/
A report from Madrona Venture Group, a Seattle-based venture capital firm, foresees a major portion of Interstate 5 becoming entirely dedicated to autonomous vehicles by 2040.
http://www.hayden-island.com/self-driving-car-proposal/
How about these folks come out to 82nd, or 102nd, or 122nd, or Halsey, or Glisan, and on and on and on.
If Portlanders show up and support bicycling like they did yesterday we can make it to 25% mode share.
100 people showed up…..
Given the perfect weather, I would hope for way more than that from just regular commuter traffic.
I’ll pass through at rush hour today and BN is still up. Since it’s so great, people will still be using it. I wonder if I’ll see double digit numbers of cyclists?
It is slated to go down at the end of the month….
When was the last time better block, the street trust, bike loud, go by bike, and a bunch of the twitter people all showed up together? Online, people that support biking can look pretty divided, standing together we can get things done.
I agree!
Thanks for covering this, Michael! It was such a fun event, I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did.
I’d like to remind everyone to take a minute today and email PBOT, City Council and the Mayor to say you support Better Naito and want it to be permanent. Contact: NaitoParkway@portlandoregon.gov; mayorwheeler@portlandoregon.gov; dan@portlandoregon.gov; chloe@portlandoregon.gov; amanda@portlandoregon.gov; nick@portlandoregon.gov
Done!
i am tearing up here, y’all–so glad to see all these supporters come out and take a literal stand for our safety. YASSSS, QUEEN.
Better Naito could be even better if all users followed the laws. I have witnessed cyclists running red lights, in both directions. It would also be nice if the northbound lanes weren’t blocked by the loaders/unloaders at Saturday Market, but there is an exception for them.
I thought the point of better Naito is that the bike traffic does not stop at the lights.
They only stop for peds in the crosswalk…
That’s not what I see happening. Frequently, peds walking with the signal because that’s the only way to cross the auto lane wind up watching out for and dodging bikes.
I run the red lights when I am in the regular bike lane at “T” intersections.
What is the point of stopping?
The law should be changed for cyclists at all “T” intersections in the city.
Because cyclists come from streets at speed — especially when you have a red and they have green. Peds cross too. Many cyclists not only don’t stop, but don’t slow down or even check. Keep in mind that just because it’s a T for an auto does not mean it is one for a bike or ped. Besides, bikes turning onto Naito should be able to do that with a signal without getting T-boned by other riders.
This is one of the things I like least about BN. I’ve seen a lot of really close calls.
The clearly marked “Stop Here” lines should give a clue that one should stop. That, and the red lights, and that they are in fact intersections.
Those scorchers sound so scary. So tell me, of the 33 traffic fatalities this year in PDX (so far) how many were the result of someone on a bike mowing down a pedestrian or another person on a bike? How about last year’s 44 deaths?
Perhaps this is why there were no traffic laws (other than that one speed limit thing in NYC) until deadly motorists hit the road (and other things/people).
Snark aside, in a perfect world our traffic laws would be sensible and everyone would obey them. In an excellent world, motorists would obey them. Excellent is good enough for me.
Why does it have to be a fatality to be important? Anyone can be hurt in crashes. Idiоt cyclists are a menace to peds, other cyclists, and themselves.
One thing I will say is that a few of my workmates who have bikes and want to ride more consistently complain about other cyclists doing dangerous/scary things. I see this myself every day. If you want to see plenty of сrap riding and etiquette, just watch people blowing by peds and slow riders on the Hawthorne and Broadway bridges.
If you want to be treated with respect and consideration on the roads, you need to show those things to others. And if you’re not going to bother, don’t whine when others don’t bother to show you any as well.
I see people doing dangerous/scary things in cars while I am driving, but no one is scared to drive?
The fact that some drivers are bad does not give you the right to mistreat others, especially more vulnerable people out there and especially ones who have wronged you in no way.
I’m telling you what people tell me. If you want more people cycling, you need to help make it an experience they want to do. Women in particular do not like being around meathead guys.
Since you guys think seem to think it’s fine ride in a way that peds and less confident cyclists find threatening, I have an idea. Wear matching arm bands on your left leg and arm so I know you have this philosophy, and I’ll adjust my interactions accordingly when I see you on the road.
I’m sure you’ll agree it’s no big deal if you get cut off, clipped, or knocked off the path.
No wonder you guys are afraid to ride on the road, even on a bike lane. Riding like that around cars can get you killed.
Show us the statistics of bike on pedestrian accidents in the city…
I want them all, Kyle, you can look it up at your library.
After you find all of them, you let us know.
Do your own research. Besides, what makes you think all such collisions are reported, let alone compiled in a way that makes them easily retrievable?
If you don’t believe riding dangerously makes you a menace, you are one of the entitled riders which helps reinforce negative attitudes towards cyclists.
I know you like to lecture people on how to ride…
I ride 150 mile a week and have for years.
I think I know how to behave around pets but thanks for the advice….
Yeah. Run red lights where others have green and peds have right of the way. You sound like an awesome rider.
Decades of experience means nothing if you simply repeat your first year over and over.
Why do you expect people to care about cyclists fear of cars if they don’t care about the others they encounter on their rides?
I too run reds at T-intersections, but yield to pedestrians. Always yielding to pedestrians if they are showing the intent to cross generates friendly waves and smiles.
Sure, but you sound like you’re at least looking out for them. A huge number of cyclists don’t even slow down or look. And there are plenty of cyclists coming off those streets anyway. Does anyone who actually rides BN contest this, and if so, when exactly do you pass through?
If we expect cyclists to obey road signals, we should at least not justify why we shouldn’t ignore everything we don’t feel like dealing with.
Speaking of which, regular Naito can be ridden much faster than BN — because you don’t have to make so many adjustments for people riding like everyone else isn’t out there.
Are cyclists supppsed to stop for red lights on the BN stretch? Frankly it seems like a big MUP with no auto cross traffic.
Perhaps some low-cost signage could help with communicating expectations.
There is signage on posts. And giant letters on the ground. And the fact that there are obviously crosswalks with peds frequently waiting for lights should give a clue. What else is needed?
I suspect most people here would expect drivers to notice and comply with such signals.
For the last time, Better Naito is a MUP and cyclists DO NOT have to stop at lights.
The signs are clear, bikes stop for pedestrians like everywhere else.
If you are stopping at he light on Better Naito when there are no Pedestrians, you are in the wrong.
Maybe you need to take a cycling class?
Wait, people are not stopping at their red light when I have a green and am crossing Naito at Couch? Good thing I’m riding super early I guess. I haven’t been T-boned, but it sounds like I’ve been lucky.
So you are in favor of cyclists stopping at red lights on better Naito?
BTW, T-boned is nice car talk for car people.
I am on a bicycle, if you are afraid of them, you better stay home…..
Crossing Naito at Couch typically looks like this, with cars stopped at the light, blocking any view of cyclists traveling beside them:
https://goo.gl/maps/AbxjJUR8i6R2
As I cross here, I usually can’t see what’s going on in that bike lane until I’m practically on top of it. And yeah, I think it’s a good idea to be wary of being hit by 200lbs at 20mph from the side by someone who hasn’t even considered that I might be crossing here.
Do I think a full stop is necessary from BN traffic? No. But you should be planning to yield if I’m crossing Naito with the actual right of way.
From “Better Naito FAQs” at https://www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation/article/537978
How do I use it?
Better Naito creates a new multiuse path on the west side of Waterfront Park, providing another connection for people walking and biking between the Hawthorne and Steel bridges.
People walking can walk north or south in the facility and should follow the pedestrian markings and walk along the eastern side of Better Naito, adjacent to Waterfront Park.
People biking can also travel either north or south in the facility and should observe the pavement markings. ==>People riding bicycles in either direction on Better Naito must stop for red traffic signals. For southbound travel, we have placed traffic signals on a number of intersections on Better Naito. Where there is no specific signal for Better Naito, people are expected to obey the existing traffic signals on Naito. <==
Not according to PBOT …. per the FAQ for Better Naito (https://www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation/article/537978#how)
How do I use it?
Better Naito creates a new multiuse path on the west side of Waterfront Park, providing another connection for people walking and biking between the Hawthorne and Steel bridges.
People walking can walk north or south in the facility and should follow the pedestrian markings and walk along the eastern side of Better Naito, adjacent to Waterfront Park.
People biking can also travel either north or south in the facility and should observe the pavement markings. People riding bicycles in either direction on Better Naito must stop for red traffic signals. For southbound travel, we have placed traffic signals on a number of intersections on Better Naito. Where there is no specific signal for Better Naito, people are expected to obey the existing traffic signals on Naito
Read the FAQ. And the signs. And the markings on the pavement. There’s nothing confusing about this.
Why is it not obvious that you shouldn’t go shooting across a path that someone else has right of way on? Aside from being unsafe, it’s obnoxious.
I’m not afraid of bikes. I just don’t think people should ride like dоuсhebаgs in environments where there are a lot of novices such as BN. Thanks to riders like you, most people assume cyclists are at fault in conflicts.
You have no idea how I ride…..
WTF is wrong with you?
Also Kyle, half the time you say no one uses Naito and the rest of the time you suggest that pedestrians are being run over by all the cyclists.
[snipped attack -ted]
“Why is it not obvious that you shouldn’t go shooting across a path that someone else has right of way on? Aside from being unsafe, it’s obnoxious.”
You are fortunate they allow you to post crap like this.
My reply will not be published most likely.
Obnoxious is your MO here and you are allowed to spew this crap all day long.
You’re the one telling me to get cycling lessons and that you’re not supposed to stop. It is very clear that you are supposed to stop, and if we want motorists to treat us with respect and consideration, we need to not just ride any way we feel like.
We have no credibility with anybody if cyclists are frequently seen passing too fast by pedestrians and slower cyclists. I may sometimes pick on Adam and lock horns with him, but he complains with some regularity about being on the receiving end of this sort of treatment. As someone as dedicated to using bikes as anyone, that he consistently feels this way should be worth something.
As to how I can guess how you ride, I can logically infer from your comments that you don’t stop. I am a bit surprised that they published my comments as they must be very close to the line, but you’re not exactly squeaky clean when it comes to language.
Note to mods: if you decide not to publish whatever he says about/to me, do it for other reasons rather than any concerns regarding me personally. I don’t intend to respond further as I don’t believe this discussion is productive. Whatever he says, my feelings won’t be hurt — sticks and stones….
“You’re the one telling me to get cycling lessons and that you’re not supposed to stop. It is very clear that you are supposed to stop, and if we want motorists to treat us with respect and consideration, we need to not just ride any way we feel like.”
Umm, are we in automobiles?
Are we supposed to ride like we are automobiles?
The city closed off a lane in a street to cars, why in the world are cyclists supposed to stop at red lights where there are no cars?
I do stop for pedestrians and I see others doing the same. Stopping at a red light on a closed lane where there are no people crossing is asinine….
You are hardly an advocate for cycling.
Several times a week I’m confronted by a situation where the very first car that I encountered upon leaving my house ran the very first stop sign I see, at the end of my street.
Today was different, in that the very first car I encountered not only ran the very first stop sign upon leaving the house to walk the dog. But when I took the second dog out, the very first car I encountered also ran the very first stop sign, without even slowing down.
No worries, Better Naito will come back! My prediction is that PBOT wants to move all bikes away from the SW waterfront and onto Naito in the medium term.
This makes sense since some cyclists go way too fast on the waterfront which is dangerous to peds. Unfortunately, these speeds are also inappropriate for BN. Speed aficionados really need to ride on roads. BN is more like a MUP than anything else and needs to be treated as such.
I look forward to more human-protected bike lanes in the future. Huge thanks to both Go By Bike and BikeLoud for organizing this!
There are two things that I think can be improved for next time:
1. There were too many people taking up space in the bike lane itself, forcing people on bikes to use the pedestrian lane or stop and wait. Mostly news crews and curious passersby. This can be solved by politely asking people to move their conversations out of the lane when they stop to interview, take pictures, or ask questions.
2. The deployment of the protesters blocked the bike lane for longer than necessary. This can be solved by having people line up along the sidewalk or curb first, and then everybody step across the bike lane at the same time.
It’s important to remember that we’re there to protect people on bikes. That includes keeping the bike lane free of obstacles, even obstacles such as well-intentioned people.
Aside from that, I feel like the event was really successful and I’m glad that I got to be a part of it. The leaders of BikeLoud are so on point with media coverage and public relations.
I wish I could edit my comment so that it didn’t sound so mansplainy. I meant it as things for us participants to keep in mind, and not as me trying to tell the organizers how to run their event.
No worries, I hear ya! I hope this is the first of many human protected bike lanes in Portland. It is good to learn from each one. Glad you made it out! I thought the signs worked really well, and I had a blast playing music on that bike. One of my worries was that cars would slow way down to look at things causing congestion but that did not happen.
That area is often very congested at rush hour anyway, even during “regular” Naito.
I recommended my coworkers to avoid the area because I expected more people and thought the road might be taken, but people who drove by anyway because they use Waze reported no problems.
If people are setting up human protected bike lanes, I’d favor doing them in underserved areas where there is no bike lane whatsoever — lots of places like that.
When you organize an event in your favorite area, let me know. I’ll do my best to attend.
Because organizing protests is how things get accomplished. The Portland metro area has a couple million people. There are many thousands of cyclists. A protest of that garners the support of barely 100 people in a core area has just got to be what it takes to move things forward…
I find what works best is to criticize other people’s efforts and make lots of comments on posts that I’m not interested in.
Actually, I am interested.
What I’m not interested in is messing up perfectly good roads, directing scarce resources that could be used for infrastructure where it is needed, or having tiny groups imply they represent people they don’t (especially when it includes me).
When you can only get 100 people for a supposedly important section by possibly the busiest area of town in terms of bike traffic, that should tell you something. A lot of small clubs can get that many people to show up to a regular meeting.
There’s always somewhere better, more needing, of time and money.
No worries! I think those are all good points to remember for next time.
very cool
“A quarter-mile of Portlanders lined Southwest Naito Parkway’s temporary protected bike lane Thursday evening”
not protected, separated… flexible plastic wands protect cyclists as much as paint does: not at all…
stop giving the city credit for creating things that they didn’t do… I’m still waiting for the city to install a protected bike lane…
Paint is underrated.
It is cheap and has a huge impact on driver behavior while providing cyclists and drivers alike with all kinds of flexibility to deal with acute situations. Of course it gets misused sometimes, but overall it works great.
“Regular” Naito is easy riding in the areas that have bike lanes. Take that paint away and the riding experience becomes very different.
Planters and jersey barriers are underrated.
Because we had so much trouble with cars hitting cyclists in the bike lane on “regular” Naito and mowing down the bollards along with whoever was on the other side during “Better” Naito, right?
no, because they would work better than plastic bollards in the snow.
Are you seriously advocating infrastructure on a section of flat straight road because of snow in Portland?
As someone who actually was out there every day, I would observe there were hardly any cyclists, and if there was any need for protection, it would be a million times ore helpful on a section with some incline and curves. I don’t even know how many wrecked cars I saw, but zero were on the stretch BN covers.
What really good reason does Portland have for even taking out this reconfiguration of Naito for better use of this street with bikes? It cost money to plan and set up the configuration. Now, it’s going to take more money to return the street to its regular form for six or seven months until the city likely will have to set the street up again for festival season.
When something is working, the smart, cost saving thing to do, is not mess with it. Winter is coming, making the biking experience generally less wonderful than in fair weather. Maybe the thought is: hardly anyone is going to be riding Naito exclusive bike lanes in cold, lousy weather. But maybe that could change, if this street is better for riding in what tends to be the more difficult time of the year to ride.
People driving seem to be doing ok with the lane reduction required to put this configuration in place. It’s not as though traffic conditions are going to get worse now that festival season is over for now.
I attended and had a really great time. It was powerful, exciting, and amazing. Let’s do it again soon!
Does it make me a traitor to bicyclist-kind if I think that we can probably just ride along Waterfront park during the rainy season as it’ll have less people walking on it? Do we really need Better Nato this time of year when there’s this other option? Just something I’m wondering, as a person who only rides this way a couple times a month.
That’s what a lot of people do.
Even if BN were available, I wonder how many people coming from across the bridge and other destinations wouldn’t take the waterfront anyway. No lights to deal with, fewer conflicts with peds and other bikes than on BN, greater separation.
Better scenery is the main thing for me. I ride the waterfront frequently, just because it’s a darn nice place.
“…we can probably just ride along Waterfront park during the rainy season…” justin
At what mph speed? In what numbers? At what time of day? The west side waterfront MUP is fine for casually ambling along at close to walking speed, when the number of people is small. During commute hours is when the number of people riding, even in bad conditions, could be sizable.
Sizable numbers of people riding, is something the city is working towards. Infrastructure for riding, should be sufficient for the number of people the city hopes will ride. The waterfront MUP, not really wide enough for fast riding, isn’t sufficient for that type use. If…there’s nobody walking on the MUP…which can be the case at times during the winter, or when it rains, snows, etc, the path can be ridden at a brisk speed for a bike, or close to it, 15-20 mph.
Often though, even in bad weather, someone is walking the path, or riding slowly. That means the commuting crowd has to, or should, slow down. There’s a lot of hotels close to parts of the path. It’s a scenic walking route which I think some of the guests from the hotels, and residents, workers, use to go for a relaxing walk or run. Commuters, whatever their mode of transportation, just want to get home asap. Good bet, is most of them would rather not have to deal with a lot of leisurely sight seeing slow pokes on the MUP.
The city ought to be taking the provision of bike infrastructure on Naito seriously, full time, year round, if it hopes to have any real expectation that more people will commute by bike in this part of the city, year round.
Here’s a video
https://youtu.be/fhhD2Bi7ZSg
so that people will be able to see what Naito looked like before they built Best Naito.
I thought it was inspiring. A good cross-section of people showed up. Thanks to the organizers!