PBOT adds bike lanes, crosswalks to tricky SE Holgate intersection

Well, I guess they didn’t make it any worse. It’s very visible to auto users on Holgate, which goes a long way to helping drivers pay attention.

I’ve been avoiding this intersection northbound, but heading south it seemed a bit safer because the hill helps you get out of the danger zone much quicker. I’d take the lane and then crowd the double-yellow with my arm out to turn left (south). The new crossbike is further from the crest of that hill and so has better visibility, but it now seems to require two stops to cross Holgate.

The northbound (uphill) side seems to be a lot better for climbing from the stop sign to the upper crossbike, but it still leaves one stopped and trying to bet when it’s safe to race across.

This is supposed to be a Neighborhood Greenway, but I wouldn’t take kids or grandparents across here. Maybe it needs a those rapid flash beacons (visible to motorists before they crest the hill) that can be activated with a button press.

In the 1990’s, the old streetcar right-of-way that aligns perfectly with 41st (behind that currently vacant building on the NW corner) was the preferred bike route at that intersection, you could zip right across Holgate without all those sketchy turns. I believe the city still owns that bit of ROW, I don’t understand why they closed it.

As I remember the discussions here, a “cross bike” has no legal meaning, unlike a crosswalk that does. The northbound cyclist who uses the protected bike lane on the south side of Holgate is probably required to yield to motorists on Holgate in both directions. Same problem for the southbound cyclist turning on 41st.

Confusion is not your friend whether you are in a car or on a bike.

I will continue to take the lane and make vehicular turns in this area.

I’ve ridden this several times since the change and find the intersection much more annoying to navigate now- whereas I used to wait until a suitable opening and take the lane, merging left to easily turn north while only being concerned with westbound traffic, now I’m crammed to the right and have to make a much sharper turn, while trying to look backwards constantly, and have to cross both directions of traffic at once. Stopping to literally rotate your bike 90 degrees is the opposite of an improvement.

This is one of the worst implementations that I have ever seen. Good grief.

I’m imagining cruising along on my normal town rig, which is a tandem with a child’s crank and an attached trail-a-bike so that both of my grand-daughters can ride with me. With the prior design, we simply wait at the intersection for traffic coming from our left to subside and then we pull out into the lane and signal our left turn. When oncoming traffic clears, away we go. Easy peasy, very standard cycling stuff, even with my five-year-old and three-year-old grandkids (their signals are awesome).

In the new configuration, we’re going to have to negotiate that narrow opening between the concrete, wands, curb, utility pole and garbage cans at an unstable low speed while somehow seeing if the lane is clear behind us and in front of us at the same time (try doing that with two children dancing behind you some time). This change actually makes this intersection MORE dangerous for cyclists.

The logical way to modify this intersection, if PBoT intended to follow the city’s transportation hierarchy, would have been to place stop signs at SE Holgate. Also, the stop signs at SE 41st/42 could then be signed with those (unique to Oregon, I think) signs that say right turning traffic need not stop.

Of course that would give people on bikes the right-of-way over motorists, which is apparently a no-no at PBoT (in spite of the virtue-signal traffic priorities).

I ride through this intersection, usually N to S. It seems an improvement for the “interested but concerned”, but I find I still do what I always have- wait at 42nd for a break in traffic both ways, and go down and left onto 41st. I consider myself pretty bold in traffic, but I’d never wait in the lane on Holgate while signalling. Downhill traffic is way too fast there.

I only tried it once and it wasn’t raining, but the downhill sloping green zone looks slippery to me.

I also drive up and down Holgate for work and I do have to say the new markings now make it very clear to drivers that cyclists are crossing there.

The land is private.

I wonder if a two way protected bicycle lane in the center would have better addressed the needs of both vehicular cyclists and casual cyclists.

Ed, exactly like SE 41st & Stark, but with green paint and soft hit posts

Another horrible implementation designed to either a) get bikes out of the way of cars or b) trick more riders onto bikes with designs that feel safer, but increase risk.

I re-routed my commute to avoid this intersection, which was tricky because of the way 41st Ave is offset, the slight uphill (if you’re headed north) and the hard to see traffic speeding eastbound.

I’ve started taking this way again and it feels MUCH safer. Paint doesn’t create a real physical protection, but it goes a long way to guide drivers.

Imagine how many cars could fit into an unlined parking lot, versus how many would fit if spots are striped.

Thanks, PBOT!

FYI there are recently installed flex posts on NE 1st between NE Oregon and NE Holladay. Also on NE Multnomah to better manage the mixing zones at NE 9th, maybe a couple other spots on the road too.

I’ve ridden it and found it improved. But, I cross Holgate a little farther east, Holgate and 67th. That intersection, coming from the south side on 67th, is totally blind because of a slight bend in Holgate. I cross it daily on a cargo bike with two kids. I have to turn right onto Holgate, pedal 10-20 meters east until I am sure I can do a U-turn safely, then go back west and right turn onto 67th.

The intersection is usually marked with orange cones because it is a school crossing, but the cones are very often knocked down and traffic is very fast. Every day it is the scariest part of my commute, which crosses Foster, Powell, and Division too.