PBOT has 17 ‘High Crash Network’ projects queued up for construction this year

With money in their coffers for the first time in several decades (thanks in large part to the local gas tax and revenue from the state transportation package passed last year), the Portland Bureau of Transportation will be busy in 2018. They recently released a list of 17 projects they plan to construct this year. Nine of them are east of 82nd.

While this isn’t every single thing PBOT will build in 2018, these 17 projects have been singled out because they are on their ‘High Crash Network‘ — a list of streets with “the highest number of reported collisions overall and for people walking and biking in the five‐year period from January 2011 through December 2015.” The projects on this list are queued up for 2018 for a variety of reasons, including a new internal ranking system PBOT uses to flag the most urgent needs.

Keeping to their promise to put data and analysis at the core of their Vision Zero-focused decision-making and prioritization process, PBOT used three metrics to rank intersections on the High Crash Network: Number of fatal and injury crashes between 2011 and 2015; the collision rate (“the number of crashes at an intersection are normalized by considering the number of cars traveling through the intersection”); and the total value of crashes, which assigns a monetary value to the severity of injuries.

They even shared their work. Here’s the formula for collision rate:

Collision Rate = (Crashes/5 years) X (1 year/340 days) X (1/ADT) X 1,000,000

And here’s how they figure out the total value of crashes:

Total Value = # Deaths* Death $ + # Inj A* Inj A $ + # Inj B* Inj B $ + # In C* Inj C $*
(*Death value: $1,500,000; Injury A value: $74,900; Injury B value: $24,00; Injury C value: $13,600)

When those calculations are cross-referenced with other PBOT metrics like “communities of concern”, shovel-readiness and political support, here are the 17 projects that made the build list for 2018 (UPDATE/CORRECTION, 2/1: An Oregon Department of Transportation employee has informed us that projects #1 and #15 are ODOT projects, not PBOT projects. We’ve noted that below and apologize for any confusion.)

1. 82nd Avenue (*This is an ODOT project)
Signal repairs and ADA upgrades at Foster, Woodstock, and Flavel

2. 102nd Avenue
Sidewalk infill (Sandy to Fremont)

3. Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway
Protected/buffered multiuse path (30th to 39th), safer crossings at 30th and 35th, intersection safety at Shattuck

4. Burnside Street, East
Safer crossing at 129th

5. Burnside Street, West
Sidewalk on north side (Uptown Terrace-NW 24th Place), safer intersections at 18th/19th and 20th

6. Columbia Boulevard
Intersection reconfiguration at Martin Luther King, Jr.

7. Division Street
Raised center median for safer turns and crossings (82nd-92nd, 116th-146th), sidewalk in ll, and protected/buffered bike lanes

8. Foster Road
Widened sidewalks, enhanced crossings, street trees, bike lanes

9. Glisan Street
Safety fixes at 87th, 122nd, and 128th, buffered bike lanes (122nd-148th)

10. Halsey Street
More lighting, enhanced crossings, protected bike lanes, and speed limit reduction. Two-way bike lanes on I-205 overpass

11. Holgate Street
Crosswalks and ADA upgrades at 41st/42nd, signal reconstruction at 104th, safer crossing at 128th

12. Lombard Street
Protected bike lanes (Terminal-Sever), multiuse path (Sever-Columbia), protected left turn signal at Time Oil Rd.

13. Marine Drive
Bike lanes buffered with rumble strips (112th-122nd), multiuse path infill, rapid flashing beacons at 112th and 138th, new traffic signal at 122nd

14. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard
Safety fixes at multiple crossings (Broadway-Lombard)

15. Powell Boulevard (*This is an ODOT project)
Lighting and crossing fixes (20th-34th), safer crossings and/or bus shelter enhancements at nine intersections (Chávez-82nd, 131st, 145th)

16. Sandy Boulevard
Rapid flashing beacons (31st), bike lane safety fixes (Burnside-Stark), safer crossings at 85th and 91st, westbound bike lane (91st-I-205)

17. Stark Street
Safer crossings at 130th and 155th

Learn more about PBOT’s High Crash Network and see the individual intersection rankings and project descriptions at PortlandOregon.gov/transportation.

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org

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