(Photo: Jonathan Maus)
We’re happy to report that the right-hook risk at NW Broadway and Hoyt has significantly decreased.
“Truck traffic has been significantly reduced.”
— Shawn Uhlman, Prosper Portland
As we’ve shared on several occasions since 2013, the northwest corner of the intersection was dangerous due to two main factors: It’s at the bottom of a downhill so bicycling speeds are high and it has a high volume of right-turning trucks who use Hoyt to access the adjacent U.S. Postal Service retail store, processing and distribution site.
Last week we received a tip from a reader who overheard a USPS store employee say that most of the trucks had been re-routed to the new USPS facility recently built out near the Portland airport. That new facility is part of a major effort by Prosper Portland (formerly Portland Development Commission) and the City to redevelop the Broadway Corridor site.
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I rolled over a few days ago to take a look. Sure enough the parking lot that’s usually bustling with long big-rigs full of your mail was quiet and nearly empty.
And today I got a confirmation on the news from Prosper Portland Public Affairs Manager Shawn Uhlman. Uhlman said most of the processing function of the Broadway site has been moved out the airport. As a result, “Truck traffic has been significantly reduced,” he said.
But Uhlman cautioned that the big trucks haven’t gone away completely because USPS is still in the process of dismantling large equipment at the Broadway site. The small retail post office at the corner of Hoyt and Broadway will also be serviced by trucks. Uhlman says a much smaller volume of USPS trucks will continue to have access to the site until the end of this year.
Of course this only reduces right-hook risks at this intersection. The dangerous conditions posed by the combination of high bicycling volumes/speeds and impatient drivers will remain until the City of Portland either prohibits right turns, installs a bike-only signal phase, or finds some other infrastructure solution.
Do you ride this route? Have you noticed fewer trucks turning right on Hoyt in the past week or so?
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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We discussed this in prior comments on the Bdwy/Hoyt hooks. The hook risk was always going to significantly decrease in the near future due to this USPS move. As the USPS site is developed, it is also possible that bike traffic off the bridge will take a different route, further decrease the exposure to this intersection.
Not posting under my usual name since I don’t want it to come back to our mailperson, but they are still using this facility for the time being from what they said. Apparently the new places can’t get their operation in order, so they are still using the machines at the old Hoyt facility for awhile, hence it is going to be some time until it is dismantled.
Why not put in an emergency turn prohibition or lane reconfiguration to reduce the risk until the postal facility is really and truly dead (or at least pining for the fjords)?
I know some bike improvements are in the pipeline for Cornfoot and perhaps other places leading up to the new USPS by the airport, but I think it’s going to be much less pleasant with all the new semi’s out there.
So far my only issues on Cornfoot have been aggressive tow truck drivers turning onto 55th, but I haven’t ridden it since the latest migration.
Yes. No. Respectively. My threats and issues at that intersection have never involved tractor-trailers, it’s always been private single-occupant vehicles. Much like all the other intersections in town.
Same here. And the problem is often the motor vehicle IN the bike lane and also turning right.
Relative to the new USPS location on Cornfoot road, does anyone know when the street improvements to Cornfoot and 47th ave. [between Columbia and Cornfoot] are slated to be constructed?
The sidewalk is a safe refuge on Cornfoot, but 47th is very very dangerous to bike or walk along – no sidewalks and minimal shoulders – and lots of commercial activity there. And now there is increasing frequency of big rigs going through there … as there are no alternatives to get to the new USPS facility from the southwest.
As usual they didn’t address the problem at all; they simply moved it somewhere else.
So many USPS truck drivers break the law every day in their driving. This corner isn’t even where I se most of the illegal turns.