PBOT unveils new designs, online survey for SW Multnomah/Garden Home project

I live just north of the Old Market Pub, and take a left onto Multnomah every day. Initially, I thought the roundabout would be a better option, but now I’m liking the signalized design better. As shown with the new roundabout mockups, drivers going east from Garden Home and continuing on (not heading to Multnomah) will continue to blast through in an almost straight line, likely at 40mph. This make people walking and biking no safer than the current design. At least with the signal, drivers are forced to slow down even with a green to make a right to continue on Garden Home (kind of like at Capitol Hwy and Vermont).

Looks like they’re going to remove the bike lanes. Nice.

I filled out the survey from New Jersey and indicated strong support for better walking and biking facilities. I am trying to do my civic duties for Portland :).

It needs protected bike lanes, street trees, TriMet bus 45 reroute to Allen Blvd, bus 1 reroute, and a lower speed limit. Voting for a narrow roundabout.

This intersection was the sketchiest part of my bike commute for 12 years (it’s still sketchy; I just moved & ride a different route now). The first commenter got it right that the greatest danger here is to cyclists heading onto eastbound Multnomah, as drivers peeling off from the main flow of traffic to stay on Garden Home cut across the bike lane without slowing or signaling, as it’s essentially a straight line.

I’m not crazy about either of the proposals detailed above, but the diagrams for the signal option show that it does a much better job of making that a right turn instead of a straight shot. This would still carry the usual risks to cyclists of any right-turn site, but it’s a great improvement over the current situation.

The roundabout option would indeed slow traffic, but cyclists would actually have to take the main lane _before_ entering the roundabout, or stop and wait for a (rare) break in traffic, to prevent getting sideswiped upon entering the circle. The narrowing and driver confusion could very well make this intersection scarier than it already is. The pedestrian crosswalks in the roundabout scenario, too, are likely to be unseen and unheeded by drivers, as I witness daily in a roundabout on my new commute.

Vote for signals and then advocate for the addition of a barrier solution to keep right-turning cars out of the bike lane.

Am I understanding that there will be no access from 69th to GH road?

Shutting off the street will get a few people out of their cars. But why stop there? How about sidewalks on 69th and 67th people don’t have to walk in the street? Before there were sidewalks on Oleson, just around the corner, only the bravest would walk to the local market. Now it’s a safe walk that many people do.