(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)
It’s been about 78 months since we first covered the possibility of dedicated cycling facilities on Southeast Foster Road, a major arterial coined the “Foster Freeway” by former mayor Sam Adams when he launched an attempt to make it safer in 2010.
A few nights ago it finally happened. PBOT striped bike lanes as part of the finishing touches on their $9 million Foster Transportation and Streetscape project.
The stated goal of the project is to, “Transform Foster Road [between 50th and 90th] from a high speed, auto-oriented corridor into a more balanced streetscape that is safer and more accessible for people walking, biking, taking transit and driving,” and to, “support and enhance the growing mix of businesses and residences in the neighborhood.”
My initial impression is that — despite being outdated, narrow, and unprotected — the bike lanes have helped PBOT reach that goal. The presence of bicycle riders in the street on their own right-of-way dramatically changes how the street feels for everyone. The new lanes also make Foster a more feasible place to ride a bike in general, which will increase customers to businesses, encourage window-shopping by bike, and add vibrancy and humanity to the street.
In addition to the cycling-only space, the $9 million project repaved the street between 82nd and 90th and included: upgrades two traffic signals; wider sidewalks in some sections; new median islands and flashing beacons at six intersections; new street trees and ornamental street lighting; and upgraded ADA curb ramps at 69 locations.
While these bike lanes are clearly lacking from a design standpoint, it is no small thing for PBOT to add cycling space to such a major arterial.
Below are more photos and a video to give you a better sense of how it turned out.
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And of course it didn’t take long for people to take advantage of the new space…
(Photo by Matchu Williams)
PBOT says there will be a ribbon-cutting event next Thursday (6/13) at Portland Mercado.
Get out there, ride these new bike lanes, and let us know what you think.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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I’m pretty stoked these are finally down. I haven’t noticed anyone getting too pissed these are here, traffic on Foster surprisingly never seems that bad. Maybe I just hit it at the wrong time (though I’ve been using Foster just after 5 pm and that’s primetime for backups if there are gonna be backups). I know paint doesn’t provide legit protection but it still feels pretty good there are bike lanes down because previously I would have never used Foster like I have lately.
I disagree that paint isn’t “legit” protection; it’s the same protection that drivers get, and yes, steel cages, but a head-on car-car crash at 30 MPH can be fatal, and all that prevents that is paint.
Despite claims that bike lanes offer no safety value, I think these lanes will be a huge improvement to Foster.
You know you don’t need to be a contrarian in here all the time? You kinda argue with me that paint is in fact legit protection because cars use the same painted lines, oh but also cars are steel cages so that is really where the protection comes in, you know, keeping your soft fleshy body from being directly plowed by a car hitting you, but so what?, it’s all painted lines. And I said I’m stoked bike lanes are painted anyway and they’re the reason I’m riding Foster now and then you’re all, “yeah, these lanes are gonna be a great improvement for Foster”. It’s like you wanted to play devil’s advocate like you always do but we are kinda saying the exact same thing. Why??
I’m stoked too. I wish the lanes were buffered along the whole length, but the whole project is such a huge upgrade from what was there before, even if it’s “just paint”. That’s really all anyone gets in most cases.
Cool. I agree and I’m stoked too. Wasn’t mad at you, just felt a moment of exasperation.
Sometimes it’s beneficial to have people on here playing devils advocate. It’s a relief to have a safe haven from contrarians regarding bicycle policy, but if all we do is preach to the choir with no push back then we’re at risk of becoming insulated. I often push the limits for argument sake.
Paint is not protection.
Because of it’s diagonal nature on a map, Foster is going to be amazing commuting shortcut in that area.
It will get a lot of hypoten-use.
Oof, that joke is acute. Hey who’s the wiseguy with the “Save Foster” banner? (Just so I know which business to boycott viciously forever?)
That’s the Euro Classic furniture store at 67th and Foster. He claimed he was never told about the Streetscape plan and as a business owner he felt left out and claimed it was all a big secret kept from him. I was at a celebration at least two years before that when the plan passed city council and the Foster Business Association hosted pizza at O’Malley’s. So him claiming it was a secret just shows how involved he is as a business owner in the neighborhood. I would bet he’s never been to a FABA meeting or even participated in the Neighborhood Association.
But he’s been railing against the whole project for over a year, especially by changing his marquee sign on the corner practically twice a week, and making some bizarre claims as well as some just out right inaccurate claims. I’ve been taking pictures since I live practically across the street. “What kind of parent would let their child ride a bike on busy streets?” Say what?
Two weeks ago he was advocating for removing all of the unused bike lanes and returning them to cars, because cars pay tax.
The striping was supposed to be complete by Memorial Day weekend but was a bit delayed, so I was in NY when it happened and didn’t see it until Sunday night, June 9. It’s great and now I can ride my bike past his store and thumb my nose at him:)
As one does when in NY, I walked a lot and saw a lot of bike lanes. It’s pretty much the same mix of protected, buffered, and just a line of paint like we have on Foster. And of course I almost got hit crossing the street by a cyclist running a red light.
Exciting! A side benefit is the sidewalks are now safer for people on sidewalks because cars are not driving 45 MPH inches from them. The sidewalks on Cesar Chavez are scary.
Did the world end? From the signs on that furniture store these last few years I would have thought when this day came that armageddon would arrive soon after and the earth would perish in a cloud of smoke and fire.
I understand their concern though… since obviously people who use bicycles don’t own furniture…
(or at least probably won’t from that store).
Let’s not be too quick to assume that. Hauling furniture by bike trailer is not hard. Folks do it all the time here. Move By Bike?
Oh, you must have heard the sarcasm in the first part of that post, and the truth in the “at least…”
It’s a huge improvement. The Pedalpalooza “No More Four Lane Roads” ride ended at the Mercado on Foster Monday night (after riding in the lane on 82nd, Glisan, 102nd, Stark, & 122nd). When we rode it the bike lane for the block or so just west of 82nd had been striped, but a lot of it was empty not yet painted. We rode by the street sweeper and just as we ended at the Mercado, the painting / striping crew showed up. After riding all that other fairly awful non-existent bike infrastructure, Foster now seems like the promised land.
Great to hear about the Pedal Palooza ride promoting an end to the “4 Lanes + 0 ” layout. It is a such a very outdated arterial configuration. The additional of a centre turn lane will help businesses get customers from BOTH directions during BOTH peak periods.
[And alternatively as a driver – I always hated using these “mini highway” corridors when thinking about making a left turn I often would not visit a business on the other side of the street’s two opposing lanes if it was a unplanned “pass-by” spur of the moment trip…I would just keep driving and take my business elsewhere.]
Plus the bike lanes will help drivers get into their cars safer too, ‘just don’t door me as a cyclist!’.
Jonathan – you may want to add a photo of the previous 4-lane conditions…just so that when we look back at this article in 10 years we will remember how bad it was!
On one hand, I am SO EXCITED to be able to finally ride on Foster! On the other, I’m sad that these lanes have been in the works for so long that they are already outdated in design from a safety standpoint.
So retro, so 1970s!
The dream of the nineties is alive in Portland.
And doesn’t some of the latest research suggest that bike lanes like this are in fact NOT “better than nothing?”
That was reported in one of the stories earlier this week, but I’m not buying it until I see the actual research and evidence that supports that statement. But judge for yourself whether the new bike lanes make Foster a safer place to ride. My vote is “Yes!”
That was about sharrows – sharrows are worse than nothing.
It seems like PBOT throws us a bone and we’re supposed to be excited. This is lame, out-dated, arguably unsafer, etc. With all the deaths on the roads and the climate news work like this just doesn’t cut it.
Enhanced or protected bike lanes were established *best practice* in Portland when Foster was designed (2012-2013). For example, most of Portland’s protected bike facilities *predate* the design of Foster’s new door zone bike lanes:
https://bikeportland.org/2009/08/31/first-look-at-portlands-inaugural-cycle-track-22932
https://bikeportland.org/2011/05/19/riding-portlands-first-real-cycle-track-on-cully-blvd-53320
https://www.oregonlive.com/commuting/2011/11/portland_opens_new_cycle_track.html
https://bikeportland.org/2012/11/09/first-look-new-protected-bike-lanes-on-ne-multnomah-street-79880
Yeah, this was about lack of political will to remove parking, not lack of knowledge/standards. There were people in the community and on the committee fighting for protected bike lanes, but not a ton of us, and Novick didn’t give PBOT leadership & staff the feeling that they would be shielded from backlash if they pushed forward with a more progressive design.
Honestly, I sadly suspect that PBOT would make the same choice if the project were being planned today.
It was also about funding. Protection was going to increase the cost.
Pretty awesome stuff. My FoPo friends are beyond amped, their neighborhood just got a helluva lot more livable, as already evidenced by new businesses opening (it feels like weekly) up and down the block.
On the flip side, as someone who lives just off Holgate (at 35th), I’m a little worried about traffic that will be bailing off Foster and coming down “my” street. But as others have stated, I only anticipate this being a concern during rush hour, which I avoid like the plague. And that includes both driving and biking and running – just too many people out there at that time.
As somebody that lives just off Holgate I’m glad they lowered the speed limit.
“PBOT did that thing where they drop the bike lane right before a big intersection (82nd) to create a shared lane.” …but, I suspect, mostly because ODOT insisted on it. Maybe it’s a convenient excuse but I do know that the state sometimes insists on this type of thing where city streets cross theirs. It’s unfortunate because, inevitably, these are the busiest, scariest crossings where protection is most desired.
It would be less stressful if right-on-red were prohibited so there weren’t impatient motorists right behind you.
No surprise when I was watching the video above and saw somebody using the new bike lane as a passing lane.
Mental note: always reload the page from the link in the title at the top before posting a second message or it won’t thread properly.
Somthat is what is going on. Seems like a glitch. It never used to do that.
This is awesome! Can we please do the same for Hawthorne between 12th and 39th? Calling that road a a four lane road is a joke, and given the recent enhancements to 50th, we can make a seamless connection all the way to Foster.
There is a greenway three blocks south of Hawthorne. It always defies logic when folks suggest improvements when there is great infrastructure nearby. Quit riding how you would drive and you will unlock all kinds of great low stress routes.
It’s more like 5 or 6 blocks. Lincoln has few destinations. Changing the configuration of Hawthorne to one like Foster would improve the experience for bus drivers, who no longer have to straddle the dashed lines, for pedestrians, who no longer have to cross four lanes of speeding drivers, and even for drivers, who no longer get stuck behind those turning left and don’t have to show how bad they are at judging distance in the tiny lanes.
I want to like Christopher of Portland’s comment a million times…he said it so much more eloquently than I did.
I ride this area on the daily, and never feel slowed down by taking Lincoln. The last thing I want is to tempt the cars on Hawthorne to cut through the side streets even more often.
Three blocks?
Sounds like you aren’t that familiar with Lincoln/Harrison. For the five-hundred-and-eighteenth time, just becasue a few streets (Lincoln, Clinton, Salmon) are becalmed doesnt in any way mean that Hawthorne (where we might all agree the action is, the bridge is, the shops are, etc.) should remain inhospitable. I ride on Hawthorne whenever I please, always have, but your mindset still grates.
Oh snap, our Resident Hardcore Arterial Cyclist is fatigued over typing his, like, opinion, and also isn’t good at counting. Open a map, count the blocks, between 12th and 39th, the green way is 3 or 4 blocks from Hawthorne/The Action. I go to places all the time on Division, Hawthorne and Burnside, and the main route I take to all of them is not Division, Hawthorne or Burnside. You don’t subscribe to that ideology of route finding, cool, so ride how/where people drive and enjoy interacting with far more traffic that otherwise necessary.
By your math Harrison is only one block South of Hawthorne btw Chavez and 40th.
Standard Portland block faces are 200ft. Divergence from that (e.g., missing street segments) doesn’t in normal usage mean that everything is that much closer.
I have no truck with ‘route finding,’ but I do and probably always will resent being shunted out of the way of the almighty auto onto side streets where it may be pleasant to pedal, but the destinations I wish to visit are pointedly not.
I use Harrison all the time.
My frustration with Hawthorne comes as a driver….it simply isn’t a very good 4 lane road. The lanes are narrow, and barely any space between opposing traffic. You can tell someone tried to stuff more road capacity into a roadwidth that simply didn’t support it. I much prefer intentional design than a road planner trying to add capacity by giving a very mediocre solution.
As far as bike lanes go…I can tell you I appreciate a more direct route where possible. As someone that lives and uses the 20s bikelane frequently, I ride on 28th from Stark to the bridge over 84 rather than divert over to 30th/Oregon Park.
Anyway, I know not everyone can bike everywhere, but I am not going to complain about taking away a lane that shouldn’t be there in the first place and replacing with a bike lane, or some sort of a mass transit option.
One of your photos claims the unbuffered bike lane is “low-stress”, but I think you meant to say stressful
thanks Dirk! That was a mistake. I fixed it so now it says, “definitely NOT low-stress”.
What a difference a day makes! Just rode this yesterday when all I had on the pavement were little circles that said “BS”. Which I took to mean Bike Serenely. So I did.
I’ll never understand why they keep on street parking on arterials. Letting cars parallel park is dangerous for cyclists and annoying for drivers. Everybody wins with no parking – more dedicated space for bikes or buses.
Aside from business owners, who feel removing this parking will damage their businesses, and, arguably, customers of those businesses who don’t want to hunt around the neighborhoods to find parking, and, arguably, those who live nearby and don’t want lots of people using their street as a parking lot.
Thank you for writing ‘business owners… who feel…” Some do clearly make this assumption, but some of us also know that this is not necessarily a good or valid assumption to make, given the other half of this, which allows non-car customers to find/visit/patronize your establishment, who, I think we know, sometimes spend more per trip/visit, and don’t ruin things for others, as the one or two who drive and may find a proximate parking spot definitely do.
I’m open to the possibility that business owners along Foster know their customers better than you do.
FABA, the Foster Area Business Association, strongly supported this project when it was in design and went to City Council for approval.
Sure, because business owners being prejudiced and ignorant about cycling facilities has never been a problem in the past..
Have you forgotten the fracas about the mere suggestion to remove some car parking on 28th? Staccato Gelato and the Laurelhurst Theater?
I agree it doesn’t make much sense for Foster Freeway. But for new and improved Foster streetscape, parallel parking is quite effective at calming traffic and adding “humanity” to the street as JM puts it.
Finally, YES, woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Time to go visit Foster, except this time, I won’t be in a motorized vehicle!
Congrats to those who will benefit. Hope this inspires a few to join our team.
The recent death on 99W demonstrates why these paint-only lanes are insufficient. Veering a few inches to the left or right shouldn’t be a death sentence, but with lanes like this it can and will be.
No surprise when I was watching the video above and saw somebody using the new bike lane as a passing lane.
It looked like they were turning.
Now as safe as Broadway
I’m a bold confident cyclist and have lived in the neighborhood for 15 years. I’ve avoided riding on Foster because traffic is too fast and the street too narrow, but then, last night, while on the Foster Night Ride, I was DELIGHTED to see these sparkly white paint stripes.
I know there’s controversy about the effectiveness of paint. My argument is this: imagine a two lane road without yellow striping in the middle – it would be scary for drivers and hard to navigate. Another example: picture a parking lot without lines and imagine the chaos. When people park in fields for events, they need people with vests and flags to tell them how to park in rows. Bike lane paint also tells other road users that bikes belong on the road.
Anyway, WOOOO HOOOO I am one happy Faux Poor felony flats hill killer!
There is anticipation of traffic diverting from Foster Rd due to the lane reconfiguration and onto three nearby roads: Holgate Blvd, Woodstock Blvd, and Powell Blvd. Traffic counts are planned later this year to determine the degree of spillover traffic. In good news, the speed limit along the inner portion of Holgate Blvd was reduced recently as you pointed out and there are longer term plans for bike lanes and other design changes such as crossings per the latest High Crash Corridor analysis along Holgate. I still have a hard time believing that bike lanes along inner Holgate will ever exist but on outer Holgate before Powell Butte they are wonderful!
The lane reconfiguration happened last summer. With almost a year of anecdotal observation, the diversion seems pretty minimal. The worst problem I’ve seen is an increase in people running the red light at Holgate and Foster.
I’ll share this story again as I feel it helps to humanize and expand upon the Euro Classic Furniture sign saga. Jon Shleifer, the current owner of Euro Classic, actually lived for a few years in the basement of the Euro Classic Furniture as a child. His development and understanding of the neighborhood and by extension the world is been shaped by growing up on Foster Rd. The income from the business during better years provided shelter and security. To him it worked. If it works for him, why shouldn’t it work for others too, right? Not right, as Foster used to have four travel lanes back with two parking lanes for most of its length and a history of multiple injuries and fatalities, but knowing this life story certainly helps to foster understanding behind the bizarre messages originating from that building.
Interesting to know. Thanks.
Paint certainly isn’t much protection, but coupled with a lower speed limit and a few calming of traffic bits here and there makes the whole feel of the street less stressful.
Seems like a big plus for all modes of transit, unless you are impatient and driving a car.
Deep breath and patience people.
It’s depressing to see that door-zone bike lanes are still being implemented. Good grief, how many cyclists have to be injured or die before we send this spawn of hell back to where it came from? Either remove the parking or admit you’re not going to create a reasonable cycling environment. By putting in a DZBL, cyclists who know what the score is are faced with a terrible choice: ride in the door zone, which the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition has noted is the number one hazard in terms of injury and death, or eschew the bike lane and ride in the travel lane, where one will definitely be harassed.
Whoever signed off on this design should be required to put some skin in that game. This is more about getting those pesky people who ride bikes out of the way than anything else. I must have either misread the priority pyramid or the oh-so-valuable storage of private property in the public right of way was in a color that the printer was out of and sits at the top as job 1.
There’s no amount of lipstick that can pretty up this particular porcine creation.
BC, how many have died or been injured because of standard bike lanes. Tell us.
There will always be more to do, but separate space for incompatible modes is the first step toward a safer road system.
I was sitting outside NWIPA last week (first time hanging on Foster in quite some time) and realized just how great the area is going to be moving forward with the redesign. I look forward to many bike trips over there for pints and food.
I rode this today, after having mostly used Clinton, 52nd/Woodstock to get to work on 92nd & Woodstock. It took about 7 minutes off of my commute, but I’m not sure it is worth it, due to the safety hazards. It seems those on 52nd and Woodstock are used to bikes being on the road, whereas the vehicles on Foster are obviously not yet and are often larger vehicles like trucks and buses. There were also random orange cones in the bike lane, east of 82nd going east and along most of it to 52nd going west. Is this because it is not officially “open” yet? It was truly annoying to have to get out into traffic to dodge all of these cones. There did not seem to be any reason for the cones, like a pothole or obstruction, so it was confounding. I’ll return to the old route until I’ve heard the cones are completely gone and it’s been broken in a bit.
I’m late to comment, but I am very thankful for these changes. This is my third year using Foster regularly, heading east from Holgate to get on the Springwater every morning. I feel infinitely safer than I did three years ago. But it is coming home when the change is most noticeable. Going westward around 4:30pm, I would often resort to the sidewalk because it felt so unsafe, especially from 205 to 72nd Ave with a curb to my right. It’s easy to argue it was not smart to even ride that section at all. But now I can breathe more easily and feel relatively confident that I have the space I need. I am relieved and stoked these bike lanes are in place!
It’s imperative the marginal/half measure infrastructure group have as many boosters as possible.
Hawthorne should have a protected lane end to end as one of the most liberal streets in Portland…or well.was before all the beards and flannel showed up. It should not have a center turn lane. But alas Portland is still staffed by half measure Bob’s who can’t really imagine a true bike way.
That kind of liberal is the kind of liberal that drives. Hawthorne has never had much of a bicycling vibe.
Hawthorne has excellent bike infrastructure that runs parallel on both the North and South sides of the street…dunno if you can characterize the neighborhood’s cycling habits based on the lack of bikes on the arterial.
I agree that there is good infrastructure in the area, and riding in the commercial areas of Hawthorne feels surprisingly safe given the design of the street; I was responding mostly to the idea that “liberal” somehow equates to “bike ridey”, and also noting that Hawthorne has never had much of a bike scene.
:”With one lane for drivers, the back-up was pretty severe yesterday. It will be interesting to see how people respond and how/if diverted drivers impact adjacent residential streets (I saw many people bail off Foster out of frustration at being stopped).”
It should perhaps be pointed out that practically the very first thing that happened in this process was re-striping Foster to have 2 driving lanes and a center turn lane. Drivers on Foster, including myself, have had at least six months to get accustomed to the new traffic pattern. While we’ve had extra wide driving lanes it was still obviously a single lane. And my experience as a resident who both drives and bikes from FoPo to downtown is that the increase in congestion has been pretty minor. But my bike commute did get shorter by 3 minutes:)