(Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland / Inset Map: City of Portland)
Fresh off the opening of the Flanders Crossing… err, I mean the Ned Flanders Crossing in June, the City of Portland Bureau of Transportation has begun construction on another project just a few blocks to the south that will also vastly improve crossing I-405 for people on foot and on bikes.
Initially covered here in April 2016 after it won a $2 million grant from the State of Oregon and initially scheduled to be build in 2018, PBOT’s Downtown I-405 Pedestrian Safety and Operational Improvements Project finally broke ground on Monday (9/20).
The $3.1 million project was first identified in 2012 via the Pearl District Access and Circulation Plan. Among the highlights are the closures of slip lanes, two blocks of a two-way protected bike lane, and a section of NW Couch that will be off-limits to car users.
Below is a map and full list of what’s coming:
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- Six new marked crosswalks: Five on NW 16th between Couch and Burnside, on on NW 15th and Couch at the I-405 southbound off-ramp.
- 22 new street trees.
- About 24 new/rebuilt ADA curb ramps.
- Two slip lanes will be closed to drivers and opened as carfree public space: From 16th Avenue to NW Couch, and from Burnside to SW 15th.
- Three new curb extensions on NW Couch: Two at 14th, one on 16th.
- New sharrows and buffered bike lane on NW Couch east of I-405.
- Driving will be prohibited on a section of NW Couch between 15th and 16th!
- Four traffic signal upgrades: Three on Burnside, one on Couch.
- Two new streetlights on NW 15th between Couch and Burnside.
PBOT says if all goes according to plan, this project should be completed by next summer (2022). Learn more at the project website.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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