According to a letter sent from the Portland Bureau of Transportation to members of the Buckman Neighborhood, construction will soon begin on a project to turn SE 16th from SE Hawthorne Blvd to SE Madison St into a one-way street for car users. SE 16th Ave is a neighborhood greenway and one of the main routes for going north-south through Buckman and connect to bikeways in surrounding neighborhoods.
SE 16th Ave and Hawthorne meet at an off-set intersection. PBOT says turning SE 16th into a one-way for cars will shorten the crossing distance for people bicycling at the intersection.
People driving cars southbound on 16th will now be able to only to make a right turn and go westbound onto SE Hawthorne. This will clear up the crosswalk for people on bikes who won’t have to wait for drivers crossing in front of them to go east on Hawthorne.
“The main goal is to help align people bicycling at the intersection of SE Hawthorne to improve the signal operations and shorten the crossing distance,” PBOT program director Scott Cohen wrote in the letter.
There will also be a northbound bike lane added to SE 16th, but parking will remain on both sides of the street.
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When the project plans were shared on local bike activism email lists, people were generally positive about the changes, but felt PBOT could do more to ensure bike safety at the intersection. The street parking on SE 16th may still get in the way of a well-functioning bike lane on that street, and it appears PBOT doesn’t plan to place any traffic calming measures on the street to ensure that drivers don’t take a left turn onto Hawthorne.
“This is an improvement. Unfortunately, I don’t see anything about signalization for southbound bike riders,” someone on the Shift listserv thread said. “Also, I would like to see a concrete planter placed adjacent to the new (upcoming) contraflow bike lane to prevent drivers on Hawthorne from turning onto 16th and northbound drivers on 16th from going through.”
No changes are currently proposed north of SE Madison on SE 16th or south of Hawthorne. Hopefully this small change will make it easier for cyclists to cross Hawthorne at this tricky intersection.
PBOT says construction is expected to begin this spring.