Someone has been killed by a truck driver while trying to cross the street near Cleveland High School.
The Portland Police have confirmed that it was a bicycle rider. The collision happened at SE 26th and Powell Boulevard (Highway 26). According to PPB, the victim, “appeared to be a female in her mid to late twenties.” Three blocks of Powell Blvd are closed during the investigation.
According to a photo from the scene, the truck driver appears to have been driving eastbound on Powell. The victim’s bicycle can be seen lodged into the left rear wheels and their body came to rest near the southeast corner of the intersection.
There was a lot of confusion over the age of the victim, with us and many others jumping to the conclusion that it was a student. While the PPB initially said it was a woman in her 20s, they have just released an update to clarify that, “the victim was an adult female in her forties, and not a high school student.”
Former Portland Public Schools Board Member Rita Moore shared on Twitter just now that, “A great many students and staff witnessed it. Happened at the beginning of lunch, so lots of people around. That intersection has been treacherous for years.”
We heard from another source who was in contact with students at the school who described a gruesome scene unfold right in front of them.
A BikePortland reader, who I’ll refer to as KM, happened to be at Powell Park across the street from the school immediately after it happened. She walked over to the scene to offer help and said the campus security team and counselors were already there directing traffic around the body. “A person was lying near the SE corner [of 26th and Powell], about 10 feet into Powell, along the eastern crosswalk crossing Powell,” she described.
There was a group of Cleveland students who were also at Powell Park eating lunch when it happened. Teachers asked KM to help direct the kids back to school, across Powell Blvd, which was by that time completely blocked by first responders.
As Rita Moore mentioned above, this is a very notorious intersection. SE Powell is owned and maintained by the Oregon Department of Transportation and there’s a legacy of activism and protest against how they’ve managed it.
The streets outside the school are so dangerous that in March 2018 we reported that the principal of Cleveland High issued a warning to students about it prior to a national walkout protest event. “I do not want any of our students to be hurt or injured as a result of the fast and heavy moving traffic on Powell,” Principal Ayesha Freeman wrote.
In May 2015, Portlander Alistair Corkett was hit by a pickup driver while biking at the same intersection and his leg was torn from his body and later amputated. Just a few weeks after that crash, another bicycle rider was hit and suffered a broken leg at the same location. Protestors showed up to the intersection in large numbers for a rally, with many calling out ODOT directly. “Highway 26 Crime Scene: ODOT Guilty” read one of the signs pulled behind a bicycle rider during the protest.
Three months later, ODOT decided the intersection was too dangerous for bicycling, so they told PBOT to remove a narrow bike lane that used to be striped on SE 26th. Instead of the bike route being on 26th, ODOT insisted that PBOT direct riders to SE 28th where they’d install a new, bike-friendly crossing of Powell. With backing from The Street Trust and outrage from the public on their side, PBOT pushed back and convinced ODOT to give them two years to prove that 26th was the better bikeway option.
As a decision loomed in February 2018, there was another big protest at the intersection by cycling and safety advocates who refused to give into ODOT’s plan. Ultimately, with The Street Trust helping to forge a compromise, PBOT relented and ODOT succeeded in making the driving space on 26th even wider and the official bike route was moved to 28th.
Both ODOT and PBOT agree that, similar to 82nd Avenue, Powell Blvd should be in the hands of the City of Portland — not the State of Oregon. Powell Blvd ranked #1 in Metro’s 2020 jurisdictional transfer study. But before that happens, both sides would have to agree to fund updates to bring the street into a “state of good repair.” In 2017, legislators awarded $300,000 to for ODOT to study inner Powell and come up with a list of projects and a cost estimate. That study was completed in 2019 and found the total cost for the upgrades would be around $31 million.
If someone could come up with $31 million, Powell could be taken away from ODOT for good. That’s less than half the $80 million the legislature gave to 82nd to make that transfer finally happen. It’s worth noting that 82nd jumped the queue only after two people died at the same intersection in less than two weeks. As grim as it sounds, nothing is more effective at breaking bureaucratic gridlock than death.
Bike Loud PDX, a local advocacy group, has announced an emergency meeting to plan a protest. “ODOT must be held accountable,” they said in a tweet.
According to our Fatality Tracker, this is the 42nd traffic death in Portland so far this year.
UPDATE, 10:45 pm: The victim was Sarah Pliner, an accomplished and well-known Portland chef who owned Aviary, an award-winning restaurant on NE Alberta that closed in April 2020.
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May the memory of the person who was killed today be a blessing.
No one should die or be seriously injured on our streets. We know, PBOT and ODOT know, how to make our streets safe for all of us. Our leaders believe we prioritize speed over safety. They are wrong.
Speed is the wrong priority for our public space and for our lives.
ODOT wanted to move this to 28th. But BikePortland, Street Trust and Eudaly/PBOT opposed it. Because they have to have their way and PBOT is in the pocket of bicycle activists anyways. This death was unnecessary, and is caused by the boneheaded “advocacy” of these organizations.
That’s just awful news. Please keep us updated as you learn more.
The intersection of 26th & Powell is a hazard for cyclists. When the signal was upgraded, PBOT removed the (substandard) bike lanes as riders approach the intersection as well as the existing bike boxes. It was another example of PBOT removing safety elements for the benefit of motorized vehicles, similar to removing the traffic circle on NE 7th.
This happened on Eudaly’s watch. I don’t know what it is with “progressive” city leaders, PBOT, and bike safety, but the mix does not seem to produce good results.
In related news, the Oregonian reported on Sunday that bike mode share is down to 2.8%(!).
Per Jonathan’s reporting, that would have been ODOT, not PBOT that make the changes, no?
PBOT made the changes at the request of ODOT. It was a joint decision, apparently brokered by The Street Trust. Kudos all around.
As I thought at the time, it was about the worst outcome possible — leave 26th a bike route, but with substandard lanes, and remove some of the critical safety infrastructure already in place to amp up the danger.
It would have been better to focus on 28th and 21st and get bikes off 26th altogether if there was no way to keep the lanes and bike box at Powell. It’s just too dangerous the way it is.
Instead we got a mediocre facility at 28th, a substandard and dangerous one at 26th, and complete neglect of 21st.
This was done because Eudaly hates cars, PBOT of course hates cars, BikePortland acts like NRA in that they can’t agree to anything decent since it might also mean a “win” for drivers, and Street Trust is the same. Shame on all of those, they caused this death. I guess going up a few feet of elevation on 28th was unacceptable. Of course Hardesty who is even worse than Eudaly is now trying to make political capital out of this.
PBOT is probably the most radical and incompetent organization in government. Their entire policy is to make traffic unbearable, hoping that people will start bicycling in the rain, for 9 months, from outer SE with 2 kids and go to work.
Bicycling is awesome. Bicycle activists, not so much.
PBOT did not remove those lanes. ODOT did. This was widely covered on this blog, and there were big protests:
https://bikeportland.org/2018/02/07/26th-avenue-bike-lanes-in-death-throes-as-odot-turns-screws-and-advocates-dig-in-267028
Where were you?
Yes! That’s why I urged folks to refresh the page. I just added all that old context to the story.
YOU/BikePortland were against moving this bike lane to 28th because it would have meant more space for cars on 26th – it was a boneheaded, stubborn and spiteful stance. YOU personally bear some responsibility.
Thanks for the feedback.
I was there. From the story:
PBOT may have protested, but the ultimately agreed to the changes, based on a deal they made. ODOT requested/demanded, PBOT acquiesced.
Not quite true – ODOT asked this lane to be removed and move to 28th to a MUCH SAFER location. But Street Triust, BikePortland, PBOT all hate cars and didn’t want a win for cars to have more space on 26th. And part of it was “how dare you tell us what to do” kind of egotistical stubbornness. But Street trust etc would not agree so ODOT had to agree to a “compromise”.
Seriously some of the advocates care more about hurting/hating drivers than what is good for themselves and the city, and the end result is many needless deaths (and frankly, people voting against incompetent spiteful radical progressives like Eudaly and Hardesty). I am not voting for a progressive unless they can reach compromises instead of just following whatever the most radical bicyclists want.
I was under the impression that PBOT was forced to make these changes by ODOT and did so reluctantly.
Give me a break.
When will cycling enthusiasts stop apologizing for PBOT’s long track record of cowardly acquiescense to ODOT?
You make a good point that and I share your frustration.
NOT TRUE. ODOT wanted this lane to be removed and use 28th to be bicycle only. PBOT, Street Trust and BikePortland etc. all got upset about this, and forced a “compromise” which was worse. If you want to blame anyone, blame Street Trust, BikePortland, and PBOT/Eudaly who opposed removing 26th bike lane and creating a MUCH SAFER route on 28th.
And now they are all pointing the finger at ODOT, with no shame whatsoever.
Jeremy, I feel like you might have a few facts mixed up. But maybe I’m misunderstanding you. So I’m going to take a stab at engaging in good faith:
You know that the bike route ODOT wanted to be built *IS* on 28th, right? It was built exactly like ODOT wanted. The bike lane on 26th was also removed just like ODOT wanted. All those people that you seem mad at, do you know what compromise they got? That painted shoulder on 26th is *slightly* wider than what ODOT originally proposed. That’s it. There’s a slightly wider shoulder on 26th. Are you saying that the slightly wider shoulder is inherently dangerous? Because I get the impression that you’re saying that the only dangerous thing about this stretch of Powell is that there’s a slightly wider shoulder on 26th.
What would you propose here to help keep people biking and walking safe? A slightly narrower shoulder? Would that keep them safe?
ODOT, not PBOT, is to blame for the removal of the bike lanes on 26th Avenue. Here’s from a BP article from April 2017.
“The City of Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) has no jurisdiction over Powell (yet), but they have a stake in the crossing of 28th because of their 20s Bikeway project. In a bit of a coup, PBOT got ODOT to rebuild the 28th intersection and install a new traffic signal. Signalizing a highway isn’t something ODOT does lightly and it needed approval from the state traffic engineer. ODOT made it happen, but the deal hinged on PBOT agreeing to remove the existing bike lane on 26th. ODOT feels the bike lane on 26th is inherently unsafe and that it just complicates the intersection.”
“In a bit of a coup, PBOT got ODOT to rebuild the 28th intersection and install a new traffic signal.”
I have not used 26th or 28th to cross Powell very much, so I am genuinely asking: was it a coup to get the crossing added to 28rh? Is 26th the preferred natural choice for peds and bikes, and was adding a signal an attempt to displace bikes/peds? I have become suspicious of PBOT and ODOT who offer desings in the name of safety, but deliver projects that push bikes and peds out of the way of motorized vehicles.
There are advantages and disadvantages to both routes. I suspect that many people would prefer 28th because vehicle traffic is relatively light. But the surface north of Powell is broken up concrete that is bumpy and jarring to ride in. The gradient is much steeper on 28th both north and south of Powell, with moderate hills to climb on either side. 26th, on the other hand, is relatively flat from division to south of Powell. I like 26th because it provides a more direct connection to popular destinations with easier gradients, and a usable, but substandard unprotected bike lane. When riding in that area, I’ve used both crossings at different times depending on my origin and destination.
thanks for the perspective!
There is also nothing to tell cyclists to take 28th unless they already know that it exists. Also, starting a heavy cargo e-bike carrying kids uphill into the intersection of 28th can be a little bit challenging.
SE 28th is a crappy route for bikes mostly b/c of the topography and poor pavement, plus the new signal at the intersection of SE 28th and Powell really messes up traffic on Powell. On a bike I will always prefer 26th, but generally avoid them both.
Once again, no bike lanes were removed from SE 26th, the only thing that was removed were the bike boxes at the intersection with Powell. The intersection is still marked no right turn on red and the substandard bike lanes to the north and south still exist.
You appear to be right.
https://www.google.com/maps/@45.4976248,-122.639678,3a,75y,356.46h,60.5t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sUaKb1ptAAR2w6rG9vYKD0Q!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DUaKb1ptAAR2w6rG9vYKD0Q%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D1.560224%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192
I’m surprised this comment was approved without linking one of the many articles on this very site that cover the fact that ODOT required the removal of the bike lanes on 26th as a condition for PBOT getting to install a crossing at 28th. PBOT is on record saying they thought it would make the intersection less safe. Also note the date of the articles and that this decision was made well before Eudaly was in charge of PBOT. This kind of misinformation is not helpful.
https://bikeportland.org/2015/08/13/states-proposal-improve-bike-crossings-powell-remove-bike-lane-26th-155213
https://bikeportland.org/2016/01/06/city-gives-in-to-state-demand-to-remove-bike-lane-from-se-26th-avenue-171867
No bike lanes were removed, only the bike boxes at the intersection.
As fas as I know this was all ODOT’s doing (with PBOT letting ODOT walk all over them). Honnestly ODOT needs to get out of the city. Here is an old petition people tried to get going at the time showing ODOT’s doing vs PBOT https://www.change.org/p/pbot-charlie-hayes-keep-odot-out-of-portland-s-street-affairs
a person in a truck runs over a person on a bike has ZERO to do with ANY government agency, paint on a street or any amount of millions in funding in REAL TIME.
In REAL TIME one or both of these INDIVIDUAL HUMAN BEINGS made a choice that resulted in a collision. PERIOD.
Running off into phony politics will NEVER change any of this STUPID CHOICE.
The children observing PORTLAND IN ACTION now have the data they need to make a conscious intelligent choice as to transport mode.
Like my previous WARNING comment about that STUPID bike buss BS. . .
In Portland it aint safe for kids to bicycle. CHOOSE WISELY AND PAY ATTENTION KIDS.
Im 65, she was a kid.
The person hit was 40 years old.
And every crash on a public road DOES have to do with the agency that manages it, and the paint and funding.
People DO make stupid choices all the time on roads. When they do, I want the agencies managing the roads to have taken the basic steps that prevent those people from killing me.
By your logic, the safety steps Powell already has–a speed limit, crosswalks, lane lines, rules that drivers have to be 16, etc. would have nothing to do with safety “IN REAL TIME”. In my view, they do, but they aren’t enough. This intersection doesn’t even have the basic things (a 20 mph speed limit and school crossing signs) that are used outside tens of thousands of schools all over the country.
And in Portland it IS safe for kids to bicycle in many places. One of the reasons is that those places have infrastructure that makes it safe, or they have programs like the bike bus that make it safe.
You’re right that people make bad decisions “IN REAL TIME”. That’s exactly why things like agencies, paint and funding DO matter. It’s why we have lifeguards, building codes, OSHA rules, guardrails, alcohol laws, sidewalks, seat belts, licensing rules, and a million other things to protect people who do stupid things from harming themselves and the people around them.
And we need people enforcing traffic laws to deter people from doing stupid things and harming themselves and others.
Bike commutes were down almost 50% while SUV/personal-truck/(car) commutes were only down 17%. The unwillingness of cycling enthusiasts/advocates to address the cratering of transportation cycling in Portland is tragic cognitive dissonance.
commutes could be down mostly from WFH. Anecdotaly, that is the case for myself.
I compared cycling mode share to SUV/personal-truck/(car) commute share because both were affected by the WFH shift. Moreover, even subtracting out increased WFH “commutes” and adjusting the remaining commutes to 100% there was still a large drop in cycling mode share.
IMO, transportation cycling has become increasingly difficult due to a loss of “safety in numbers” and due to a large increase in hostile behavior by drivers. I also think that recreational riders who stick to safer routes fail to recognize just how oppressive commute-to-work routes* (bike lanes with less safe intersections) have become.
*utilitarian routes
Since you “don’t know what it is,” don’t accuse “progressive” leaders of causing the problem. We do need progress. Our leaders have not been nearly progressive enough.
I agree. That’s why I put progressive in quotes. Neither Eudaly nor Hardesty has been at all progressive on biking issues, despite their reputation for being progressive leaders.
I don’t blame progressive leaders generally, but Hardesty and Eudaly specifically. We need someone who is willing (and able) to make real change in charge of PBOT.
You would have a much better chance of getting those women to listen, and act, than with any of the other current or recent council members. On this issue or anything else that helps regular (non-rich) people.
The commissioner that eudaley defeated and replaced, Steve Novick, was a strong advocate for transportation issues. I guess that was five years ago, now. I don’t know if that counts as recent in your book.
Novick (along with Hales) gutted PBOT’s active transportation funding resulting in the delay of neighborhood greenway projects in E Portland. He also emphasized automobile-centric road repair and helped PBOT obfuscate spending on active transportation under an amorphous “safety” category. How anyone who cares about active transportation can defend Novick is beyond me
Exactly. Eudaly’s defeat of Novick was a massive loss for active transportation in this city. People either have short memories or just recently moved here…
People do indeed have very short memories. I was there serving on the PBOT budget/Bureau Advisory Committee when the annual deep cuts were made, in 2009-12. We gutted the bike program so we could save hundreds of PBOT jobs AND build $16 million in new sidewalks in East and Southwest Portland. We had so little discretionary money – most of the money was already committed years ago in advance for various projects – that we had very few choices on cuts. I can’t stop you from blaming Eudaly, or Novick, or any number of other elected and appointed officials – but personally I blame the long recession of 2008, the loss of tax revenue, and an unwillingness on the part of Oregonians to raise the necessary taxes during major recessions.
Portland cycling advocacy has become tightly associated with the pro-free-market elite so the reluctance of left-leaning politicians to engage makes unfortunate political sense.
¿What? That’s an opinion floating way above the ground with no visible means of support.
I can’t modestly claim to be a cycling advocate but I know several. None of those people move with the “pro free market elite”. Some things that you find self-evident surpass parody.
With all due respect, it is my experience and opinion that many highly-visible cycling advocates are supporters of gentrification.
Unfortunately, it’s not a surprise.
My children attended CHS and I spent lots of time at athletic and club events in connection with their attendance. I regularly saw motorists on Powell Boulevard blow through the signal at 26th Avenue. Usually westbound in the downhill direction.
I attended the open house events for the Powell Boulevard Safety Project a few years ago. I advocated for a school zone speed posting and for red light cameras, but, of course, those were not included.
And, we have zero traffic enforcement.
Sickening.
I really don’t understand how not designating this a school zone is even legal 🙁
ODOT says they don’t create school zones around high schools.
If ODOT says that, it doesn’t look like it’s true. Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway has a school zone at Jesuit High School:
https://www.google.com/maps/@45.4862716,-122.7647707,3a,61.2y,287.11h,95.36t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s-HEw7OfSfCpqkddRfOodPg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
Jesuit also has these school crossing signs that Cleveland apparently doesn’t deserve:
Jesuit:
https://www.google.com/maps/@45.4863493,-122.768721,3a,15y,101.36h,91.69t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sDu24m55HNIexcod6kJYFTw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
Cleveland:
https://www.google.com/maps/@45.4981056,-122.6402256,3a,32.9y,112.6h,96.56t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sgOsdEnJVkOXsqNVCcMLWhw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
Guess what else Jesuit has??
$$$$$$$$$$$
Would ODOT mislead the community to avoid doing something they didn’t want to do? Color me shocked.
It looks like the semi was eastbound – so question is did it turn right onto Powell and the biker wasn’t seen going north on 26th? It’s a scary intersection for a number of reasons. Condolences to the family.
It doesn’t look to me like the truck was turning prior to the collision. The truck is basically stopped in the intersection and all of the wheels are pointing straight ahead. If the truck driver had turned onto Powell from 26th, there would still be some articulation between the truck cab and the trailer, and the front wheels would probably be angled as the truck was completing the turn. No way a truck of that size would have been able to straighten the wheels completely in such a short distance.
There are cameras at the intersection and tons of eyewitnesses. It should be fairly straightforward to figure exactly what happened. Alas, if the truck driver was at fault, our incompetent and negligent criminal justice system will likely issue nothing more than a slap on the wrist
Employees at ODOT shouldn’t be able to sleep at night. They did this.
I just emailed my reps asking them how many deaths on these ODOT-owned roads in Portland will be enough before they sit up and take any action. But I have extremely little faith in Sen Wagner (who was one of those who approved Beyer for the OTC I believe) and Rep. Salinas who doesn’t even live in Portland (why my part of the city is lumped with Lake Oswego baffles and frustrates me to no end).
Thank you for writing your representatives. I will try that too.
And ODOT probably has a “tolerance” or “acceptable number of deaths.” So this probably won’t affect their sleep.
The acceptable yearly number of human lives ended in motor vehicle crashes in the Portland area is at least 50 because that has happened. The normal operation of transportation agencies has that loss built into it because that number did not shock the agencies involved into any degree of sadness or shame, there was no stand down, the war is going on.
I’ll amend that number to 51 because I know that if I were killed today, as the person was killed at 26th and Powell the other day, it wouldn’t tip the balance one bit. We can all ask ourselves, if our manner of operating motor vehicles consumed my life, would it matter?
And employees of PBOT for functioning as ODOT’s flunkies.
Powell cuts right through SE Portland and it’s disgusting nothing has been done to make the situation any better. Stroads like Powell should just not exist.
It’s also an extremely obvious place to put high capacity transit! The FX2 should have been on it, and it needs to have lanes removed and some serious traffic calming. I hate ODOT so much, this death and those like it are their fault.
I heartily agree with Ben’s comment both about the idiocy of a highway cutting through SE Portland AND that the FX2 should be on Powell not Division (ugh).
As the parent of a Cleveland HS sophomore, the adjacency to Powell terrifies me. My daughter had to cross there to eat outside at Powell Park all of last year and I thought about her crossing, reminded her to look and be seen, and to be wary of drivers. I hate it. The 28th crossing is great, but safe crossings at both 26th and 28th are necessary. In general, between the exploding meth campers at the track and Powell, SE Portland doesn’t feel very safe.
As a bike advocate and an urban planning veteran in Portland (no longer in the field so don’t yell at me!) I know many good people who have worked at ODOT over the years but safety at this intersection, and along school routes needs to be a priority. If it’s not schools and students, then what priorities can we say we have and take seriously?
Powell claims another life. Brandon Reid, killed April 14, 2020 on 148th & Powell. Gone but never forgotten
Thank you for naming him. A senseless death. I’m sorry for your loss.
Ryan Dickenson died of injuries suffered in a collision on October 1st, 2021 at 29th and Powell. He was a member of the large encampment behind the McDonald’s located there.
On October 30th, 2021, 31-year-old Tralee McClain, a lifelong Portland resident and graduate of Cleveland High School died after being hit by a SUV on Southeast Powell Boulevard at 29th Avenue.
Clearly ODOT’s Powell Blvd. Safety Project has not been successful.
Say their names.
Thank you for not calling this an accident. I know this is an intentional editorial decision, and this collision and needless death are sadly yet another reminder that none of us are safe on these streets until we deliberately prioritize safety over speed.
I’m noting that there’s no description of what happened, yet the article and commenters are blaming ODOT. Maybe the person on the bicycle made a mistake or a dumb move? It’s been known to happen. Every day, all over Portland, actually.
Hi Miguel,
We’re not blaming anyone. We are pointing out some context for the agency that is in charge of the road that both parties were using at the time of the crash.
Infrastructure should be designed so that a “mistake or dumb move” is not fatal.
Indeed, it usually is…for drivers. People who are outside of a car are on their own.
I suspect a truck might run the light there, but not a cyclist who made it to 40-something. May she rest in peace.
Well, I’m in my mid-50s w. over a decade of year-round bike commuting and bike courier experience. I’ve made plenty of life threatening mistakes, bad decisions, attention lapses and have even been aware of being confused for a moment or two. As a bicyclist, playing in traffic, that’s all it takes for your life to end very quickly.
I’m old and I’ve made mistakes, too, but crossing Powell against the light isn’t a mistake I can imagine making. I just suspect the driver did something wrong and not the cyclist here.
My husband and I were talking (our daughter is a 10th grade student at CHS and is a cross country runner in the neighborhood crossing Powell all the time *gulp*) and we think the blight from several vacant lots and even the open park space does something to make drivers move faster and more carelessly than normal. Maybe it feels wide open, maybe the peripheral vision is wider and they don’t see a person right there, maybe there are too many trucks. I bet if the road had some side rails, or something to make it feel more confined while the lots are being redeveloped, it would improve safety.
Also, why can’t PBOT take over jurisdiction of Powell in the city limits? This happens a lot. Does PBOT not want to due to maintenance etc? It’s usually an option.
The neighborhood associations in the area, including Creston-Kennilworth, Brooklyn, HAND, and Richmond, have been working on and off for years (decades?) for this outcome, and have kickstarted a new effort recently.
My understanding is that ODOT does not want to give it up, and PBOT does not want it without some upgrades/funding to help get the facility closer to PBOT standards.
Note that further out (past 92nd?), PBOT is taking control of the facility.
ODOT supposedly does want to give it up, but PBOT won’t take it until the deferred maintenance is taken care of. Most legacy state highways in the metro area are like this, in Portland we get the jurisdictional transfers done partly since PBOT can absorb much more on a budget level. Places in Washington County like 99W so much deferred maintenance that they would bankrupt the municipalities they are in.
My kids went to Cleveland, and crossing Powell and 26th was something that had me regularly worried for their safety. There are so many close calls and outright injuries in this intersection, and the red light runners (especially the downhill westbound lanes, as others have noted) are endemic.
When I used to ride across Powell on 26th I always counted to three before moving forward on green, to account for drivers speeding through the red light. I’m so angry today that we’re killing people on a publicly-owned roadway. Someone needs to be held accountable.
Horrible. My heart goes out to everyone here.
ODOT’s current setup at this intersection is wholly inadequate. In my opinion, there should be no right turns allowed at all at this intersection. There’s simply too much potential for right hooks with the amount of multimodal traffic this intersection gets. If you want to turn right then use a different street; there’s plenty of options. And this should be in addition to adding speed/red light cameras with strict enforcement, as well as a permanent 20 mph school zone between 25th and 28th.
I don’t believe that anything less than these measures would solve the problem here.
Actually, there aren’t. Depending on which right turn(s) you want banned, there are very few options. Heading south, 26th and 28th are the only streets that really go anywhere and are physically appropriate to drive on, and 28th is now dedicated to bikes. You could go south at 21st or 22nd, but then need to wind your way back to 26th to continue south.
Heading north is not much better. 28th again physically works (but is the bike street), then there’s 26th, and nothing else in the area really goes anywhere until you get to 21st, which is also heavily used by bikes.
And 26th and 21st south of Powell are used by trucks coming from the UPRR rail yard, which has an entrance at Gladstone.
I’d rather have people driving cars take 21st/22nd, 33rd, or other minor streets into the neighborhoods rather than 26th or 28th, since the others don’t have a major high school on the corner. 28th Place (not 28th Ave) would also work going east-to-south or north-to-east, and 29th would work going west-to-north or south-to-west. Even though they’re nonsignalized, it should be easy enough for people to make right turns here since the signals at 33rd and 26th/28th would create gaps in traffic.
For trucks coming from the yard, I’d rather they also use 21st and then turn right onto Powell there. It might increase conflicts at this intersection, but I’d much rather have them here than at the 26th intersection since there’s so much more cyclist and pedestrian volume at 26th.
It sounds like the truck wasn’t turning but crossing 26th on Powell, eastbound. I’m still trying to picture the scene. Did the driver simply roll over the bicyclist at slow speed from a green light, and the truck driver was not able to see over the tall front grill of the truck? Or was the truck moving at high speed through the intersection, illegally crossing on a change to red? Or did the cyclist cross against a red light?
To what degree does the poor intersection design contribute to the crash, versus human error on the part of the truck driver or possibly by the cyclist?
Terrible news. I live in the neighborhood and one thing I’ve noticed is that if I google maps a bike route to somewhere across Powell from my home near 30th, it will actually route me OFF 28th Ave and down to 26th.
I rarely use 28th or 26th; I usually cut down through the park and cross at the flashing yellow at 24th, then cruise down to 21st on Tibbetts. It feels MUCH safer (no turning vehicles to contend with, and a center median), it’s a lot faster (instant gratification rather than what can be a long wait at the signals), and no gratuitous hills like on 28th.
Depends where you’re going, of course.
I do this too, even though that path through the park has grown steadily worse through the years
Google maps bike routing does that because, I believe, the bike routing won’t recognize a path that isn’t accessible to cars unless a manual exception is included in Google maps. Since cars can’t continue straight at 28th and Powell, their system doesn’t know that bikes can. It has something to do with how and where they get their data, which I think is open data from the city. I’m sure there are some planning folks on here who know the details better.
However, this just points out how common it is that 26th looks like a good path to cross Powell on a bike.
I used g* maps to route myself to the airport from NE and it sent me down Cully instead of 42nd. I should have known better and it’s not a choice I’d make again. Use g* bike routes with discretion, add salt to taste.
This is in my neighborhood, I traverse that intersection multiple times every week, most often as a motorist travelling north-south on SE 26th. The bike lanes on SE 26th are still there, but they are very narrow (3′) and basically in the gutter with manhole covers, drainage grates, and poorly patched utility cuts in them. When I do ride this section of SE 26th I take the lane unless there is overtaking traffic, then I ride the white line at the outer edge of the bike lane. IIRC the only thing PBOT actually removed was the bike boxes on SE 26th at the intersection with Powell, and not the bike lanes themselves. One thing I do see here regularly is that plenty of motorists travelling north-south on SE 26th turn right on red onto Powell despite that maneuver being prohibited at this intersection.
I envision two potential scenarios here: (1) the cyclist was traveling north on SE 26th and the truck driver was making a right turn from northbound SE 26th to eastbound Powell and this was a right hook crash, or (2) the cyclist was traveling north-south on SE 26th and the truck driver was traveling east on SE Powell and one of the vehicles violated the traffic signal. The removed bike box might have made a difference in scenario 1 but not in scenario 2. One detail not provided is whether the cyclist was travelling north-south on SE 26th or east-west on SE Powell.
That being said, there is a huge amount of new truck traffic on SE 26th between SE Holgate and Gladstone associated with the UPRR yards in that area. This section of SE 26th is narrow with on-street parking on both sides and has never had bike lanes.
FDUP,
It was previously a bike lane. Now it is not a bike lane. “bike lane” is a legal term and what’s currently there is now considered a shoulder under Oregon Law while before ODOT changed it it was considered a bike lane.
I am a bit ambivalent on this point but I think I have to respectfully disagree with you; the SE 26th bike lane was never an outstanding facility but AFAIK it was the first ‘official’ bike lane the city ever installed.
Just b/c ODOT somehow invalidated it, it doesn’t make it so. And, if it’s no longer an ‘official’ bike lane then cyclists are free to take to entire lane with no adverse legal consequences. B/c AFAIK, there is no Oregon law that requires a cyclist to ride on the shoulder or outside the ‘fog’ line if there is no officially designated bike facility.
ORS 814.420 only applies to actual designated bike lanes that a ‘state or local authority with jurisdiction over the roadway finds, after public hearing, that the bicycle lane or bicycle path is suitable for safe bicycle use at reasonable rates of speed’.
https://oregon.public.law/statutes/ors_814.420
Furthermore, the same exceptions to 814.420 are also codified in ORS 814.430, which allows cyclists to take the lane when necessary.
https://oregon.public.law/statutes/ors_814.430
If ODOT and PBOT really want to behave this way, the state legislature should repeal ORS 814.420 and let cyclists ride where they are safest, and not in the gutter where the motoring majority would prefer they stayed.
But all the state reps and police officers today are basically motorists and their interests are motorist-oriented, so I don’t see much change coming anytime soon.
OTOH, I know this is a quasi-legal argument that most of the general public either won’t understand or ignore. Catch 22 suckers!
I checked again yesterday and there are still diamond bike lane markers in this so-called ‘shoulder’.
yes I really need to get clarification on this and will do that and report back. I realize that while I’ve reported ODOT reclassified them, the width of the stripe still appears to be a bike lane width. So I’m confused.
In what section of SE 26th specifically did you see the diamond bike lane markers?
there’s one diamond in the southbound direction, well before you reach powell. Before Burgerville parking lot. Also, I have a hunch that the only reason the lane is striped at the width it is, is because striping crews have just gone overlapping on stripes and so it looks wider than ODOT probably wants it to look.
On Google Maps satellite view there are diamonds in the Southbound lane of SE 26th starting at SE Woodward to SE Franklin.
The Eastward side of SE 26th there are 2 clearly visible white lines that delineate a bike lane.
The Westward side of DE 26th just has a fog line so that side of the road would be considered a shoulder.
The image is current enough that there are no bike boxes at SE Powell and you can also see the curb extensions.
It looks pretty clear to me that either the cyclist or the truck driver ran a light as the crash happened in the middle of the street with the truck’s wheels pointing straight and the bicycle on the eastside of the ped x-ing.
If that’s the case, I don’t know how ODOT and/or PBOT could do to avoid this from happening again.
I was hit on my bike riding slowly in the Ped x-ing at SE 24th & SE Powell in 2018 coming home from work. Rush hour traffic was stopped in both lanes and both directions and as I was crossing the parking lane into Powell Park, I was t-boned by a driver in a min-van driving in the parking lane alongside Powell Park on SE Powell.
One possibly contributing factor is that there’s no clear signage, or pavement striping, marking that clearly identifies the parking lane alongside Powell Park on SE Powell, especially in the dark & wet conditions of early December.
I use the SE 24th & Powell ped x-ing regularly. It’s much safer after the upgrade but the parking lane is still not clearly & obviously marked.
In fact, about a week ago, I saw one of those ride share cars parked there and it looked like someone crashed into it.
I hate to say it, but I’ve taken to heart the words of good friend, “I assume everyone who is driving a car is a homicidal maniac and I bike accordingly.”
It is ODOT and PBOT’s job to come up with a way to prevent such deaths. They are supposedly professionally trained to do so. We regular citizens do not have to know how they could do it. But we can and should demand that they work on it, immediately.
I agree, I just have yet to see either of them design for this or accomplish it save for pedestrian bridges.
In this short video – ‘Systematic Safety – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aNtsWvNYKE
they talk about road infrastructure being “forgiving” and “restrictive”. Forgiveness means a simple mistake doesn’t cause serious harm and restrictive means it prevents people from making the mistakes they want to make.
We’re so far away from anything like that even in a progressive transportation city like Portland not too mention in a place where I grew up where peds & bikes weren’t even a consideration.
> We regular citizens do not have to know how they could do it.
No, regular citizens don’t have to know, but knowledge is power.
To whomever is moderating, I posted a long and thoughtful comment that I understood was approved but isn’t showing up.
Thanks!
It was in Spam, thanks for saying something. I thought I had approving it earlier today, so I’m not sure what happened.
no worries, it’s up now!
thanks!
The recent anniversary of Critical Mass in California makes me wonder if a protest ride over today’s horrible incident would be worthwhile
Critical mass protested the dominance of cars by intentionally slowing traffic during peak commute hours. I don’t think there is much interest in this kind of civil disobedience in post-weird tradPortland.
I’ve seen the video of all the cops on bikes shutting down the last crit. mass ride in pdx.
My understanding is that the intention behind Shfit2Bikes was to have organized smaller rides throughout the year plus Pedalpaloalooza.
I’m not involved w. S2Bs or Pedalpalooza organizing but I wholeheartedly support 3 mths of Pedalpalooza as it’s just so much more time for people to organize interesting rides and more opportunities for more people to participate.
The Thur night ride this summer had a couple hundred people or so. It’s after rush hour though.
I think the more group rides there are, regardless of size, helps create public awareness of cyclists.
I very much support shutting crap down w. a mass of cyclists anytime someone is hit and seriously injured by a motor vehicle. Just swarm the streets for a few blocks from the crash and let everyone know what’s happened and how we feel about it.
I would’ve road my bike up & down SE Powell all effing day & night.
Critical Mass in Portland died a horrible death under the watch of Vera Katz, the Portland Business Alliance and the Portland Police Bureau. At the time I called it the KKK – Vera Katz (mayor), Kim Kimbrough (exec director PBA) and Mark Kroeker (chief of police PPB).
These are the only type of articles BP publishes which totally depress me. This madness has to end. Yea for Bike Loud!
can someone please calculate the amount of new bike infra per death, like how many people have to die to fully fund a safe bike network.
The Netherlands has some of the safest infrastructure in the world after the dutch citizens got tired of loosing so many of their family members and friends to traffic crashes.
But even today, they still average 200 cyclists dying in crashes per year. There are 17 million people and 23 million bicycles in the Netherlands.
I hate to quote Joe Rogan, but he’s right that “We can’t NERF the world.” You will always only be as safe as you and the others around you are.
So as my dad told me all my childhood, “Pay attention to what you’re doing and what’s going on around you!”
So far most of my worst bicycle crashes were solo w/o involving a motor vehicle, while using my bike for recreational purposes (full disclosure – I was doored badly once as a teenager and am lucky there was no traffic; but that taught me to avoid that particular situation. I also got left-hooked once but the only thing damaged was the bike). Situational awareness is fundamentally important, you have to check for traffic even if the light is in your favor, and I never pass right-turning vehicles at an intersection on the right, even if there is a bike lane and/or theoretically the law says you can.
People like Joe Rogan use that idea to pew pew legitimate safety policy by pretending one death is the same as ten.
The reality is that the Netherlands has 3.8 road fatalities per 100,000 and the United States has 11.7 per 100,000. There is absolutely a lot we can do to make our roads safer.
The idea that not being killed as a pedestrian, motorist, or cyclist is a matter of personal responisiblity is toxic one spread by car-brains.
https://www.itf-oecd.org/sites/default/files/netherlands-road-safety.pdf
https://www.iihs.org/topics/fatality-statistics/detail/state-by-state
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base_rate_fallacy
200 lives could be a very small percentage of a really big number. More people riding bikes are safer, but in a nation of 17 million, yes, some of them die. Less than one a day on a bike. You probably get some number who actually die of natural causes while on a bike, with that many riders.
In the US, roughly 82 people per day die in motor vehicle traffic crashes.
It is deplorable that previous generations created a society where people have to needlessly die just to get basic safety improvements for busy streets. We owe it to the victim and her family to hold ODOT accountable and make Powell safer for pedestrians and cyclists.
This is Matthew Garret’s legacy and Kris Strickler’s ongoing negligence.
Behind the cover state DOT bureaucracy, there are people choosing to harm other people.
I am extremely concerned that an early post from Bike Oregon stated that it was “confirmed” the victim was a Cleveland student. This was beyond upsetting for those who saw that post. Irresponsible!
I think the earlier version of this story made it clear that the eyewitness account and the police account conflicted. One claimed the victim was a high school age woman, one a woman in her twenties. It’s possible that ‘confirmed’ was used to describe the eyewitness account. But the article clearly was just repeating information that had been gathered from people at the scene, and nothing in the article suggested otherwise.
Hi AJP,
I’m extremely concerned about that too. I made a big mistake by posting that to Twitter and I really regret it. I should have known better than to use that word “confirmed.” I had multiple sources from the school itself saying it was a student, but turns out I relied on what was essentially teens spreading gossip and just the lack of information in the early minutes after it happened.
Just so you know, as soon as I realized my mistake, I deleted the tweet and apologized to everyone.
Additional context is that I don’t believe what PPB say in their statements, so even when they initially said it was “someone in their 20s” I didn’t believe them and thought it was still OK to share that some folks were saying it was a student. Once the confirmation came through, I immediately cleaned up the story to reflect the truth.
There’s no excuse for this type of mistake and I take full responsibility. (I’m just sharing context to let you know why I made the mistake.)
Sorry to everyone I misled.
It’s infuriating that major news outlets cover this story as if it happened in a vacuum – no context on ODOT, PBOT, the history of deadly crashes on this stretch, or the community protests over the years. I spent a few hours yesterday with a pit in my stomach thinking a kid had died, and while it’s no consolation that the victim was an adult, I’m left with a feeling of rage and disgust at all the policymakers who enabled this situation, and the local media (BP excepted) for its lazy reporting. My son was killed on an ODOT road in 2010. The effects of a loss like this extend beyond immediate family to the entire community – in this case that includes Cleveland HS. My heart goes out to the victim’s loved ones and everyone else who will be processing this trauma for years to come.
Hear, hear, Michelle. It’s clear to me that the media (BP excepted), ODOT, and PBOT are all part of the problem, not the solution. We need new a whole new generation of problem-solvers to figure this one out.
I for one wonder why there are so many goddam semi-trucks on Portland streets nowadays! Can we maybe start by looking at where and how freight moves? A bicycle rider shouldn’t have to contend with huge trucks everywhere.
Fred, I agree with the amount of trucks on the road. The biggest limit I see to increasing bike share from my part of town, North Portland, is the lack of safe, direct connections to any other part of town. NOPO has some excellent greenways, MUPS and bike lanes, but to connect to anyother part of town is pretty bad. NE is pretty well connected, but I-5 remains a pretty big barrier. The most egregious is Interstate Ave. Most the n/s routes in NOPO funnel users to Interstate Ave at Greeley. THe stretch between Greeley and connections at the Broadway or Steel Bridge or even connecting to Lloyd and the Blumenaur Bridge all rely on skinny, unproteted bike lanes with dangerous gaps. There is alot of freight sharing this route and it is very unpleasant. Since 2020, there has been a noticeable uptick in speed and red light running, too. Vancouver/Williams is a potential alternative n/s route, but the connection to the Broadway bridge is pretty hairy, and getting across Broadway with the I-5 ramps is very stressful and unsafe. 7th is even farther out of the way, but I have had high hopes that this would become a safe and direct route for NOPO residents that would avoid sharing space with freight, but that is not going well, IMO. I guess I am getting off topic, but I want to echo Fred’s comment that freigh movement is negatively impacting safe transportation on Powell Blvd and throughout the city.
Every part of town is going to have it’s unique problems & challenges. I’m not familiar with those in the NoPo area. I only bike up there from SE every blue moon or so.
But I’ve lived & biked in SE around Powell for over a decade now. I personally haven’t noticed in uptick in freight. There were definitely many, many, many more UPS, Fed-Ex, Amazon, Doordash, Uber delivery trucks, vans and cars during the pandemic.
My neighborhood street sounded like a busy NYC street from morning well into the night. It was maddening and I’d get stressed the F! out almost every day.
But what I can say about SE Powell is that it’s always been high speed, high volume and crossing it, even at a traffic light was always a risky endeavor.
As a good friend says, “If you build a straight road w. multiple lanes that looks like a highway, people will drive on it like it’s a highway.”
And that is the living legacy of SE Powell / HWY 26.
I think the improved ped x-ing at SE 24th and the new ped/bike x-ing at SE 28th has gotten people who regularly drive on SE Powell a bit more usee to people on foot, bikes, scotters, skateboards crossing SE Powell.
I’d say maybe 1 out of 10 times when I hit the x-walk button at SE 24th does a car just drive through the flashing yellow lights when I’m in the x-walk.
I strongly agree the first thing that needs to happen is to get SE Powell transferred under PBOT’s governance so changes can be made. ODDT is always going to care more about moving as many cars & trucks through an area. That’s just what the do.
I’d love to see one eastbound and westbound lane dedicated solely to buses and a school / public park zone from SE 22nd to SE 28th w. a 20 mph speed limit.
Personally, I prefer using north-south neighborhood streets like Rodney and connecting to the Broadway Bridge via Flint; but of course, ODOT is planning on removing the Flint overcrossing of I-5 as part of the Rose Quarter ‘improvements’.
Comment of the week
Isn’t there a resource that tracks the location of the fatalities? I’m pretty sure it’s at least four this year in a small stretch of Powell, between 26-33rd. I hope I’m wrong.
PBOT crash data map: https://pdx.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=5385b143768c445db915a9c7fad32ebe
When you click on an intersection, you may need to page through several crashes to find fatalities. SE 21st looks worse than 26th and there are several near 29th as well. Most crashes are car versus car crashes, but many are pedestrian; very few are bike.
It’s not the only intersection that was made less safe for cyclists in recent years. SE16th & Hawthorne used to have a light for turning left to continue northbound on 16th (by then immediately turning right). One day that light was gone so now cyclists risk their lives every time they’re on this route. One day one of those will get hit and we’ll be “shocked” again.
Yes, crossing north/south at SE 16th and Hawthorne is one of my least favorite crossings. There is a pedestrian signal that can be triggered but often north bound cars out of Ladd’s Addition will take that as an opportunity to take a left on Hawthorne and, due to the misalignment of 16th, sometimes fail to see bikes trying to cross. Using a pedestrian signal to cross as a cyclist just adds to the ambiguity of the situation. Definitely wish there were a proper bike signal at that intersection.
I biked through that intersection about a week ago and when I approached Hawthorne on 16th from the North, I noticed that a blue light was triggered.
So PBOT is working on it.
How many people have been killed by drivers on Powell within a few blocks of there in the last few years? Ostensibly the speed limit is 30mph but the average speed is more like 40mph I would guess, and crossings are obviously substandard.
I also notice that ODOT shills are quite happy to hop in the comments to defend how important freight interests are, but they are conspicuously absent when the downsides of their indifference to vulnerable road users’ safety becomes apparent.
Unfortunately, it gets worse with Google Maps. When I enable the biking layer, Google Maps shows SE 26th Ave as “dedicated bike lanes” and SE 28th Ave as “bicycle friendly road.”
Even if “dedicated bike lanes” was correct, Google provides no specific info about ped/bike x-ings of a busy arterial.
Which I think is a very important data point that should be available but its also not one that I consider when plotting a bike route.
How much longer do we have to wait? How many more lives have to be drastically altered or taken away?
The level of car violence on our streets takes away our freedom to exist in “the pursuit of happiness”. Don’t mistake it: Car Culture and Car Supremacy are fascistic at the core. Car Culture dictates to each of us – whether we are inside the car or not – how we can live.
If you’re a true antifascist you’ll stand up against cars AND do the work to help create a compassionate society.
Enough disingenuous talk on ALL sides of this conversation. The bureaucrats and so-called leaders with their “thoughts and prayers” and everyone else with their complicity in the system.
This is YOUR, Street Trust and PBOT&Eudaly’s fault. 28th would have been much much safer, but oh no, how dare you make bicyclists go up a few feet elevation. Bikeportland, PBOT, Street Trust all opposed this change. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS DEATH. Shame on you.
I don’t understand the whole political argument of the bike lanes on SE 26th. A bicyclist has full legal right to bike on SE 26th regardless if there’s a dedicated bike lane. or not.
There’s nothing stopping any vehicle from violating the traffic signal at SE 28th. So this same collision can happen there or at any of the other ped/bike x-ings on SE Powell.
However, what may be different is the delay between the light turning red on SE Powell and the ped/bike x-ing light turning blue/white so if motor vehicle tried to beat the red light and went through the red light, the bicyclist/pedestrian still wouldn’t get the “go” signal.
Does anyone know what the timing of the signals is and if might be different on SE 28th verses SE 26th?
Bicyclists are always made to take the less efficient, less preferable route in the name of safety while motor vehicles are given wide, flat streets, w. few restrictions in the name of safety when the have the greater potential for death and destruction.
Yes, road design and rules are the primary culprit here, and I do not know all the details so do not presume guilt. But if the driver did make a mistake, I will also be interested in the consequences for the driver. As drivers we should fear the consequences we will face for mistakes. Hopefully as much or more than cyclists must fear those mistakes.
Can anyone tell me who I should be reaching out to at PBOT and ODOT to start changing things? All of Powell is a death trap!! No more Stroads!