This week, the Portland Bureau of Transportation begin work on the East Burnside Rose Lane project. This project is part of PBOT’s Central City in Motion (CCIM) plan to speed up transit and improve infrastructure for people biking and walking.
A Rose Lane on east Burnside is being installed to improve transit times for TriMet bus lines 12, 19, and 20. Its construction will also bring some new bike infrastructure that PBOT hopes will make the entire corridor more appealing to new and existing riders.
Right now, there is a ‘bus only’ lane on the Burnside Bridge that ends at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. This project will extend that bus lane to NE 12th Ave. As with other bus lane locations, PBOT will consider this a “bus and turn” or BAT lane where drivers are permitted to enter only to make right turns. This stretch of Burnside currently has three general travel lanes (four just before 12th), a bike lane and parking lanes on both sides. PBOT will swap the southernmost general travel lane for the BAT lane.
Between MLK and Grand, PBOT will remove an existing curb extension and car parking spaces to make room for the BAT lane.
A signal upgrade at MLK and Burnside will create a separate phase for buses, bikes, and car drivers. This will give bike riders time to cross Burnside and connect to a new bike lane PBOT plans to build on the east side of MLK for one block. The new bike lane will take the place of car parking. It will be the recommended route for riders traveling eastbound from the Burnside Bridge who want to connect to the SE Ankeny neighborhood greenway (see plan drawings above). PBOT will add a median diverter to calm traffic and reduce driving volumes on Ankeny.
It will also be the first bike lane we’ve ever had on MLK, which is an ODOT-controlled state highway (99E)! (Right?)
This is one of several CCIM projects PBOT has been working on over the last few months. People biking in inner Portland may have noticed recent progress on the SW Broadway bike lane and the SW Alder Rose Lane. Across the river and parallel to Burnside there’s the NE Couch Rose Lane and bike lane extension that PBOT constructed in August right after the carfree Blumenauer Bridge opened to the public. There’s also the new bike lane on SW Main Street in between 3rd and 4th Avenues (the ‘Elk Lane’): a small bike connection that should give a boost to nearby CCIM projects by helping form connected central city bikeways.
PBOT says it will take about 12 months to complete this project. Keep your eyes peeled for lane closures and construction zones.