Crews hired by the Portland Bureau of Transportation removed the bike lane on Northeast 33rd Avenue on Monday morning. They finished a job they started on November 1st but were forced to pause due to protestors who stood in front of their trucks.
There was no one to stop them this time.
Men in two trucks took turns going over sections of bright white and green paint. They peered out the windshield over their steering wheels as an attachment with stiff bristles aided by a spray of water whirred swiftly and erased infrastructure that — for the last three months — provided some safety for bicycle riders between a greenway route on NE Holman and existing bike lanes over Columbia Blvd at NE Dekum.
PBOT initially planned to remove this (relatively new) bike lane because they said it was installed by “mistake.” Due to an administrative error, PBOT striped the new lanes without notification to adjacent residents. When that mistake was compounded with strong opposition from some residents who saw it as a continuation of historic mistreatment by the City of Portland, PBOT felt it was impossible to leave the bike lanes in while they dealt with the neighborhood fallout.
In meeting last week, a top PBOT manager said the mishap “triggered emotional harm” and “connected to a perception that Portland is intentionally trying to ostracize and push out certain members of our community.”
As I watched the much-needed bike lane get removed, I was more frustrated than mad: Frustrated that PBOT still doesn’t possess the competence to avoid situations like this after more than a decade of controversial projects and decisions in north and northeast Portland; frustrated that yet another bike project has been unfairly attached to complex racial dynamics and a deep distrust of city government; and frustrated that this entirely avoidable episode sets us back even further in the important work of becoming a less car-dependent city.
Last week PBOT said they are still committed to making this section of 33rd Avenue safer for cycling. I hope we can write that story before we have to write one about a someone being hurt or killed while using this stressful, two-block section of road — a section designated as a “city bikeway” in Portland’s Transportation System Plan, that was recommended for a bike lane in PBOT’s 2021 Columbia/Lombard Mobility Plan, and where nearby residents requested a bike lane six years ago.
Now that the bike lane is removed, let’s hold PBOT to their promise that conversations can now begin about how to fulfill city plans and help all road users feel safer and more respected.