Year: 2023

Comment of the Week: Jurisdiction of bridges

You can learn so much in the Comments sections. In last week’s story about the concrete drums PBOT installed on NE 21st, Jonathan issued a correction. A commenter had pointed out that PBOT has jurisdiction of the 21st Avenue overpass over I-84, not ODOT, as he had written.

Jonathan then took to the comments to bemoan how “confounding” are the jurisdictional boundaries of Portland’s streets. And don’t you know that started a long, informative, sub-thread? A couple of commenters offered links to the maps they use to determine road ownership, testiness ensued, finally Quint stepped in. What I liked about Quint’s comment is that they explained why things are the way they are. I always appreciate that.

Here’s Quint’s explanation of jurisdictional control of overpasses in Portland:

Correct, most of the bridges across I-5 and I-205 are owned by ODOT, even the ones with PBOT roadways going over them. I think it has to do with the fact that I-84 was built inside a natural gulch. Because it was a gulch, most of the bridges already existed and were owned by PBOT, and I-84 was just built underneath the bridges. Even when a bunch of them were partially rebuilt in the 80s for the MAX project, there must have been some agreement that they remain under PBOT ownership.

From what I can remember looking at the bridge maps that used to be on PBOT’s old website (they seem to be missing from the new one), the only I-84 bridges that belong to ODOT are the ones that carry roads that used to be ODOT highways. So basically there seems to be a practice where even if a highway is transferred from ODOT to PBOT, ODOT keeps ownership of the bridges. So the Grand/MLK bridges are still ODOT, even though Grand/MLK (aka US Hwy 99E) was transferred to PBOT sometime in the 90s (I think). The Sandy Blvd bridge is still ODOT, even though Sandy Blvd (formerly designated as US Hwy 30) was transferred to PBOT in the 00s. And the 82nd Ave bridge is still ODOT even though 82nd Ave (aka OR Hwy 213) was transferred to PBOT last year. The Halsey bridge over 82nd Ave is also ODOT-owned, even though it’s a PBOT roadway, probably because it was built as part of a complex interchange and was not a previously-existing bridge.

I-5 and I-205 were built later, and created new trenches that needed new bridges to cross them, so in those cases ODOT built them as part of the project and kept ownership over them long-term.

Thank you Quint! We all know a bit more now. You can also read Quint and all the other comments in context.

Podcast: In the Shed w Eva & Jonathan Ep 3

Eva Frazier and I are back with another fun episode of “In The Shed”! This one was recorded November 10th.

Here’s what we talked about:

Listen in the player above or wherever you get your podcasts.

Monday Roundup: Cars are awesome, the promise of Paris, and more

Welcome to the week.

Here are the best stories we’ve come across in the past seven days — from sources you can trust.

Let’s copy Paris: The amazing rise of cycling in one of the world’s greatest cities has happened in large part because officials “massively amplified the supply” of safe bikeways, which led to induced demand for bicycling. (Le Monde)

Size matters: When it comes to lane widths, a few feet can make a big difference in safety outcomes, says a detailed new study from Johns Hopkins University. (Streetsblog USA)

Really? Really?!: One of the world’s most respected media outlets managed to publish a story praising cars while making no mention of their impacts on road safety or the environment. Tone deaf, yet fascinatingly revealing. (The Economist)

By George: A noted columnist for a major American newspaper penned a rant against “climate scolds” and said warnings about oil use are nothing more than a scare tactic and that smart people will figure out how to keep the fossil fuels coming. (Washington Post)

E-bike licensing: Advocates in NYC are fighting back against a bill from city council that would require licenses and registration for all e-bikes by telling stories of people who rely on them. (Streetsblog NYC)

ODOT burning through cash: For an agency that says it has to cut back on plowing roads because of funding problems, it seems like a very inconvenient truth that 1) they almost always choose the most expensive projects (freeway expansions) and 2) go way over budget on them. (City Observatory)

Pick your poison: The march toward mainstream awareness of tire pollution continues as the Environmental Protection Agency recently joined the chorus of concern that it’s not just tailpipe emissions that makes driving so terrible for our planet. (Slate)

Motorized malice, manslaughter, and murder: Several important insights in this article about how the U.S. legal system treats car drivers who kill people. (LA Times)

“Wild [bike] parking”: It would be a wonderful problem to have so many people biking and locking up on light posts and other unauthorized locations that your city needs to launch an education and enforcement program to deal with it. Dreamy. (Guardian)

Thanks to everyone who sent in links this week. The Monday Roundup is a community effort, so please feel free to send us any great stories you come across.

A closer look at new speed cushions on NE Ainsworth (Video)

22 new speed bumps* have been installed on Northeast Ainsworth between NE Grand/6th and 15th. Almost as soon as they went in, I heard from various sources that they weren’t doing anything to slow people down. Since I ride this route and it’s an important neighborhood street with a history of speeding and tensions between drivers and bike riders, I wanted to get a closer look at these bumps.

So I headed over with my cameras to document how they’re being used.

According to the Portland Bureau of Transportation, they installed speed cushions in both directions of NE Ainsworth between NE Grand and 15th last week. There are 11 speed cushions in each direction.

(*A quick note on verbiage: I’ve always called these speed “bumps” because that’s the general term most folks understand. But I realize there’s an important difference between speed bumps and speed “cushions” (a.k.a. “humps” or “tables”). Speed cushions, according to the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) have cutouts for wheels and elongated humps that are much less intrusive to auto users. From here on out, I will differentiate and use “cushions” to match PBOT’s language.)

Like I shared back in June, this section of NE Ainsworth has a 20 mph speed limit that is regularly exceeded by drivers. This is a problem because it’s two very narrow streets (so narrow that people who park on it often roll up onto the curb and sidewalk strip) separated by a wide grassy median in a dense residential neighborhood that is often shared by bicycle riders and drivers. It should be a pleasant, safe place to be; but with so many speeders it can be intimidating.

As for bicycling on it? I know there are many people who think bikes don’t belong, but I personally favor Ainsworth over the nearby neighborhood greenway on Holman because it’s much smoother and more direct. I only use it if I feel like going fast, which is easier these days with my e-bike that can maintain 20 mph with ease. The thought of speed bumps was exciting because it could mean that I (and others) would be able to use Ainsworth at or near the speed limit without being harassed by drivers who insist on tailgating (or worse) and going too fast.

What I found from personal observation is that they will likely have some impact, but the cushions are easy to avoid — especially for larger, wider vehicles that make up an increasingly larger portion of the fleet — and many people simply go over them without slowing down at all.

PBOT says Ainsworth is a secondary emergency route (NE Dekum a few blocks north is the main one), so their only option to address speeding was to install cushions. This installation is part of a larger effort to reduce and tame cut-through traffic on residential streets. PBOT understands that Ainsworth further west is a vital link in the bike network that carries a lot of bike traffic even without much dedicated bike infrastructure (they also recently installed bike boxes at N Interstate as part of a future neighborhood greenway as per the North Portland in Motion plan).

So do these new speed cushions work? My first impression is yes and no.

(Still from video showing drivers (including a jerk in a big truck who yelled at me) behind me while biking the speed limit.)

You can see a lot of evidence in my video and photos that many people speed right over them, using the channels meant for emergency vehicles. Some folks in larger vehicles might not even know the cushions exist. That being said, you’ll also notice some people do feel the cushions and slow down and/or attempt to navigate around them. Those behaviors mean they’re having some impact that will lead to lower speeds overall. I also think the symbolism of infrastructure is important. And these cushions send a signal to people that the city expects them to drive more slowly and use caution on this street.

What about the harassment and road ragers who tailgate bike riders on this street? Don’t miss the end of my video where I test this by riding 20 mph and filming drivers behind me. You’ll see some folks give plenty of breathing room, but others are clearly peeved they can’t drive faster. One guy in a truck was so mad he dangerously tailgated the driver immediately behind me and then yelled an obscenity at me as he turned off.

Six months from now PBOT says they’ll have speed data to report and I’m eager to see what they find.

Regardless of the impact this has on safety or cut-through traffic, one guy who I met while I was out there summed up what I think is a very important point: “It’s such a waste we had to spend money on these things just because people won’t drive the speed limit.”

Bingo!

Podcast: Council Candidate Steph Routh at Bike Happy Hour

If you didn’t make it out to Bike Happy Hour on Wednesday night, you missed something special. A few dozen Portlanders sat and stood in the crisp, cold night in a plaza on a public street (thanks PBOT!) to take part in an interview with a candidate for local elected office.

I planned to interview Portland City Council Candidate Steph Routh inside Ankeny Tap & Table, but it was such a nice night that everyone was already camped out in the plaza. So we decided to just go with it and I brought the speaker and mic outside, set it on a wooden picnic table, and went for it. We talked for about 35 minutes and then took questions from the audience. It was delightful and I think you’ll really appreciate learning more about Steph and her thoughtful approach to important issues.

(Photo: Aaron Brown)
(Photo: David Kurushima)
(Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

Steph, who was born in Parkrose and now lives in Lents, has been a part of our cycling and transportation advocacy community for many years. In 2006 I photographed her bike wedding (yes she married her bike, she wore a veil and kissed the bike and everything) and have followed her ever since. Since then she’s been a leader in our community. Steph was the first-ever executive director of Oregon Walks (where she led the org on an office move by foot!), she worked in communications for Community Cycling Center, Sightline, and the Portland Bureau of Transportation. In 2013 she authored a book on how to move by bike (and has taken part in over 80 bike moves). Steph is also an adjunct professor at the PSU School of Urban Planning and was part of the strategy team that helped win Portland’s local gas tax increase campaign in 2016. In 2017 she interviewed women for a series on BikePortland. And since 2019 she’s served as a member of the Portland Planning Commission (service she called a “love note to my city”).

Asked by someone Wednesday night why she’d never run for office before, Steph said she always assumed being a planning commissioner (a position she “begged to be on”) would be her highest calling. But then she saw that major policies she worked to pass hit road blocks at city hall. “And then when I saw the council district lines drawn and I saw that, on Day One of the new administration, east Portland would have more representation than in the cumulative history of Portland City Council — that was just so meaningful. And I couldn’t say no.”

Here are a few other notable exchanges from our interview:

What can you bring to council so that we make sure great programs and policies [like bike infrastructure plans, Portland Street Response, etc…] aren’t diluted or dismantled?

“I think it’s important to remember I am running for city council because I care and I want to be part of a solution. No one candidate, no one politician is going to solve our problems. And government cannot be the hero of our story. Communities are the heroes of our story. And it has to be. The town is the hero. And the goal and the role of government and I think of politicians, is to create the conditions where communities can thrive and community-based solutions can find purchase and endure.”

I’ve seen activists gain power and office, then become silent and a part of the machine. Are you confident that you can be an elected official in a position of power and still sort of like, keep it real?

“You just described all of my nightmares!… I’ve also started to try to build a ‘Team of Rivals,’ if you will. People who are naysayers, people that I have disagreed with; because I think it’s important to have people who can call me to account… I think it’s important to seek the honorable opposition.”

On her opposition to federal funding for bike share in 2011 because it would only serve the central city, and the argument bike share advocates made that downtown has some of the lowest income census tracts in the city:

“I think that we were right on this, and I am very glad that we got bike share, I love it. But being near poor people, is not the same as being for poor people, there is a difference… We don’t get to say that something that excludes people who are unbanked, at that time, is a social justice project. We just don’t get to say that.”

In response to an audience question about how to reach our cycling mode share goals:

“Making the case for cycling is a lot easier when you have places to cycle to. And I think as the former executive director of Oregon walks, I think walkability and roll-ability is the elegant solution to so many of our issues and makes the abundant case for cycling clear. And I think there’s that triptych of transit and walkability and cycling, and we need to do all three. I think we need to really look at how transit is funded and how, how we’re working on operations, because transit is the backbone to a land-use that makes both cycling and walking inevitable.”

I hope you listen to the full interview. Steph is someone who gives me hope for the future of Portland and I always learn something when I talk with her. I think you will too.

Listen in the player above or wherever you get your podcasts. You can read a full transcript below or download it here.

pod-steph-routh-happy-hourDownload

Weekend Event Guide: Exploding whale, ride for housing, and more

Soak up the fall colors while you can! (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

Welcome to the weekend.

Check out our ride and event picks below.

Saturday, November 11th

Dig Day – 10:00 am at Rogers Camp Trailhead (Tillamook State Forest)
Join local nonprofit NW Trail Alliance for a satisfying trail maintenance session in the forest. Put in the work to preserve great trails, meet cool people, and do something that just feels good. More info here.

PSU Farmers Market Ride – 10:00 am at SE Clinton and 41st (SE)
Everyone is welcome at this weekly ride that stops in a few places to pick riders up and then rolls into the market on PSU campus. Buy great food and then eat it with friends old and new. More info here.

Fall Colors of PDX – 12:00 pm at PSU Urban Center (SW)
Join ride leader Scott B at the end of the PSU Farmers Market Ride to see some fall color hot spots on the west side of the river. More info here.

Sunday, November 12th

Cyclocross Crusade Race #6 – Rainier High School (Rainier, OR)
It’s the final race in the 30th anniversary Crusade series and this classic course is sure to bring out memorable duels and hijinx. More info here.

Monthly Overlook Ride – 9:30 am at Stacks Coffeehouse (N)
Join a member of the Overlook Neighborhood Association (who also happens to be chair of BikeLoud PDX) for a roll around this very cool part of town. You’ll get plugged into local issues and, who knows, maybe meet some fellow bike-loving neighbors you never knew you had. More info here.

Southerly Ladies Ride – 10:00 am at Trolley Trail trailhead (SE)
Ride leader Maria “Bicycle Kitty” Schur says, “This is a chill pace road ride, friendly to beginners and experienced lady* riders alike (*trans-ladies this means you too!). Lady-powered bikes only – no dudes, no e-bikes, no offense.” More info here.

Inner Eastside 4 All Kickoff Ride – 2:00 pm at Cartopia (SE)
This is a great opportunity to join forces with housing advocates from Portland Neighbors Welcome and learn about their new campaign to encourage more housing types in inner neighborhoods. More info here.

The Exploding Whale Day Ride – 5:00 pm at Salmon Street Springs (SW)
Did you know ODOT once exploded a real whale on the beach and the guts and stuff flew hundreds of yards away and slammed down onto cars in a nearby parking lot? It’s a wild-but-true story and this ride will mark its 53rd anniversary with all the nerdy quirks you’d expect. More info here.

— Don’t see an event? Please tell us about what’s going on in your neighborhood by filling out our contact form!

PBOT adds heavy concrete barricades to notorious NE 21st Ave bike lanes

NE 21st Avenue looking north across I-84. (Photo: PBOT)

On Wednesday, crews from the Portland Bureau of Transportation placed four large, 2,000-pound concrete drums (PBOT refers to them as “planters” because they also use them for that purpose) on the southeast corner of the Northeast 21st Avenue overpass of I-84. It’s the exact location where a woman was hit and seriously injured by a car driver while biking in the previously unprotected lane.

In posts on social media, PBOT said the move was aimed at providing “hardening protection for bicyclists.” The bureau added that new signage warning car drivers of a curve in the road and a restriction on truck use on NE 21st Circle is also in the works. This is a great and very welcome upgrade that has very real safety benefits.

PBOT installed the two-way bike lane with plastic flex-posts (aka delineators”) in 2016. When we reported on the project, commenters predicted that head-on collisions were likely. And that’s exactly what happened on August 31st when the driver of a Honda Civic failed to negotiate the curve, slammed into a woman biking in the opposite direction, and then sped off.

If these barricades were in place from the start, that woman would not have been hit. In the video, the driver of the Civic plowed right over the plastic posts as if they were not even there.

Tactical urbanist installation by Block Ops. (Photo: Block Ops)
The unprotected corner in 2016. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Crews installing the drums on Wednesday, November 8th. (Photo: PBOT)
Looking south at the corner in 2016. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Another view of the location where the drums have been installed in 2016. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

That collision was shocking and terrifying. Video taken by a driver’s dashcam and shared with BikePortland showed that the flex-posts were useless as the driver careened into the bike lane and the impact catapulted the rider into the air — flipping her body head-over-heels two times before she landed on her face on the adjacent sidewalk. The woman suffered gashes requiring stitches on her cheek and eyebrow. BikePortland ultimately removed the video and the story (which included a graphic photo of the victim’s bloodied face) by request of the victim*; but not after it had been viewed hundreds of thousands of times. (*The victim only wanted it posted to catch the driver and asked me to remove it all after police apprehended them.)

The collision spurred even greater urgency from the community for protected bike lanes. A week later, a group of guerrilla activists placed concrete curbs in the curve. Those curbs were quickly removed by PBOT and the agency said in a social media post that they were “unauthorized safety hazards.” The collision video also inspired a letter from BikeLoud PDX to PBOT staff and Portland City Council members (dated September 12th) that made the following request: “Use physical protection rather than plastic delineators in new bike lane projects, especially at curbs, corners, or where the speed limit is greater than 20 miles per hour.”

This context is why many Portlanders have taken umbrage at PBOT’s claim in their post yesterday that, “There have not been reported traffic deaths or serious injury crashes at this location.” That statement appears to create a narrative that this wasn’t a reactionary move. As if PBOT would have done it even if there wasn’t a violent, predictable collision caught on video.

Beyond any operational, policy, or budget issues PBOT faces in deciding whether or not to harden bike lanes to defend against increasingly reckless drivers, an additional challenge at this specific location was that it is on a bridge surface. That means PBOT engineers need to be careful about doing anything that might erode the structural integrity of the bridge — especially by placing heavy objects and/or drilling into the pavement.

According to PBOT each one of these planters that is filled with concrete cost about $5,000 to build and install.

Asked about their statement that there have been “no reported serious injury crashes at this location,” PBOT Public Information Officer Dylan Rivera told BikePortland that, “To our knowledge the person bicycling in the August crash did not suffer life-threatening injuries resulting in a Major Crash Team investigation by Portland Police. That would be one indication of a serious injury crash. Through the course of our work on traffic safety, Portland Police and PBOT staff are regularly exposed to the horrific details of how traffic crashes impact human beings on our streets. A crash doesn’t have to produce life-threatening injuries to cause very significant harm.” PBOT then explained that they don’t receive official reports of all injury crashes, only the ones that the PPB’s Major Crash Tam responds to and investigates. The other major source of injury data PBOT uses comes from the DMV through the State of Oregon and those reports lag about 18 months due to ODOT’s reporting process. “We share the public’s frustration that it takes so long for this data to be available,” Rivera said.

CORRECTION, 12:22 pm: This story initially said ODOT had jurisdiction of the overpass and had to be notified by PBOT as part of this project. That was incorrect. PBOT owns this bridge. I regret the error and any confusion it might have caused. – Jonathan

This year’s ‘Remembrance Day’ wants accountability and commitment from politicians

Shoes spread at a vigil site under the Morrison Bridge during a World Day of Remembrance event in 2016. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

Advocates behind the annual World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims want to make the impact of this year’s event last more than one day. They’ve coupled the usual demonstration and demands for action with a traffic safety pledge they want politicians to sign.

The World Day of Remembrance is backed by the World Health Organization and has been held in many cities around the world since it started in 1995. Portland’s edition has happened since 2015 and is led by the local chapter of Families for Safe Streets, a national nonprofit for survivors of traffic violence.

On Sunday, November 19th, Families for Safe Streets of Oregon & Washington will join with The Street Trust, Oregon Walks, and other nonprofit organizations for a walk that will begin at 11:30 am at Lloyd Center. Then at noon there will be a demonstration and rally at the plaza in front of Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

“This year, we are recognizing the epidemic of traffic violence affecting our communities statewide with a memorial walk which leads to an installation representing the lives lost in our community,” reads a statement about the event from The Street Trust.

Despite years of advocacy and attention on traffic violence, the number of people who are killed and injured using roads in the Portland region continues to climb. So far this year there have been 60 traffic-related fatalities in Portland — a troubling toll also reflected statewide that marks a major trend upward in the past decade.

To help garner more support for changes and reforms that would reverse this trend, advocacy groups have released a “Traffic Safety Pledge for Oregon’s Leaders & Decision Makers.” The pledge spells out the crisis and details the consequences of dangerous streets in detail. It then asks officials to make the following seven commitments:

  • Reverse racial inequalities and barriers to safe streets, focusing on marginalized communities that have been disporportionately affected by transportation decisions. 
  • Understand and educate the public about the significance of road fatalities, treating each loss of life with the same concern and outrage as any other type of death in our community.
  • Use precise language that attributes agency and employs the active voice when discussing fatal crashes, emphasizing accountability.
  • Prioritize the safety of all road users over vehicular speed and throughput, reflected in budget allocations, policy decisions, budgets, and spending.
  • Champion measures such as lowering speed limits, enhancing street design and infrastructure (e.g., crosswalks), and limiting parking near intersections, especially in areas with vulnerable users like school zones.
  • Reduce vehicle size – I recognize the correlation between larger vehicle size and road safety issues, and will promote safer, cleaner, and more sustainable transportation options while discouraging heavier, deadlier vehicles.
  • Advocate for equitable traffic laws and enforcement, supporting comprehensive Automated Traffic Enforcement (ATE) initiatives with progressively assessed fines, and dedicating revenues to enhance safety and accessibility in our transportation system.

The list of signers and any comments they wish to share will be presented to the public at the event on Sunday the 19th.

Organizers want attendees to wear yellow. Learn more and register for the event here.

A two-way bikeway on the Willamette Blvd bluff is officially off the table

N Willamette Blvd looking northwest. The bluff is on the left. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

If you held out hope for a two-way, off-street path on the bluff side of North Willamette Blvd as part of its upcoming major redesign, I have some bad news.

The Portland Bureau of Transportation has official put that idea to bed. Sometime in the past few weeks, PBOT uploaded a two-page document to the N Willamette Boulevard Active Transportation Corridor Project website that lays out their rationale for abandoning the bi-directional bike lane idea once and for all.

Before I get into that, here’s some context on what I’m talking about…

Mockup of a two-way bikeway on the bluff side of N Willamette Blvd. (Source: Commenter “Steve B”)

As I shared in September, PBOT has reached the 30% design milestone on this $6.1 million, federally funded project that will add protected bike lanes, floating bus islands, and much more to a three-mile stretch of N Willamette Blvd from N Rosa Parks Way (in Arbor Lodge) to N Richmond (in St. Johns).

A key section of the route between Rosa Parks Way and University of Portland goes along a bluff overlooking Swan Island. Willamette Blvd is relatively wide in this section and the additional potential right-of-way on the bluff on the south side of the street was alluring enough for some to consider using it for a bi-directional bikeway.

One BikePortland reader even created a mock-up (above) to illustrate his “pipe dream” and got a bit of support for the idea in the comments. One of the main advantages of a two-way facility is that it would be unimpeded by turning drivers or cross-traffic (not to mention the nice views of the river and beyond!).

PBOT was intrigued enough to study the concept more closely. However, in their newly-shared document they outline five reasons why the two-way bikeway, “does not appear to be feasible or desirable.”

PBOT says given the instability of the soil on the bluff and presence of large Sequoia trees, the bikeway would need to be in the main roadway “competing for limited space.” (Note: The current and planned cross-section has two standard lanes and two bike-only lanes.)

And while the lack of cross-traffic has appeal, PBOT points out that the lack of destinations on the bluff side means anyone biking in it would inevitably have to leave it. This would, “Add delays and conflicts compared to [standard] directional facilities,” PBOT says.

Going back to the road width issue, PBOT says there just isn’t enough room for a two-way bikeway and a northwestbound bike lane. “This means that westbound bicyclists on Rosa Parks would have to cross to the south side of Willamette Blvd to enter the two-way bikeway, then would have to cross again to the north side on the other side of the bluff, adding delays, conflicts, and out-of-direction travel to their trips,” the document states.

“Unique design challenges” presented by a two-way facility is another reason PBOT doesn’t like it. They say it’s much easier to deal with things like bus stops when there’s just one direction of travel versus two.

A two-way bikeway on the bluff would also throw a curveball at road users, since it would be inconsistent with the design of rest of the corridor, PBOT says. They prefer to keep designs consistent and that once built, the new protected bike lane on Willamette Blvd will, “most likely Portland’s longest continuous protected bike lanes to date.”

In the end, while we won’t get the off-street path with-a-view experience some folks hoped for, there’s plenty more to be excited about with this project. Learn more about the project here.

PBOT breaks ground on six new signalized crossings on 82nd Avenue next week

You get a new crossing! And you get a new crossing! And you get a new crossing!

If you are full of doom and gloom, you should really take a closer look at what’s happening on 82nd Avenue. After years of advocacy and tragedy, the City of Portland finally took it over from the State of Oregon last year. Now our local transportation bureau is busy turning it into more of a welcoming, civic main street instead of the stressful “orphan highway” it’s always been.

There’s $185 million to spend on a seven-mile stretch of 82nd between SE Clatsop and NE Killingsworth. The first phase of that is what PBOT is calling “Critical Fixes,” an $80 million package of projects focused on signals and streetlighting. Earlier today I shared their plans for new medians that will tame traffic on 82nd between NE Glisan and Davis.

Today PBOT announced they are ready to break ground on a separate project that will build six new signalized pedestrian crossings. The locations are NE Beech, NE Klickitat, NE Schuyler, SE Clinton, SE Ash, and SE Schiller streets. But wait, there’s more! They’ll also upgrade curb ramps to ADA standards, install high-visibility crosswalk markings, and add concrete median islands at each location. These are part of 21 total new or upgraded crossings that will be built in the next few years (three are done already, four more will get done in 2024, and PBOT has eight planned for 2025 and 2026).

These crossings are a huge deal. They’re coming (mostly) to intersections (see above) where there’s currently nothing for people on foot or bikes to get across five lanes of scary traffic. The cumulative impact on drivers when you add crossing treatments like this (not to mention the myriad other things PBOT is doing to 82nd) is huge. Speeds will come down. Compliance for Oregon’s crosswalk law will skyrocket. Dangerous driving will decrease.

Seriously…. Take a few minutes to check out PBOT’s 82nd Avenue Critical Fixes website to learn more about what they’re up to.

Portland State wins $250,000 equity research grant as PBOT leans into transportation justice

Image from Transportation Justice section of PBOT’s 2019-2024 strategic plan.

The pursuit of transportation justice and racial equity will get a big boost thanks to the work of a local team of academics and researchers. And the timing is good as the Portland Bureau of Transportation works to expand its efforts in this area.

Late last month the Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University announced they received a $250,000 Federal Highway Administration grant to create a “Research Roadmap for Institutionalizing Transportation Equity.”

Here’s how TREC explains the project:

All people, regardless of their background, income, or physical abilities, need access to safe, affordable, and convenient transportation options and services. State departments of transportation and their partner regional planning organizations seek to improve the equity outcomes of their decision-making practices and investments. The research roadmap will help define broad research areas and gaps for further study, along with specific research problem statements that have urgent, near-term significance.

TREC’s project will be led by Aaron Golub, a professor in the Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning at PSU. The research team will include noted bicycle researchers Jennifer Dill and Nathan McNeil, as well as Amy Lubitow, a researcher who’s studied the transportation experiences of marginalized cyclists in Portland.

This research project will likely be watched very closely by PBOT. They’ve been leaning into their work on racial equity and transportation justice — especially since the George Floyd protests in the summer of 2020 when they vowed to become an “antiracist” organization.

Despite hiring their first equity and inclusion manager in 2015, PBOT didn’t address structural racism and racial justice head-on in a formal way until their 2019-2022 strategic plan. That plan included a full section on transportation justice (they use “transportation justice” and “transportation equity” interchangeably) and unveiled “Will it address structural racism?” as one of the two questions they think about as they go about their every aspect of their work (“Will it reduce carbon emissions?” is the other) . PBOT described the value of inclusivity in that 2019 strategic plan, but they didn’t share a clear definition of transportation justice.

Now PBOT has taken their work on this topic up yet another notch. The latest update of their strategic plan includes a new “transportation justice framework” they say is meant to create a “toolbox of resources” that will help:

  • Ensure all staff are familiar with existing transportation-related disparities in our communities;
  • Equip them with tools and prompts to advance and operationalize transportation justice across our work;
  • Empower PBOT teams to provide equitable services to historically underserved communities; and
  • Keep us accountable to our goal of becoming an anti-racist organization.

Also new from PBOT is a working draft definition of transportation justice:

Transportation Justice refers to the elimination of disparities in our mobility and interconnected systems (equity) as well as a transformative and liberating redistribution of power, resources, and opportunities (justice) to those experiencing the greatest disparities today to ensure that all Portlanders use and enjoy the same access to safe, reliable, equitable, sustainable, and affordable transportation options.

Who are people in Portland PBOT says have “historically been burdened by unjust and racist policies and decisions”? Their list includes: “Portlanders who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), people with disabilities, households living on low incomes, as well as all those community members who are multilingual, immigrants, refugees, LGBTQIA+, and/or displaced.”

PBOT has also drafted a list of principles that guide their commitment to transportation justice:

  • Transportation Justice principles:
  • Moving beyond equity (eliminating disparities) towards justice (redistributing power, resources, and opportunities)
  • Recognizing past and existing injustice and accepting that the past is never dead
  • Co-creating solutions with historically underserved communities and envisioning liberation through their lens
  • Addressing past harm and mitigating structural pains at all stages of our work
  • Acknowledging the interconnectedness of systems
  • Centering race and applying “targeted universalism” (in which we prioritize addressing the needs of those experiencing the greatest disparities, which in turn maximizes benefits)
  • Committing to intersectionality
  • Putting people first (adopting a human-centered approach)
  • Applying results-based accountability

On a related note, a PBOT employee has been selected as a “Transportation Justice Fellow” by Better Bike Share, a national nonprofit.

Learn more about the TREC research project here. Learn more about PBOT’s transportation justice efforts here.

Latest Headlines

Transit riders share stories at community-building event ahead of ‘Week Without Driving’

Monday Roundup: Dutch e-moto crackdown, slow biking, daylighting, and more

Podcast: 16 short interviews from the MADE Bike Show

MADE Bike Show opening day photo gallery

From the Archives

What five people say about living outside along the Springwater path