The Portland Bureau of Transportation is set to build the 60s Neighborhood Greenway. The bureau announced last week they’ll break ground on the project this fall and it should be ready for riding by next spring (if not sooner).
The project will establish a three-mile long bike-friendly street along SE 64th/65th/67th/68th between SE Division and the Springwater Corridor. The route connects to the carfree Springwater path at 77th, then heads to 69th where the north-south alignment begins. The greenway will cross SE Woodstock and SE Foster at 67th. At SE Powell Blvd (Hwy 26), the route is at the off-set crossing of SE 65th and then it ends at Mt. Tabor Park where it crossing SE Division along SE 64th.
The new greenway’s northern terminus is the new, recently built carfree path that takes riders into Mt. Tabor Park. The important crossing at 64th won’t be built by PBOT as part of this project. In a special note on the project website, PBOT says the Division St. crossing will be constructed by TriMet “at a future date” as part of a separate project. (Note: Given that construction estimates are running so high right now, this crossing should be followed closely by advocates as TriMet weighs how to value-engineer their project.)
As per usual, PBOT says the project will include the typical greenway elements like: sharrow pavement markings, 33 speed bumps, removing parking at some intersections to improve visibility, and signage and striping updates at major crossings. PBOT says no traffic diverters (to keep drivers away) are planned because auto volumes are not high enough to trigger them.
Funding for this project comes from the Fixing Our Streets program that’s funded through a 10-cent tax on gas purchased in Portland. It’s one of six neighborhood greenway projects funded with a $4.5 million slice of that pie in the 2020-2024 program timeframe.
Learn more at the project website.
This is good news, can’t wait to see the improvements. I already use a lot of these streets, so having speed bumps and sharrows will really help me feel more comfortable, personally.
Here’s to hoping that the crossing at 64th and Division to the Mt.Tabor path gets built sooner rather than later – and that it’s more useful than the current situation!
There is a “Know Your Greenways” ride this coming Saturday, May 11 that will follow the northern end of the 60s Greenway from SE Woodward through the car free path into Mt. Tabor Park. The loop route also passes through other new improvements to Portland’s greenway network:
https://www.shift2bikes.org/calendar/event-18887
I’ll be following this one closely, that intersection at powell is fraught with danger, especially since it has one of the powell slip/aux lanes adjacent to it. I usually play frogger over on 62nd, which at least has clear sightlines.
Isn’t there a signal at the Greenway crossing at 65th & Powell?
Bike Portland has documented how dangerous SE Woodstock Blvd is due to speeding drivers. There is no stop light or stop sign to slow drivers traveling between SE 52nd and SE 72nd. How will riders safely cross Woodstock under this plan?
Good question Joan. There won’t be a stop light installed as part of this project, but there’s a good chance there will be some sort of stop sign or other thing to emphasize and protect the greenway crossing. Given the history of Woodstock and BP’s past reporting, you bring up a great point and I will try to find out more. Right now, i’m not sure if they have the detailed design finished but I will ask.
Great news, this is desperately needed!
Nice! I live right by Tabor. I’ll probably use it in a manner where I ride to the entrance of the Springwater corridor, stop, remember how enjoyable it used to be to ride the trail, then turn back and ride home…