Opinion: St. Johns Bridge could have — and should have — bike lanes

Traffic on the St. Johns Bridge. View is looking east toward Forest Park. Note that the sidewalk width of five feet does not meet standards for a “shared-use” facility, which means bicycle riders have less legal standing to use it. (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

The St. Johns Bridge should have bike lanes. And it could have, if advocates nearly two decades ago chose to sue the Oregon Department of Transportation when the state agency completed a major renovation and failed to seize a golden opportunity to provide adequate bicycling access.

I recently spent time observing traffic on the bridge and came away even more shocked at how unacceptably inaccessible the bridge is for everyone not inside a car or truck. When I first shared images from that day over on Instagram, the response reminded me how many people share my concerns for what this bridge is like today, and my dreams for what it could become in the future.

Before I share some of those responses, let’s recall our history…

Four lanes for drivers in 1931. Four lanes for drivers in 2024. Maybe time for an update? (Library of Congress)

In 2003, ODOT began a major rehabilitation project. They spent $38 million to replace and repave the deck, repaint the towers, upgrade the lights and so on. But before ODOT re-striped the lanes with the same four lane, 40-foot wide cross-section the bridge had when it opened in 1931, they considered an alternative plan. ODOT put together an advisory committee (that included representatives from a bike advocacy group, TriMet, freight business owners, and so on) and commissioned a report from an engineering firm to analyze options and inform the decision.

In 2003, David Evans & Associates published that report. And guess what? They determined there would be, “No capacity constraints or operational flaws on the bridge that would prohibit the implementation of any of the striping options.” Central to this finding was that all roads that lead onto the bridge have just one lane in each direction and are controlled by traffic signals. Their analysis showed that while travel time across the bridge would increase (exact amount I’m not sure of), traffic would only slow and there would be no congestion on the deck.

But despite that study, despite clear concerns about safety and demands for bike lanes that bubbled up during the City of Portland’s 2004 St. Johns/Lombard Plan, and despite grumblings from the nonprofit Bicycle Transportation Alliance (now The Street Trust) and other bike advocates, ODOT caved to pressure from freight advocates and re-striped the deck exactly as it had been for the previous 74 years.

ODOT’s final decision on the striping plan came just one month after I started BikePortland, and I haven’t done the research to fully understand what happened. But I do know how it made me feel. My first post on the subject on May 12th, 2005 was published a few days after I heard the news and you can sense my anger from the get-go.

The Street Trust also objected to ODOT’s decision, saying in an op-ed published to their website that, “Under pressure from special interests, ODOT simply ignored the facts at hand. The result, if it is allowed to go forward, is a bridge that will continue to be unsafe for the quarter of the area’s residents who cannot drive.”

As made clear in my interview with former ODOT Director Matt Garrett in 2012 the agency “could have re-striped it,” were it not for the “force of the freight industry” that acted as a “cross-pressure” on their decision.

Portlanders tried to object. Letters were written to the Oregon Transportation Commission, there was even a naked bike ride protest, but ODOT ignored it all. They claimed a minor widening of the existing sidewalk and larger alcoves were “bike safety improvements,” but the truth was then — and remains today — that the sidewalk is not even technically wide enough for bicycle riders to share with walkers and riding a bike on the bridge is a harrowing experience.

ODOT installed sharrows seven years later. While I appreciate having my legal right to the road reinforced, those tiny patches of paint don’t do much for my blood pressure when drivers are bearing down on me at 35-plus mph.

When Mitch York was killed by Joel Schrantz in 2016, ODOT was asked to justify the lack of bike facilities on the bridge. An ODOT spokesperson had the audacity to claim in an interview with a local media outlet that they couldn’t install bike lanes because state guidelines require 19-foot wide lanes for freight trucks. That’s an outright lie used to justify a decision ODOT knows wasn’t based in fact or engineering best practices.

As made clear in my interview with former ODOT Director Matt Garrett in 2012 the agency “could have re-striped it,” were it not for the “force of the freight industry” that acted as a “cross-pressure” on their decision.

Garrett’s contrition validated for me why many of us felt The Street Trust should have sued ODOT for failure to comply with the Oregon Bicycle Bill that requires the agency to build adequate bike facilities whenever a road is reconstructed. I never learned exactly why they didn’t file that lawsuit, but I recall hearing there was some concern they might lose on a technicality and the precedent would end up weakening the Bike Bill in the future.

I can’t change the past, but I’ll never forget ODOT’s role in making us so unsafe on this bridge that I love and hate with equal passion.

Cross-section concepts by Ben Guernsey. (@benguernsey)

And judging by responses to my photos on Instagram, that same ambivalence resides within many of you.

“Even with good skills and being comfortable at speed in traffic,” wrote Portlander Ira Ryan in an Instgram comment. “I still feel like each trip over the bridge could be my last… It only takes one glance at a phone by a driver to kill a human on a bike. Terrifying.”

Another commenter who walks across the bridge four times per week said, “I have long wished for a protected bike/ped lane on each side… I wait for a truck mirror to hit my head.”

One reader, Ben Guernsey, even created a conceptual design of how he’d change the lane configuration to be safer for everyone.

While I think Ben’s idea should be given serious consideration, the ultimate solution is to get freight traffic off the bridge entirely. These large, loud, fume-laden trucks should have a bridge of their own so they aren’t routed through downtown St. Johns and dense residential areas. And that’s exactly what is recommended in ODOT’s Westside Multimodal Improvements Study that wrapped up late last year.

Whatever steps we take next can’t come soon enough. As these photos show, there’s clear demand by non-drivers to use our beautiful, iconic bridge without fearing for their lives, shouting to hear companions over the traffic noise, or breathing toxic exhaust. Surely we can re-imagine this bridge before the its centennial celebration in 2031.

City’s bike advisory committee to PBOT: Close the Sheridan Gap before it opens

It must include these vital connections… Anything less would be yet another missed opportunity at a time where we cannot afford them.

– PBOT Bicycle Advisory Committee

In a strongly worded letter to Portland Bureau of Transportation Director Millicent Williams, the city’s Bicycle Advisory Committee has called on PBOT to expand the scope of its 4th Avenue Improvement Project. The May 16th letter urges the city to fill a “critical gap” in the connection to downtown from the south — and from OHSU — and lists further improvements that should be completed “within the time frame of the current SW 4th Avenue Improvements Project.”

The BAC effort stands in contrast to the curious episode earlier this month when the Portland Metro Chamber (formerly the Portland Business Alliance) thrust the 4th Avenue project into the news with a letter to Commissioner Minugs Mapps calling on him to cancel it. Mapps and city staff have since assured the community it’s moving forward as planned.

The BAC’s letter focuses on an area south of the project boundary and is a follow-up to a committee discussion we covered back in March about how to get bicycle riders from SW Terwilliger/6th over to the new infrastructure coming to SW 4th. The BAC wants the 4th Avenue project expanded and says its current scope is “missing a major opportunity.”

Here’s an excerpt from the letter that lays out their argument:

With SW Broadway improvements ending at SW Clay Street, and SW 4th Avenue improvements currently planned to end at SW Sheridan, neither project fills the critical gap to Terwilliger envisioned by Southwest in Motion [an already-adopted PBOT plan] to connect a neighborhood with 10% of the city’s population and a major medical service provider and Portland’s single largest employer to the Central City. This represents only one of three feasible routes to the Central City; the other two involve cresting the West Hills or surviving Barbur Boulevard which is a high speed High Crash Corridor owned and largely ignored by ODOT.

Specifically, the letter urges PBOT to include the following additions to the 4th Avenue project:

  • Add a right turn bike box on Terwilliger/6th at Sheridan to prevent congestion queueing in the existing bike lane
  • Bike lanes on both the left and right sides of Sheridan from 6th to 4th Avenues to maintain the existing right-side bike lane for people turning right to go south on Barbur, while also empowering people on bikes to cross over at either 6th (or 5th with a full intersection bike box) and then stay on the left side.
  • Move the existing bike lane on 4th between Sheridan and Caruthers to the left side to avoid conflicts with the bus and other vehicles (and will encourage a turn from the new left lane on Sheridan) and continue the left-side lane over the freeway overpass to match the rest of the SW 4th Avenue Improvements Project. Add pedestrian signal actuation for left-side cyclists at 4th and Caruthers.
  • Add a bike signal cabinet that attracts northbound bicycles on Barbur using the right-side bike lane to cross over diagonally to the new left-side bike lane on 4th.
  • Also, to complete the connection, fix the gap where the bike lanes drop off at SW Sam Jackson and Terwilliger. Extend the northbound lane on Terwilliger through the intersection with a turnaround where bikes can use the pedestrian phase to cross (and make the response immediate).
  • Fill the gap for the eastbound lane on SW Sam Jackson by bringing cyclists up onto the path (with separation from pedestrians and in a way that maintains the historic lighting) through the intersection.
Graphics from Southwest in Motion Plan (project RP-02). Image on right shows possible bikeway on SW Sheridan. (Source: PBOT)

The idea for improvements along SW Sheridan Street originated as project RP-02 in the Southwest in Motion plan. PBOT, in a recent SWIM “Implementation Update,” added the design of RP-02 to its list of feasible projects citing recent project budget changes that made its inclusion possible.

As PBOT’s Communications Director, Hannah Schafer, told BikePortland last month,

“Because SW in Motion has limited funding opportunities at this time, PBOT staff are exploring the feasibility of including RP-02 Terwilliger to 4th Connector as part of the larger capital project to save on costs and increase the benefit of the SW Fourth Avenue Central City in Motion Project for people biking from SW via Terwilliger.”

But the BAC suggestions go beyond the north-side bike lane the Sheridan project originally envisioned and even though the BAC says it will work to help PBOT secure additional funding to meet their requests, it’s unclear if PBOT will be willing to oblige.

The BAC noted in its letter that “The quality of bicycle facilities are defined by their weakest link.” In southwest Portland, that weakest link often seems to occur where the going gets toughest. With this letter, the BAC is trying its best to prevent yet another dicey spot in the network arising between differently funded projects, in this case, Southwest in Motion and its better-funded cousin, Central City in Motion.

BikePortland has reached out to PBOT for a response to the letter and will update this story when we hear back.


— Read the BAC letter here.

Weekend Event Guide: Gravel social, murals, a cocoon and more

Riding next to geese is a quintessential Portland experience. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

It’s almost the weekend and we’ve got another wonderful menu of things to do on your bike.

But first, a big “Thank you!” to this week’s Event Guide sponsor and local pedal-assist electric bike company, Vvolt. They not only design and sell great bikes right from their showroom in inner southeast Portland, they’ve also stepped up to be a BikePortland advertiser. Give them a click and support the companies that support us.

Friday, May 24th

Tina Turner Celebration Ride – 7:00 pm at Colonel Summers Park (SE)
We lost this magnificent singer one year ago, but her music and voice will live on. Come out and enjoy a high-quality mobile sound system playing Tina’s greatest hits, with a focus on her work with Tibetan chant master Dechen Shak Dagsay. More info here.

Saturday, May 25th

Warpaint Gravel Social – 9:00 am at Thurman Gate Forest Park/Leif Erikson Road (NW)
A chill, intro to the unpaved realm awaits you on this BIPOC-only ride through Forest Park. No one gets dropped and led by fine folks. More info here.

Tigard Murals Ride – 9:30 am at Tigard Library (West Side)
Join the inimitable Shawne “Mural Mondays” Martinez for an exploration of public art in Tigard and environs. More info here. https://vvolt.com/

PSU Farmers Market Ride – 10:00 am at SE Clinton & 41st (SE)
Join a merry and social crew for this weekly jaunt from inner southeast, across the Tilikum Bridge, and into downtown to purchase and peruse wonderful food and other items at the market. More info here.

Pedal Prehab – 2:00 pm at Laurelhurst Park (SE)
Bike Summer is soon upon us and your bike isn’t the only thing that might need a tune-up. This ride will be led by two PT practitioners who will start with a pre-cycling stretch and help you get your body ready for the season. More info here.

Sunday, May 19th

Clever Cycles Parking Lot Sale – 11:00 am to 5:00 pm SE Hawthorne & 10th (SE)
It’s the first annual blowout parking lot sale from Portland’s OG cargo and family bike shop. Save loads, carry loads, have loads of fun. More info here.

Ride + Cocoon = Joy – 2:30 pm at Cathedral Park (N)
Experience the undeniable attraction of entering into an enclosed fabric cocoon with friends and/or strangers and allowing the love and proximity of other humans to help you heal your mind and heart. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. More info here.

Sunday Social – 10:00 am at Gateway Transit Center (NE)
Bud Rice from the Portland Bicycling Club will lead this 20-30 mile ride through the city. Expect an intermediate pace of 13-15 mph. More info here.


Note: The guide initially included a “Sunrise Coffee” event for Saturday morning; but that event will happen next Saturday, June 1st. I regret the error and any confusion it might have caused.

— Did I miss your event? Please let me know by filling out our contact form, or just email me at maus.jonathan@gmail.com.