(UPDATE, 3:30 pm: County has completed changes and it works much better now. Watch video below for current conditions.)
A Multnomah County redesign of the eastbound bike lane on the Hawthorne Bridge viaduct will be rolled back after negative feedback. One BikePortland reader said the design contributed to being hit by a car on Monday.
The focus of concern is the offramp from Hawthorne to SE Clay/Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd — a section of the bike lane that has been known for close calls and high stress for many years. Bicycle users continue straight at the off-ramp while many drivers turn right. This creates the need for safe decisions by both parties. Riders have to look far over their left shoulder to make sure either no one is coming or the person in the car sees them and will stop. It’s a delicate and often dangerous dance.
As part of a $9.5 million repaving and maintenance project, the County made several changes to the viaduct in both directions. BikePortland covered the project back in April, but I was unaware anything would be done to the off-ramp location. I’ve heard several bits of grumbling in recent weeks about the changes, but chalked it up mostly to folks just getting used to something new. Then I heard from a reader Monday.
“I was hit by a car while riding eastbound on the Hawthorne Bridge this afternoon,” they wrote. “A driver was turning right onto the ramp for MLK and sideswiped me. She stopped and claimed she didn’t see me.”
Fortunately the rider suffered only road rash and a bruised foot, but it set of alarm bells when I learned the design was recently changed. “That intersection has always been dangerous but I think the county has made it worse with the recent redesign,” the reader shared with me.
I shared the reader’s photo and message on Instagram yesterday and heard more negative feedback:
“A guy and kid were almost hit right in front of me Saturday night by a speeding pickup. Definitely the closest call I’ve seen in a long time—it is so bad.”
“It’s AWFUL what were they thinking!?”
“It’s horrible and dangerous.”
“Almost got creamed here on my bike on Sunday with hella families on scooters after Portland marathon.”
This reaction made it clear something was very wrong with the design. I fired off emails to the City of Portland and the County but haven’t heard back from either. That reader who was hit also reached out to the County and heard back from an engineer in the bridge division yesterday.
The County engineer said, “The original configuration [above left] had cyclists going into the intersection at an approximately 45° angle in which they would slow down to cross. The current configuration (installed according to plan) was intended to have cyclists actually slow down more or even stop in order to avoid situations like this.”
The plan the engineer refers to was shown to the Multnomah County Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee in October 2023 (see image below).
The County staffer went on to say they’ve received “a lot” of feedback about the new design, so they plan to alter the design, “to be similar to what was previously in place.” The final striping changes should already be installed and final markings should there by the end of this week.
It’s unfortunate that someone at the County felt making such a harsh angle in the bike lane — and then hoping it would slow riders down — was a good idea. Not only do designs like that usually make things worse because people don’t want to slow down, but it shows how drivers are held harmless while bike riders have to shift behavior and use irregular designs in deference to them. That is the opposite of how we should design streets. Why not alter the driving lane in a way that forces drivers to slow down and be safe?
Road authorities should never experiment on bike lanes. As we saw with this person who got hit, it only takes a bad design in place for a few hours for something serious to happen. These are people! Not a petri dish!
If anyone has an updated photo or wants to share how it looks now, please do.
The County advisory committee meets again tonight and I expect this topic to come up. I’ll report back any updates or details I learn.
UPDATE, 3:30 pm: The County has made changes to the design. See video below for current conditions. Note that green cross markings are still to come.
