A person was hit by a car driver while cycling on Naito Parkway this morning. A reader saw the collision and shared photos and an account of what they saw with BikePortland. The woman was “banged up” and our tipster wasn’t sure of the extent of her injuries.
It happened right under the Burnside Bridge — a notable location because it’s a section of the “protected” Better Naito bikeway that lacks physical protection and is often used as as car parking for vendors and attendees of Portland Saturday Market.
According to the person who contacted BikePortland, a woman riding in front of him was going southbound in the Better Naito bikeway. As they went under the Burnside Bridge, a driver coming northbound in the general travel lanes on Naito Parkway took a right turn across the bike lane to access a driveway and struck the cyclist. Our witness remained on the scene until responders showed up and said the driver of the black BMW SUV (in photo above) said he “didn’t see” the bicycle rider. The driver would have been facing directly toward the bicycle rider and it’s unclear how he wouldn’t have seen her — much less decide to turn right into her path. The bike lane is also outlines with large, bright orange traffic cones which drivers should read as a caution area.
Back in November 2023 we reported about how a row of steel bollards at this exact section had gone missing. Since this is a two-way bikeway with a relatively high volume of drivers, it’s very important to have some sort of physical delineation between road users. The Portland Bureau of Transportation said vandals and thieves had removed and/or stolen the original ornate bollards (which weren’t solidly attached to the ground because they were made to be removable for Saturday Market access). For a while there was zero protection to replace the bollards. Then PBOT placed large traffic cones every few feet to provide some level of safety — but cones are flexible and do not prevent a driver from easily turning into the bike lane.
Another element to consider is that Multnomah County (they own and operate the bridge) and/or the City of Portland use a parking lot under the bridge that’s served by the driveway the BMW driver pulled into this morning. I assume that parking is for bridge maintenance vehicles and county/city employees only. However without clear signage and/or gated entry, its mere presence could encourage any driver to use it.
After posting this on social media earlier, one of our followers shared their scary experience at this same driveway. “My wife was almost hit last year as we were riding home on Naito in a similar situation,” the person wrote. “A driver was exiting the parking lot and floored it across the bike lane without looking and would have ran my wife over had she not slammed the brakes. Moments like that, even on one of the better pieces of bike infrastructure in Portland, make her feel incredibly unsafe and scared to bike commute more.”
I’ll try to find out more about this parking lot and get an update on the status of a safer, more permanent bike lane protection at this location. 11 months ago, PBOT told me they were working on a permanent solution. “Hopefully they come up with something soon. Before another horrific collision,” I wrote.
That delay could have played a role in this morning’s collision.
The person who saw this happen is frustrated: “It’s like, the one place where we’re supposed to not have to worry about cross traffic. Right?”
