The Portland Bureau of Transportation has come up with an infrastructure solution to car users who do donuts and drive recklessly through neighborhoods.
The residential intersection of Southeast Woodward and 59th has an extremely wide opening that measures about 85-feet — that’s over three times the width of a standard neighborhood street. In large part because of that width, people have shared concerns with PBOT about dangerous drivers who speed around the intersection while sliding out their rear tires. This type of behavior is risky on any street, but SE Woodward is a neighborhood greenway popular with bike riders, walkers, and runners.
To remedy this issue, PBOT identified a small amount of funding through their Multimodal Missing Links program, a small and flexible pot of money the city uses to address hot spots and fill minor gaps in the network. The annual budget of the program is about $200,000.
In March of last year, PBOT reached out to people who live in the South Tabor Neighborhood to learn more about the Woodward and 59th intersection and present design concepts that would address its issues. They decided to build a traffic island in the middle of the intersection using 12-inch high concrete curb separators. The curbs will reduce the amount of space available for car users and create a more predictable flow of traffic. Most importantly, if someone tried to do a donut, they’d slam into the curbs and severely damage their car.
Local advocate David Binnig snapped a photo of the completed separators and shared it today on the Bike Loud Slack channel. He also shared a before photo that shows skidmarks.
I wrote an opinion piece in 2022 that encouraged PBOT to use basic traffic calming treatments like this to address street takeovers and burnouts. It’s great to see them take action and address this problem with a cheap and easy solution.
Now all that’s left is to do something with that space in the middle of the island. Folks on Bike Loud suggested it would be a perfect spot for a lemonade stand, some potted plants, or a shuffleboard court. It’s amazing what’s possible when we reclaim our streets from dangerous people and their vehicles!
