At their meeting Wednesday night, the Downtown Neighborhood Association voted to send a letter to the Portland Bureau of Transportation and Multnomah County that includes a formal request for a lane reallocation (a.k.a. road diet) on SW 3rd between the Morrison and Hawthorne bridges.
“This eight-block section of 3rd is one of the few remaining streets in all of central Portland to have three, one-way lanes,” reads the letter, which is signed by DNA President LaJune Thorson and DNA Vice President Xavier Stickler.
The current cross-section of 3rd (which is a one-way street southbound) between SW Harvey Milk and Madison is three general travel lanes and two parking lanes. Stickler told BikePortland this morning that, “There’s simply no reason this eight-block stretch needs to be three lanes wide. More to the point, it’s time we close this gap in the network.” The DNA wants a new bike lane and one less driving lane.
The genesis of this request dates back to the “Better 3rd” project undertaken by tactical urbanism group Better Block PDX in 2014. That’s the project that resulted in Ankeny Plaza near Burnside (Voodoo Donuts) and the bike lane on 3rd Ave that PBOT striped in 2015. (Unfortunately, the existing bike lane ends abruptly at SW Harvey Milk and thrusts bike riders back into lanes shared with car users for eight blocks before a bike lane reappears after SW Madison St.) Nearly 10 years later, when a steering committee formed to discuss a plan to reimagine Burnside during the impending closure of the Bridge Bridge, the bike lane gap south of Harvey Milk was identified as a priority. Stickler took the nudge from Better Block and got the DNA to support the idea.
The DNA strongly supports PBOT’s major bikeway project on SW 4th Avenue, but they think now is the time to finish what was started on 3rd. PBOT has framed Broadway as the bikeway couplet, but Stickler and the DNA think a high-quality bikeway on 3rd would, “create a more adjacent and logical couplet with 4th when it opens.”
In their letter, the DNA says PBOT and the County should work together and make these lane changes as part of the Earthquake Ready Burnside Bridge project. “By implementing lane consistency with that already in place on 3rd Ave. north of Harvey Milk St., the City will improve pedestrian safety, close a notable gap in the Central City’s active transportation network, and facilitate the safe detour of people walking and rolling to the Hawthorne Bridge during the closure of the Burnside Bridge.”
The DNA says the new bikeways on NW/SW Broadway have resulted in safer conditions and they want the same treatment on SW 3rd. Here’s more from their letter:
“We believe the existing road format utilized north of the Morrison Bridge and south of the Hawthorne Bridge–consisting of 2 lanes of parking, 2 vehicle lanes, and a bike lane–strikes the appropriate balance of mode dedication between all users. This reallocation will provide tourists, drivers, people walking, bike riders, and business patrons with an intuitive, safe, and human-scale streetscape.”
I’ve asked PBOT for comment and will update this post when I hear back.
