[Video and photos (see gallery below) by Jonathan Maus/BikePortland]
We talk a lot about safety when it comes to making cycling more attractive than driving. But convenience is probably a larger factor. That’s why so many Portlanders are intrigued by the possibility of updating Sandy Boulevard with bicycle facilities. After riding Sandy Boulevard this past Saturday, Portland City Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney just might be among them.
Pedaling a vintage cyclocross bike made for her mother in the 1970s, Pirtle-Guiney showed up at Wilshire Park with a few dozen other folks for a ride organized by BikeLoud PDX. “I figured if I wanted to really understand the questions that are going to come up around biking on Sandy over the next two to three years, I ought to join this ride and see it for myself,” the council president said in her introduction to the group. “I think it’s really important for me to see what it looks like.”
BikeLoud has led a relatively quiet, behind the scenes campaign for bike facilities on Sandy since at least 2019. That’s when they pushed the City of Portland to upgrade Sandy’s official street classification in the Transportation System Plan from “City Bikeway” to “Major City Bikeway.” That means whenever a city agency does a project on Sandy, they must hold cycling in the highest regard and make sure plans encourage people to do it. The rub is, Sandy is a “Major” street for every mode (pedestrians, transit, freight, cars, and emergency response vehicles), so whatever the future holds, it will favor whoever gets organized and does their homework.
At Wilshire Park Saturday morning, the crowd of bicycle riders included folks of all ages. There was a babe in arms, retired folks, and everything in between. One by one, people introduced themselves and shared how much they enjoy cycling in Portland and how much better it would be if they could ride on Sandy without feeling.
One woman I met said she’d love to explore the shops along Sandy and that, “You’d learn [the street] better if you were on a bike, going slower.” Jade and Xavier, a young couple who I talked to after the ride, said they’d never bike it outside of a large group. “But if there were bike lanes, we definitely would.” They live in Kerns and love visiting the Hollywood District. “It would be great to just bike up Sandy, but we have to do this weird, roundabout way.” They were blown away at how easily they could get to the Hollywood Theater from their house via Sandy Blvd.
One of the ride organizers, Joe Perez with BikeLoud PDX said, “Portland is a really beautiful place to ride a bike. I moved here to ride a bike. I love living here, and I’m staying here. I’m fighting for more bike lanes, so this is why we’re riding on Sandy today.”
The City of Portland also sees a different future for Sandy. With major recent residential development, the road is growing into its “Main Street Civic Corridor” label in the city’s Comprehensive Plan. In 2020, the Portland Bureau of Transportation applied for a state grant that would have paid for a Sandy Boulevard Civic Corridor Plan. That plan (which I never heard about, so I assume it didn’t get funded), would have taken a close look at dedicated rapid transit on Sandy as well as the, “potential for bicycle facilities along the corridor.”
What makes Sandy such a jewel in the future bicycle network is its diagonal path. Another BikeLoud PDX leader at Saturday’s ride, Kiel Johnson, said it’s important because it offers unparalleled convenience and access between the central city and neighborhood destinations. Johnson, who lives in the Cully neighborhood said, “Right now, if I want to go downtown, I have to go down N Going and then take Vancouver-Williams. Sandy literally saves me 15 minutes.”
Johnson points to a 2016 Metro evaluation that found Sandy had a “high level of demand for bicycle trips and the potential to increase bicycle travel if improved.” And in 2024, a group of Portland State University Masters of Urban Planning students published a report that recommended bike lanes.
Adding to the inertia to take a serious look at a bikeway on Sandy is a spreadsheet shared at a 2022 meeting of the PBOT Bicycle Advisory Committee. The document lists all the projects on PBOT’s five-year paving list and the opportunity for upgrading bicycle facilities when the restriping is completed. A project slated to begin in 2026 that will repave Sandy between 14th to 27th is accompanied by a note that reads:
Volumes [of car traffic] are lower in this section of Sandy Blvd. Opportunity to add enhanced bike lanes through travel lane reallocation, but need to consider safety as well as impacts to transit and other modes. Needs extensive planning and project development. Consider extending west to 12th/Couch and east to 28th Ave to connect to rest of bike network.
And Council President Pirtle-Guiney must have gotten the memo. And/or she is sufficiently intrigued by BikeLoud’s vision that she devoted her Saturday morning to learning more about it.
As we waited at the signal on NE 12th, I asked Pirtle-Guiney how she felt riding on Sandy. “It was less scary than I thought,” she remarked. Would she consider doing it on her own, without the safety of a group, if there was a protected bike lane on it? The savvy politician didn’t directly answer (as if knowing a “yes” would be construed as her supporting a bike lane). “I still want to learn more,” she said. “I’m very open to what the future of Sandy is.”
At the end spot, I asked the councilor if anything changed in her mind after the ride. “That outside lane feels a lot wider than I expected it to,” she said, her mind perhaps already mulling future debates about potential cross-sections. “I think it would be interesting to try it without a group and just see how it feels,” she continued.
“If you ever want to ride to City Hall together one morning, just let me know,” I replied.
“Absolutely,” Pirtle-Guiney smiled back.
Thanks for reading.
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I support Protected Bike Lanes on Sandy Blvd from 12th to 28th.
Bicycling means business
Thanks to joe and bikeloud for leading the ride!
I moved here in 2006, and the first year I lived here spent a bunch of time in a working group for the city around how to integrate streetcars on sandy out to 122nd. The reason I spent that time was trying to make sure that Sandy would still be at least as accessible to biking as it was at the time. It is almost 20 years later and I don’t see streetcars or much else in the way of improvements along Sandy. I know part of that is ODOT maintaining control for awhile but it is so frustrating how long it takes to make any positive change in this town, I hope real changes will happen sometime soon.
Sandy was the differentiator for winning the DRT
Sandy could be another Hawthorne, Mississippi, or Division. With all of the new apartments going up along Sandy, it has the population density to support street level businesses, but on the other hand, Sandy’s high speed traffic creates an unpleasant atmosphere for pedestrians, bikers, and outdoor diners.
I dream of a Sandy Blvd with two lanes of car traffic and deadicated bus and bike lanes running along the sidewalks. This will probably never happen, Sandy is a favorite with drivers for a reason. It’s the fastest way across Northeast Portland.
Sometimes, early on weekend mornings, or during midday lulls in traffic, I’ll bike Sandy. It’s a joy. It cuts bike times from my house in Hollywood to downtown by half.
YES to bike lanes on Sandy!
It was announced recently that Movie Madness intends to move into a space across the street from the Hollywood Theatre. It might be some time until the move is finalized, and perhaps this will afford the business association in Hollywood, the area’s neighborhoods, and the theatre itself to advocate for traffic calming or more robust recalibrations of Sandy to make the Hollywood business district less frenetic.
I fear that the current Sandy Boulevard does not bode well for the success of the Movie Madness move. Presently, MM sits on 2-lane Belmont in the walkable Sunnyside neighborhood. It’s easily approachable on bike.
The new location, in the shadow of the theatre for a certain symmetry, is less enjoyable for a stroll and more cumbersome to reach by bike, especially those crossing I-84. It’s not a deal breaker for those on foot and wheels, but it’s a less welcoming, less hospitable travel experience, and may dissuade some from the journey.
However, here’s hoping there’s time and will for meaningful change.
Definitely Matt. Hollywood and MM have been pretty iconic places as far back as I can remember. What a great opportunity to make Sandy slightly more hospitable to people walking at the very least. Sandy/42nd is at 9 VZ crashes, and Sandy/41st is at 3, the majority of which involve pedestrians. At the very least a 4-to-3 conversion with a median island is warranted. I’d argue for removal of the slip lane and addition of a park just West as well.
Those VZ numbers are damning. I like those reconfigurations. A park is a lovely idea.
It’s also worth noting that taming car traffic in the Hollywood zone is great for people who drive there too. Once they park, they are walking around to get to their destinations.
I hung out with some friends in the Hollywood area a couple weeks ago; I took the bus but they drove. I was kind of seething about the car-hell situation, but didn’t say anything. Don’t want to be that guy. They ended up bringing up how dangerous it felt to walk along and across Sandy/Broadway after they parked their cars. We had a good conversation about the tradeoffs of slowing and/or restricting car access vs throughput. My friend who drove in from Beaverton reflected that he vast majority of the traffic he experienced was on big, wide stroads in Beaverton and on the highways; if he had to take an extra minute or so on Sandy while driving to a side street to park it would be pretty negligible to his driving experience but would make a whole world of difference once he got out of the car.
As a Roseway resident I frequently bike down Sandy to get downtown. I welcome any upgrades to this corridor, but figuring out how to properly incorporate bike infrastructure through the Hollywood district will be the linchpin. It would be a dream if they removed the I-84 westbound on-ramp or redirect the highway traffic off Sandy. Whatever the case is, Hollywood needs a big reimagining because it really doesn’t work well for any mode of transportation.