(UPDATE, 5:15 pm: I just added a photo gallery with new images taken a few minutes ago. Scroll down to browse.)
Christmas has come early for Portlanders who care about great streets: The new protected bike lane on Southwest 4th Avenue is open for business. While the full project isn’t finished yet, the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) announced today that the southern section — from just south of I-405 to SW Taylor — is fully functional. TriMet buses are servicing stops in their new Business Access and Transit (BAT) lanes and the new bike signals have been switched on.
The last time I checked in on this $21 million project was back in June and it was already apparent what a massive transformation it had made to the street. I’ll reserve final judgement until I spend time on it myself, but it’s worth noting this exciting milestone.
The newness begins at SW Caruthers, just south of I-405. At that location, you’re in a bike lane on the right side and PBOT has installed a new bike-only signal to get you across that (beast of an) intersection and into the new protected lane on the left side of 4th. Eventually you’ll be able to ride about 1.3 miles north in a bike lane that’s separated from other lanes by a large, concrete median.
Why is the bike lane on the left? PBOT felt it was much safer given that right turns off 4th Ave are much more frequent than left turns, thus there will be fewer conflicts.
The idea is that 4th is the northbound couplet to SW Broadway, as envisioned in the Central City in Motion Plan adopted by Portland City Council in 2018.
For transit users, the new BAT lane is open between SW Grant and Mill. In addition to speeding up bus service and making stops safer, PBOT says the BAT lane, “supports the long term durability of the new pavement on SW Fourth Avenue by consolidating heavy buses into a reinforced concrete lane, reducing the likelihood of rutting and cracking over time.”
While the Portland Metro Chamber decried the project last years as “wasteful” and urged the then-Commissioner-in-Charge of PBOT to cancel it, Mingus Mapps was undeterred and it moved forward. On the contrary, this bug upgrade to a high-profile corridor (SW 4th — and the new bike lane! — goes right in front of City Hall) is fully-supported by the Downtown Neighborhood Association.
DNA Vice President Xavier Stickler told BikePortland this week that, “Downtown is so excited to utilize this right-sized right-of-way.” “I want to sincerely thank PBOT for this major investment in our streets. Downtown is the economic engine of our city, region, and state. Its workers, residents, students, and visitors alike need and deserve smooth roads for driving, fast movement for transit, and safe infrastructure for walking and biking.”
PBOT will continue working in the coming weeks to complete the bike lane all the way north to Old Town as weather allows. I’ve heard there’s an official ribbon-cutting planned for December. Stay tuned for more coverage once I get the chance to get over there and ride this thing!
See how it looks below. These images were taken today:
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I’m looking forward to seeing how PBOT’s overhaul of one of the best streets to ride on through downtown. I’ll be curious how they reduced the left-hook danger that led me to ride in the center lane. And I hope there’s an easy way to turn right.
It would be unfortunate if PBOT spent a whole bunch of money to create an inferior and more dangerous situation for bikes heading north from the Hawthorne Bridge.
I feel the same way! I always enjoyed riding down 4th and I am hopeful, yet skeptical, that the improvements will actually be improvements. I am very concerned about the bike-only signals. PBOT recntly installed some bike-only signals along SW Broadway. Their intention is to reduce right-turn conflicts between people driving and turning right and people biking and going straight. The problem is, PBOT is not very committed to bikes. This means that the bike signals don’t always turn on, and when they do, they have a very short green then go right through a quick yellow and then a solid red. It would be much better if they gave bikes a little leading interval, then make it blinking yellow for bikes and right-turning cars. When PBOT (and TriMet with tier gates) get so heavy-handed and over-protective, people just stop using it. I appreciate a bit of protection, but bikes should have the ability to legally ride through in intersection when cross traffic is stopped and noone is turning right. The signals are extremely paternalistic and severely reduce the quality of the bike infrastructure. It reminds me of the north side of the Blumenauer Bridge which is all designed to slow down bikes and make them wait at signals while cars get straight lanes and automatic signals. I haven’t ridden 4th, yet, but I my confidence in PBOT is basically gone after the last few bike projects they designed.
I know we’re not allowed to criticize a $21M investment in bike and bus infra in Portland – or at least JM isn’t. But I’m really worried that this design will be over-engineered in the sense that bikes will be stopping on practically every block to press a button to request a signal that will stop all of the cars in every direction until it is SAFE for bikes to proceed.
Also the possibility of left hooks is not something I’m excited about. The time I’ve come closest to being killed in Portland was a left hook on N Williams by a truck whose driver had no idea he should expect a bike passing on his left. I predict that drivers heading north on 4th will be similarly unaware of bikes on their left, no matter how many signs try to warn them. Or will every single intersection be signalized so they can’t turn unless they have a green left-turn arrow? We shall see.
When driving this yesterday, i noted two things: one, some of the dividers actually extend into the perpendicular travel lane, meaning cross traffic will keep hitting and damaging them.
More importantly, the left turn I made – we waited at a red for quite some time while the bicycle light cycled through, and then instead of a grenn we got a blinking yellow arrow! So there is an attempt to make drivers do a bit more looking around before taking that left. Frankly, ‘no turn on red’ signs would also be useful, but the flashing yellow was a well-thought addition.
Do the bikes also have a blinking yellow? Or does the bike green signal stay green during the entire driving lane green?
I rode it last week before the signals were on, I guess I need to try it again!
I cycled through the section between Harrison and Market for the first time Thursday. I noticed when I approached Main that a yellow blinking light turned on automatically to warn buses/cars turning left. So no stopping and pressing any buttons needed.
I wouldn’t worry about too much engineering or signals beyond it being a waste of resources.
If that happens, it will just work like BN where there are a dozen signals in a mile — but everyone totally ignores them and does whatever they like.
The metal manhole cover and bridge expansion joints in the photos caught my eye.
I always wonder if PBOT is following best practices when having potentially slick steel is a dedicated bicycle lane unavoidable. There’s got to be a cost effective way to make these features more conspicuous or less slippery.
Those look pretty flush so they probably won’t catch too many people. The slant of the expansion joint is unfortunate since the bike lane bends left across it. A person riding single file could move left to right in the lane to hit it closer to square. You need two mirrors in Portland, and some fat tires.
Seems like something akin to skateboard grip tape could be a good solution, if it could be durable in the elements.
It’s pretty easy to texture mild steel with a needle gun too but I suspect doing nothing without thought is still SOP at PBOT.
I’m glad this is finally done. I work on 4th, so looked with envy at the mostly done bikelane for months now while trying to navigate erratic construction traffic. The short bit I used (Harrison to Market) was great.
However, I‘m not sure what happened to connecting Terwilliger with 4th Ave. After all, most SW bike commuters use Terwilliger not Barbur. There is a new bikelane on Sheridan, but it only connects Barbur going south. There is no way to connect to the spiffy new bikelane going north without risking your life in the crazy traffic lanes going straight across the intersection. And Caruthers is a one-way street going west. I remember a lengthy discussion at the Bicycle Advisory Committee that Jonathan reported on where several scenarios were discussed and it now seems none of them have been installed. So that means I continue to have to go on 6th to Harrison before connecting to 4th, with the weird interactions with cars coming from the freeway off-ramp, no bikelane, a Max lane, no right turns allowed until Harrison.
The Berlin Wall of 405 will not be touched by ODOT or PBOT, let alone tinkered with for mere peds/cyclists! Hell, they told Metro to build the light rail on a costly viaduct over it all rather than deal with the mess and fix it for everyone. No matter what improvements they do on either side of it, getting across the moat of that highway will always be difficult. That area is a prime spot for covering the highway and making some real estate, parks, and better ped/bike connections, in case any DOTs want some ideas…
I ride down the hill five days a week and I turn onto Sheridan directly into the left lane (which I know is illegal but whatever) and ignore the right side bike lane. I wouldn’t say that I’m a particularly bold cyclist and I feel fine taking that lane.
I tried out the new protected bike lane last night and it was nice! It made my ride a bit slower because I would often get all green lights when I took the lane, but it felt so much safer. I’m really glad the bike lane-specific traffic lights all work off sensors and there are no buttons involved. It felt intuitive and easy to use for my first time even in the heavy rain and dark night.
Thanks for the report and the tips on gaining the 4th ave bike lane from Terwilliger. I’ve usually navigated it as Bstedman described above, but next time I’ll try your way.
No way! It all depends on where you live in SW. If you live in Hillsdale and vicinity, you’ll use Terwilliger. But if you are near Multnomah Blvd or Barbur, you’ll take Barbur. Or if you’re short of time, you’ll take Barbur since it’s so much more direct, but I guess that’s just me b/c Multnomah to Terwilliger and right on Barbur is very direct and fast.
I’d love for some others to weigh in on how they get downtown.
It also depends if you are in the fearless category of bicyclist or not. Yes, Barbur would be faster for me, and I’m a confident, but not completely fearless rider, and no way am I going down Barbur voluntarily.
Always Terwilliger. Never Barbur. I don’t care if Terwilliger is hillier, curvier, or takes longer to get downtown. It’s much more pleasant, has fewer buses, fewer trucks, fewer trailers, fewer stoplights, fewer crosswalks. Barbur just puts you too close to high speed traffic (plus, if you’re staying on Barbur, you have to make that weird crossing of Naito). The hills on Terwilliger (even when returning home, going south) are not as bad as people claim.
I tend to take Terwilliger and switch to Barbur at Condor—Barbur closer to downtown is great to ride on. But I don’t ever take Barbur northbound between Miles & Hamilton. I really wish they could dedicate a lane on the bridges to bikes. Both lanes really aren’t needed for cars there.
You got me reminiscing about my old commute, first commute into downtown. Actually, coming from SW 57th near Barbur, to an office up by Holladay Park in NE. I didn’t like Barbur, I think I was on capitol highway through the hills, up to Hillsdale, but then instead of going to Terwilliger I did indeed shoot down Capitol onto Barbur because that section is so fast on bikes. So much fun.
But then for some reason I turned on Hamilton or thereabouts and wound my way to the Gibbs Street bridge and some stairs, to ride in the path down there. I think I was intimidated by going through downtown and more Barbur. But in hindsight I should have stayed on Barbur. I’d still probably make my way to naito even today though.
This was about 14 years ago for context. Holy shit time flies.
Geller’s law: All new expensive bike infrastructure has to have connections to other bike infrastructure that are so terrible that they discourage people from using the new expensive bike infrastructure.
The brand new pavement looks so smooth and good for riding! I don’t go this way on my bike very often so I might have to make up a reason to try it out.
I live on 4th so I have to bike on 4th to get just about anywhere. I’m SO EXCITED to try out this new lane, I’ve been watching (and hearing) all the construction go on so long!!
It will be interesting to see what improvements the city will make on the next phase of bikeways 10 years from now.
I had a chance to ride it this morning. It’s great. I was very visible to drivers turning left because of the physical separation between left turn lane and bike lane. I was especially impressed by how the signals seem to line up to give you a green wave. Seems like some of them even switched to green as soon as the senor detected me? Overall a big improvement and I hope that some more CCIM projects can get built so 4th feels like more a part of the network than an isolated project.
Good work PBOT! Let’s do this all over downtown.
pointless and over-designed. I ride this area frequently. This street was absolutely not a problem to ride because of the hill. I for one will never ride in that confined space with potential hooks, trash and sewer grates and lower visibility. Only took them a solid year to build this stinker. Congrats.
Agree, though I hazard to say some commenters won’t want to be part of car traffic regardless of the general speeds. Also, while back-ups are rare on 4th, having a dedicated lane will help during heavy traffic. Imagine though what $21 million could’ve done to provide a world class connection on 7th from Broadway to Going..
Sure, except for the kids, families, old people and 95% of the populous who don’t want to ride with cars. And the people who walk across the street. Also, the economic sustainability of having consistent cycling traffic. And the dedicated bus lane to speed transit.
I commented above but after riding the new lane a few more times I like it even more. The first time I rode through I got several red lights which made my trip a little slower than taking the lane. I’m not sure if they changed something or if I’ve just gotten lucky the last few nights but I think I got green lights all the way down. It seems there are sensors at about the halfway point of (most?) blocks so the bike signals have changed to green before I reached the intersections. The only part that I don’t like is the right turn onto Madison to head toward the Hawthorne bridge. There’s one of those turning bike boxes that puts you on a green paint island out in the intersection physically separated from the other bike infrastructure and I always feel uncomfortable and vulnerable waiting for the light in those.
And why should you have to wait for the signal cycle to make a right turn when you have a green? Other road users don’t need to wait.
Understanding the infrastructure before commenting will help you. The bike lane is protected and on the left side of the road. So making a right turn feels a lot more like making a left turn would normally.. ofc, you don’t have to wait to attempt it, you can hop a curb and cut through two lanes of car traffic without waiting – tell me how that goes.
I understand how the infrastructure works, and have even ridden on some of the new work on 4th (though not enough to have a fully formed opinion of it).
Before the work was done, making a left turn would have entailed moving into the left lane, then turning with the light. Making a right would have entailed moving into the right lane, then turning with the light. It was all very easy and intuitive, and everyone was operating on the same level.
Now, making a left works more-or-less the same; making a right (for bicyclists, but not other users) now involves turning left, rotating my bike, and waiting in an awkward location for a signal change, a maneuver that is not obvious to the uninitiated. I have lost the option to merge right unless I follow your advice to bunny hop over a curb and cut across multiple lanes of traffic.
That sounds just peachy.
FWIW there’s no turning left and rotating involved, at least not at that intersection, because the right turn bike box is forward and to the right of where one would stop for a red light if they were going straight. So it’s more like you ride a bit into the intersection and take a sharp right then stop to wait to cross 4th.
I mostly agree with you in reality, it’s just that your reply seemed (to me at least) more like you genuinely didn’t realize why a normal right turn couldn’t be made here. Please don’t actually attempt to bunny hop any curbs unless you’re riding a brakeless fixie.
Well I have to wait because I have to cross 4th which has the green light first and I have a red. Maybe you’re just saying the bike lane should’ve been built on the right side of 4th? It’s hard to tell what you’re getting at.
They’re getting at the fact that they’re mad they lost their little adrenaline rush they get by being a vehicular cyclist.
SW 4th was great exactly because it offered no adrenaline rush at all. It was about as mellow as it gets on a multi-lane street.
As for “vehicular cycling”… I really don’t care one way or the other in that particular religious war. I just want to get around on my bike safely and conveniently, and am happy to do it without the labels.
LOLz dw. This one made my day. Cue watts. At least it’s getting a little more confusing for people when the VC schtick pops up now and again. “But before I just took the lane man. Don’t fix what aint broke! Why can’t everyone else do it too??? Biker’s rights!”
Cars, man, why?!?
4th heading north from the Hawthorne Bridge was one of the easiest streets downtown to ride on (12 mph, gentle downhill grade, simple turn options left or right).
I’m saying don’t fix what isn’t broken, especially when resources are limited and fixing one thing means not fixing another.
one option could be leave space in the concrete dividers for right-turning cyclists to merge across the lanes to to go right.That’s what I do on SW Broadway to turn left on to Madison or SE Hawthorne to left on to 6th or 9th.
Exactly. I started treating those boxes like a turn lane and go when it’s clear. Otherwise I agree that it feels like you’re just a sitting duck.
100% agree on the turning boxes. That’s an itchy mess right there. Stop and put a foot down within the scope of an intersection where motor vehicles operators coming from any direction only have to make one mistake to hit you?
Maybe that is ok for Copenhagen but I’ve seen too many errant tire tracks and crushed light standards to feel good about it.
I’d prefer to see a lot more space dedicated to bikes/peds on 4th and Madison. I’d imagine that’s going to be a major intersection for people turning to go South to cross the Hawthorne. Madison needs to have one car lane, one bus lane (with floating stop) and a separated bike lane. The city can easily route car traffic off Main and Madison. I was kind of surprised not to see a large separated area (like a separated intersection with lots of space for a queue).
i live very close to this bike lane. yesterday, the whole open part was covered thick with leaves. i was nervous to “slide” on damp leaves but went slowly.
I feel like I just had a genius idea. Regarding the 6 signal lights you paused to talk about in the video, how about painting the yellow trim neon green on the bike signal?!? Probably against some PBOT rule, but that would be a great color-matching scheme so cyclists know where to look!