A person riding a bicycle has died following a collision with a driver on Highway 43 south of the Sellwoood Bridge. It happened sometime around 5:30 pm in the 9900 block of S Riverside Drive (Hwy 43), which is in an unincorporated section of Multnomah County between the borders of Portland and Lake Oswego.
Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office was able to make contact with the driver. No further details have been released. I will update this post as I learn more.
This stretch of road is a typical four-lane highway with no center median and no bike lane. The shoulder width is relatively narrow and the speed limit is 45 mph. It’s listed as a “difficult connection” on the City of Portland’s official bike map. It’s not heavily used by bike riders, but it’s reasonable someone would use this route to get between Sellwood and Lake Oswego (it’s visible on route heatmaps from Strava and RideWithGPS), or to access the trails at River View Natural Area. Most people would opt for the bike-friendly road through River View Cemetery, but access to that route has been unreliable and I’ve gotten reports recently that the gate is being closed at dusk, which would have been before this crash.
While it’s too early to speculate about the victim’s route or intentions, after I posted about this crash early this morning, several folks shared their thoughts. One person told me they live in Sellwood and attend Lewis & Clark Law School, which is very close to where this crash happened:
“This stretch of road is popular for bikes riding along the waterfront getting back on the bridge (especially for mountain bikers who ride the River View trails), heading east to Sellwood and for folks riding to Lake Oswego or into the Southwest Hills. Southbound has little to no shoulder for the majority of stretch and people very frequently speed far above the speed limit. I am rattled by this as a Sellwood resident and a frequent user of this road on my bike rides.”
Other folks say the crash has unnerved them. “I biked on this road once. Never again. It’s scary. Needs a bike lane at minimum,” one reader shared. “I’ve noticed the cemetery gates up top are getting closed even to bikes and pedestrians around 4:30, so more folks may be looking for work-arounds. This is scary to hear,” said another.
There have been attempts over the years to convert the old trolley line adjacent to this highway into a more modern rail line or a paved bike path, but strong resistance from riverfront homeowners, cost, and legal complications related to historical easements have stymied those efforts.
If you have any information about this crash. Please contact me.
Thanks for reading.
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I think you understate how significant a gap this connection is in our cycling network. The only current alternative is going up and around by climbing up switchbacks through private property. And while very scenic, the path through Tryon Creek is twisty and bumpy. I do appreciate that both of these bike friendly routes exist, but a more direct route is desperately needed.
I live in Lake Oswego and it’s awful to get into Portland / Sellwood on a bike. I believe Hwy 43 is an ODOT highway, meaning the cities can’t really touch it AFAIK.
Converting the trolley trail to a pathway would be amazing. It would be a game changer for micromobility connectivity between LO and South Waterfront.
Couldn’t agree more mperham! I really wish someone would take up this issue again. Or maybe BikePortland should! Especially now with with so many e-bikes in the fleet – this stretch between Sellwood and Lake O is perfect for e-bikes and a ton of people would use it.
I commute daily from Portland to Lake Oswego and rely on the cemetery route as a safe way to navigate this stretch. When it’s closed to bikes before the end of the workday, it creates a difficult situation and the alternate routes, Taylor’s Ferry or Highway 43, are far less safe for cyclists.
It seems the closure happens primarily during the winter months, when it’s already dark by the time many of us are heading home. That’s exactly when having a safe, well-lit route matters most. I’d be grateful if the cemetery could remain accessible to cyclists through the evening commute hours.