The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) will reduce the number of driving lanes and add a new crossing treatment on a stretch of Cesar E Chavez Blvd where a woman was hit and killed by a driver one year ago.
PBOT won a grant last year through the Oregon Department of Transportation’s All Roads Transportation Safety Program (ARTS) that will fund a $2,232,000 project to reduce Cesar Chavez Blvd from four lanes to three lanes between SE Lafayette (just south of Powell) to SE Schiller. The project will also rebuild the traffic signal at SE Holgate (to protect driver left turns) and relocate the bus stop at SE Holgate closer to the crosswalk.
A three-lane cross-section (one in each direction plus a center turn lane) gives PBOT the ability to build safer crossings. They intend to add $550,000 in their own funding (from the Fixing Our Streets program which is funded through the voter-approved local gas tax) to add one new crossing. The plans are not finalized yet, but the crossing could come with a concrete median island, curb extensions, and a marked crosswalk and new lighting. The three crossing locations under consideration are SE Schiller, SE Francis and SE Cora.
The lack of safety on Cesar Chavez Blvd has been a hot topic for many years as fatal collisions with walkers and bikers have piled up.
In January, 2025, 71-year-old Tuyet Nguyen was walking across SE Cora and Cesar Chavez when she was hit and killed by someone’s car. In a brief description of the project, PBOT acknowledged the tragic legacy of Cesar Chavez Blvd. “The community is very interested in getting more crossings on SE Chavez. There have been several recent pedestrian fatalities on Chavez, including at SE Cora St.”
This project is still in development and PBOT is just beginning to reach out to the community for feedback. If you’d like to learn more, the project team plans to attend the Woodstock Neighborhood Association meeting on Wednesday, February 4th at 7:00 pm (on Zoom or at Woodstock Community Center, 5905 SE 43rd Ave).
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I don’t know it could interfere with traffic on Powell and what if people divert to McLoughlin. Better check with ODOT first to make sure they won’t veto this too.