Bike boxes are a new roadway engineering treatment being used by the City of Portland Office of Transportation to improve bike safety at intersections. They are intended to improve awareness and visibility of cyclists and to help prevent dangerous “right-hook” collisions.
For more information, read the stories below and check out these links for more information:
–Listen to City of Portland Traffic Engineer Rob Burchfield talk about bike boxes.
Download MP3 (2.5MB: 2 min, 50 sec)
–View BikePortland’s bike box photo gallery
–Visit PDOT’s Bike Box Information page.
Click headlines below for full stories.
This morning I had a nice chat with KINK-FM Morning Show anchors Les Sarnoff and Rebecca Webb. Les and Rebecca called me into the studio to talk about Portland’s effort to improve bike safety by installing blue bike lanes, bike boxes, and new signage at 14 dangerous intersections.
This photo of the bike box at SE Clinton and 39th, shows why more education is needed.(Photo © Jonathan Maus) As part of their campaign to roll out bike boxes at 14 major Portland intersections, PDOT is soliciting bids from the community for a new video that would explain the why, what, and how about … Read more
Freshly installed bike lanes and bike boxes in New York City.(Photo by Clarence Eckerson) For years, several U.S. cities have dabbled in an intersection treatment that is ubiquitous in many European cities: the bike box. Unfortunately, most of these boxes, including the one in Southeast Portland, have been more of a forgotten experiment than a … Read more
[*Updated 12/19, 9:42 am] Wednesday night at 6:00pm, (*NOTE: This Council session has been rescheduled) City Commissioner Sam Adams will present a resolution and report about bike safety to City Council that outlines “initial City policy improvements and engineering enhancements undertaken to increase bicycle safety in response to recent bicyclist fatalities.”
Goodbye blue…hello green? Even though funding has now been approved and the political will exists to move forward, the Portland Office of Transportation (PDOT) still has a few wrinkles to iron out before installation begins on colored bike boxes and bike lanes that are slated for 14 dangerous intersections around the city. PDOT is currently … Read more
Draft engineering drawing of the intersection where Tracey Sparling was killed. Last night, as part of a nearly $6 million surplus budget allocation process, Portland’s City Council approved $200,000 to fund bike safety improvements at 14 intersections. These improvements include new, colored bike boxes and bike lanes at intersections found to be dangerous and in … Read more
Matthew Machado of PDOT traffic operations.(Photos © Jonathan Maus) At last night’s meeting of the Portland Bicycle Advisory Committee, PDOT unveiled their initial concepts for adding new bike boxes and blue bike lanes to fourteen Portland intersections. Commissioner Adams dropped in on the meeting and said he wants to move “quickly but prudently” and hopes … Read more
Roger Geller(Photo: Jonathan Maus) [We’ve heard from the local media, we’ve heard from the Police Bureau, we’ve heard from the BTA, and we’ve heard from the community (through hundreds of comments on various websites and blogs). Now, in this guest article, PDOT bike coordinator Roger Geller shares an in-depth analysis of how the City of … Read more
CITY OF PORTLAND OFFICE OF TRANSPORTATION PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release October 26, 2007 Contact: Cheryl E. Kuck at (503) 823-5552 Or: Tom Miller at (503) 823-1121 Committee on Policy, Engineering, and Enforcement for Bicycle Safety Develops Action Plan to Improve Bicycle Safety in Portland (PORTLAND, OR) – Representatives from Portland’s bicycle and freight communities, … Read more
A large crowd in City Hall.Slideshow below(Photos © Jonathan Maus) Just four days after the second fatal bicycle crash in as many weeks, City Commissioner Sam Adams called together an “emergency meeting” to discuss the issues and brainstorm solutions to improve bike safety in our city. Following the meeting was a press conference that was … Read more
Scott Bricker, the newly appointed head of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA), was a guest on OPB’s Oregon Considered radio show today. In a report titled, Seeking Solutions to the Deadly Bike/Truck Conflict, he touched on several issues that are weighing heavily on the minds of many in our community right now. Here’s what Bricker … Read more