The Portland Parks & Recreation Bureau has started paving a new section of the Springwater Corridor path in Sellwood. This long-awaited project will close one of the last remaining gaps in this important regional path. It’s just a 0.4 mile section of the Springwater between SE Umatilla and 13th; but as any regional trail advocate will tell you, the sum impact is greater than its parts.
While it’s good to finally see progress on this segment of the “Sellwood Gap,” I was disappointed to find out that the City of Portland will install 10 stop signs along the new path. According to the official project plans, there will be stop signs (and associated stop bar striping) at the crossing of each roadway that intersects with the path: Umatilla, Harney, Marion, 9th, Linn, 11th, and 13th. [Read more…]
TriMet announced today they’ve overcome opposition from business owners and have received a green light to break ground on their $15 million Gideon Street overcrossing project. [Read more…]
The Oregon Department of Transportation is seeking feedback on a project that will add bike lanes to North Lombard between Newman and Wilbur avenues.[Read more…]
2019 is off to a harrowing start in Portland when it comes to the safety of people who are not driving cars on our streets.
As of this weekend we have had five fatal traffic crashes. Four of the victims were walking, one of them was someone on a bicycle. All of them were struck by someone driving a car. There are also two other victims struck by drivers who are still clinging to life at area hospitals.
One of them is 16-year-old Juana Jiménez Francisco, known to family and friends as Juanita. Francisco is a 10th grader at Madison High School who immigrated from Guatemala to Portland in March 2017. According to a GoFundMe page she was returning home from a weekend job at McDonalds when she was hit on February 24th.
Just like the person hit and seriously injured that same night on North Fessenden and the man killed back in January while trying to cross SW Salmon, this tragic incident occurred on a stretch of road — NE 82nd and Jonesmore — that is very well known for its unsafe conditions and where plans to make it safer have been in the works for many years.
We must expedite these projects in a way that matches the urgency of the safety crises they aim to address. [Read more…]
The crosswalk, bike lanes and plaza that exist today on SW 3rd Avenue at Burnside started as astroturf and tape laid down by Better Block PDX. (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
What you might not realize is the reason they’ve been quiet for the past few years isn’t because they’ve gone away. It’s because, instead of classic tactical urbanism that often involves rogue actions like human-protected bike lanes and the unsanctioned deployment of traffic cones to slow drivers down, they’ve been working behind-the-scenes. [Read more…]
County will install signs advising drivers to use caution around bicycle riders on roads like NW Skyline Blvd. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Last week we reported on a project that will close NW Cornelius Pass Road between Highway 30 and NW Germantown Road to through traffic for 13 weeks starting July 8th. Cornelius Pass is a major highway that connects Washington County (near Highway 26) with Scappoose and other destinations along Highway 30.
This is a big deal for bicycle riders because the project will detour thousands of people driving cars and trucks onto what are usually quiet, rural roads that happen to be on very popular cycling routes.[Read more…]
Roads like NW Skyline Blvd and Cornell are on the list for wider paved shoulders and other measures aimed at making cycling safer. (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
It just so happens that many of the roads managed by Multnomah County are vital links in the cycling network: Sauvie Island Road, Larch Mountain Road, Skyline Road, Cornell, Marine Drive, Historic Columbia River Highway, and so on.
We don’t talk about them as much as urban infrastructure and commuting routes, but that makes them no less important. And now, as part of an update to their 20-Year Road Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), the County needs to hear from you how to prioritize future projects and funding. An online open house is now available and comments can be made through March 4th. [Read more…]
The Portland Bureau of Transportation is forming an official advisory body to oversee implementation of the Central City in Motion plan. That plan includes 18 “transformative” projects aimed at improving the efficiency and safety of key central city corridors. Among the changes will be transit lanes, protected bike lanes, updated crossings, and more. Taken together, the projects represent the most ambitious re-thinking of roadway space in decades.
Suffice it to say, there’s a lot riding on this effort. Perhaps that’s why PBOT has taken this step of convening a formal Working Group. According to the announcement released today by the Office of Community & Civic Life, the group will be an official city advisory body and will, “offer strategic advice to help the project team successfully implement projects.
Specifically, members of the group will:
Provide input on priorities for project design and construction Connect the project team with key stakeholders and community representatives and identify opportunities for public engagement on project design Identify opportunities for the private sector to leverage public investments Monitor project delivery Evaluate project performance
Design for Tillamook and 21st has changed to make the bike route more direct.
The City of Portland plans to get started on $150,000 worth of changes to NE Tillamook Street this spring. If all goes according to plan, this major east-west bike route will be much less inviting for car users and much more inviting for bicycle users between Flint and 28th. [Read more…]
Highway 30 has potential to be a direct route from downtown Portland to St. Johns. Unfortunately its bike access is abysmal. (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Anyone who’s ridden a bicycle on Highway 30/St. Helens Road between northwest Portland and the St. Johns Bridge understands why it has the moniker “Dirty 30”. With a major paving project in the pipeline, ODOT has a chance to change that bad reputation.[Read more…]
