Looking north on Murray at Walker during rush hour.
(Photos: Naomi Fast)

When I first began riding a bicycle for transportation I focused on things like getting used to car noise, figuring out how to keep the bottom of my pants from ripping on one side, and choosing the best bike bags for my shopping needs.[Read more…]

Nine days apart: Same intersection, same trucking company, same type of collision, same result, same problem we’ve known about for over a decade.
(Photos via @SmplicityCycles via Twitter)

It’s disheartening to start writing a post about the need for changes at a dangerous intersection only to recall that I already wrote the story. Nearly five years ago.

“Another right-hook at Broadway and Hoyt: What can we do about this intersection?,” screamed the headline in our October 2013 post.

And here we are today with the same concerns, the same problems and the same intersection.
[Read more…]

PBOT wants to know if you prefer a beefier median at Villard.

As paving machines and bulldozers rumble and beep along North Rosa Parks Way today as part of a repaving project that started a few weeks ago, the Portland Bureau of Transportation is considering a last-minute change to the project they say provides even more protection for people walking and bicycling.

At issue is the crossing of Rosa Parks at Villard, a street between Willamette Blvd and Greeley Ave. Currently there’s no marked crossing at Villard. That leaves just over 1,100 feet of this neighborhood collector street without a clear and safe place to cross.

Back in March we shared PBOT’s initial design proposal which included two zebra-striped crosswalks and median islands in the middle of the street. As a partial median, the design would do nothing to limit driving movements. Now PBOT says they have the “opportunity” to upgrade this design further by making it a full median diverter that would prohibit some turns for auto users while still allowing bicycle riders to get through.
[Read more…]

It will take both money and good designs to tame east Portland streets.
(Photo: Jonathan Maus)

2018 could go down in history as an inflection point for east Portland. After years of activism and advocacy — and planning and politicking by local governments — a part of our city that has been historically neglected since it was annexed a half-century ago is slated for an infusion of transportation infrastructure investment the likes of which we’ve never seen before.

Tonight (5/16) at an event on SE 122nd Avenue, the Portland Bureau of Transportation kicks off the first of two open houses that will feature nearly two dozen projects and programs aimed at making east Portland streets safer and more convenient. Between projects slated to break ground this summer and next, there’s so much going on it’s hard to keep up.
[Read more…]

NW Raleigh is one of the many greenway routes in Northwest that has fallen victim to too many drivers.
(Photo: Jonathan Maus)

This story is by BikePortland contributor Caleb Diehl.

The City of Portland’s Northwest in Motion plan got underway last night when the Community Advisory Group (CAG) met for the first time at Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital. The group — that includes representatives from biking and walking organizations, residents and business owners — will shape the outcomes of a project that will identify and prioritize a five-year “active transportation implementation strategy.”
[Read more…]

Unlikely inspiration for tactical urbanism.
(Images: Michael Geffel)

Michael Geffel had a novel inspiration behind his idea to connect the Center Street and Gladstone Street Neighborhood Greenways in southeast Portland: Neon lights.

A landscape architect and visiting professor at University of Oregon’s School of Architecture and Environment by day, Geffel’s idea is to use art to improve these greenways while creating safer streets and a stronger community identity.

His “Foster is Neon” project (PDF below) came together initially as an entrant into PBOT’s Portland in the Streets Community Grant program. Geffel and other supporters of his project wanted to improve wayfinding and safety between SE 52nd and 62nd, where the greenways meet in a confusing, zig-zagging mess. Not only is the route hard to follow, it also crosses SE Foster Road, a high-speed arterial. Geffel’s inspiration came from the many neon signs that still dot Foster corridor businesses like George Morlan Plumbing Supply, Mt. Scott Fuel, Devil’s Point, and others.
[Read more…]

The new median spans well beyond the intersection.
(Photos: Jonathan Maus)

North Portland’s streets continue to evolve as a combination of neighborhood demands, City of Portland paving projects, and opportunistic activism are coming together to make significant changes to bikeways.
[Read more…]

Foster at Gladstone. (Insert witty Abbey Road reference here.)

It’s finally happening.

The Portland Bureau of Transportation has mailed out notices to residents that the Foster Road Streetscape Project will be breaking ground in a matter of weeks. This is right in line with what we reported back in January so it’s a good sign that the project is moving ahead as planned.
[Read more…]

Ceremonial parade loop on Better Naito this morning.
(Photos: Jonathan Maus)

“All through the long, dark winter, I eagerly await the day when bollards spring from the pavement and we know that Better Naito season is upon us again.”

With those words by Biketown General Manager Dorothy Mitchell, the City of Portland officially opened Better Naito this morning.

From now until the end of September, Naito Parkway will have more room for biking, walking and rolling between the Hawthorne and Steel Bridges. The re-allocation of road space was first made possible in 2015 by a group of volunteer activists from Better Block PDX in collaboration with planning students from Portland State University. Last year the project was taken over by the Portland Bureau of Transportation and they’ve now budgeted for a seasonal installation for the next four years.

Last year PBOT counted 500,000 trips in the Better Naito lane and it has been widely hailed as a success.
[Read more…]

A protest rally on 26th and Powell in February.
(Photo: J. Maus)

Southeast Uplift, an official City of Portland neighborhood coalition group that represents 20 neighborhoods, has thrown their weight behind opposition to the Portland Bureau of Transportation and the Oregon Department of Transportation’s negotiated settlement to remove bike lanes on SE 26th Avenue approaching Powell Blvd.

As we’ve been reporting for nearly three years now, the nearly unprecedented removal of bike lanes on a city street is the result of a squabble between PBOT and ODOT. As final word came down from ODOT in February that they planned to cash in an agreement wrung out of PBOT over the lanes, there’s been a ratcheting up of activism to keep them.

Southeast Uplift joins a loud chorus speaking up against ODOT’s inexplicable demands for the removal of these bike lanes. Activists rallied during a snowstorm in February where the director of The Street Trust, Jillian Detweiler, said removing the lanes is “completely unnecessary.”
[Read more…]