BikePortland

Beaumont-Wilshire residents profess love for car parking near Wilshire Park

Screenshot from virtual BWNA meeting Monday night.

Since it was just Valentine’s Day, we need to have at least one love story on the front page. So here goes…

At a meeting of the Beaumont-Wilshire Neighborhood Association (yes, that one) Monday night, the Portland Bureau of Transportation presented their latest plans for a new bike path along the south side of NE Skidmore Street adjacent to Wilshire Park. The project is part of their effort to establish a safe and convenient east-west neighborhood greenway on Mason-Skidmore and connect to a new crossing of NE 33rd Avenue.

The idea is to make a two-way bike lane next to the park that is protected from the rest of traffic by parked cars. The bike lanes would be five-feet wide and there would be an additional two-foot buffer to the parking spaces. To make room for this, PBOT would narrow the driving space to a 14-foot lane for both directions of car travel.

Monday night’s meeting was the first public showing of PBOT’s plans. I mention that because PBOT already reached out to neighborhood association leaders to ask what they felt about a traffic diverter at NE 36th or 37th to help make the street safer and reduce driving volumes. They rejected the idea and PBOT shelved that element of the plan before it was ever made public (really bugs me when the do that, but I understand they want to get a project done and not have it devolve into another controversy).

So last night, PBOT Project Manager Scott Cohen gave folks the rundown of the current design proposal. After reminding them that PBOT already pulled the diverter off the table, Cohen also sought to reassure them about parking: “What we’ve done is tried to preserve all of the parking possible.”

To build the bike lane and improve visibility at crossings into the park, PBOT says they’ll eliminate about 20-25 parking spaces. That would still leave 40 spaces on this one side of Skidmore. The north side of the street would not have any parking removal at all (not to mention that people can park on every other street in the neighborhood).

Despite what to me seems like a reasonable compromise from PBOT (trust me, I’d personally prefer no parking on the south side and a very wide, protected space for bikers and walkers), I was surprised to hear people still complaining about a loss of parking and casting other aspersions on the city’s attempt to make the street safer.

Here’s a sampling of what Cohen heard from members of the neighborhood association:

First, the naysayers…

“So this is supposed to be a neighborhood park yet you’re talking about reducing parking spaces? That doesn’t sound very neighborhood friendly. And my other question is, when the kids are getting out of the car, they’re going to be opening the car door into the bike path. Now you really expect the kids to look behind them when there’s no rear-view mirror on that side of most cars. This seems dangerous to me.”

“We’ve narrowed it so basically one car can fit through… I don’t know why don’t we take advantage of the path that’s in the park? And do a bike-slash-walking path where there’s already a walking path just to make that [driving lane have] a little bit more space for everybody to be able to squeeze by each other because it feels really tight given the car volume.”

“I’m also concerned about the narrowing of lanes room for cars. Scott was saying they’ll have to negotiate to get by each other. And you know that that will slow them down, but it also increases the danger to people parking and opening doors… You know you open a door one way and you might hit a car, then open the door the other way, you might hit a bicycle.”

“If you looked at the comments on BikePortland, Jonathan’s website, there were a lot of people there that had problems with design.”

[In response to someone asking about better ADA access across Skidmore]: “Can we close off the crossings on [35th and 36th]? Right now there I know it’s a legal crossing, but there is no landing on the other side. And so I’m wondering if you could put up those little bars to keep people from crossing and direct them down to the one crossing and maybe put the money into more parking [and] we can have an improved pedestrian crossing, ADA access and have a better entry to the park.”

Thankfully, Cohen firmly rejected this suggestion of closing crosswalks into the park. He said from PBOT’s view parking is the “lowest [priority] use [of space] in this area.”

“On Saturdays and Sundays, they [Little League] have hundreds of people that come from all over for games and so, I know that [parking] may not be a priority for the program, but I think it is something from a neighborhood perspective that is important that we accommodate parking for park users.”

Don’t despair, there was actually solid support for the project from the neighborhood. Here’s what some folks said:

“I’m a little concerned about the priority for parking. And trust me I like parking when I have my car, but I don’t not care about Little League folks coming and needing parking during the summer, but the worst case scenario is they can park on side streets. So I just don’t know that we have to be concerned that everybody gets a parking spot right across the street from the park. And because those people aren’t necessarily in our neighborhood, it seems like as a neighborhood association, our priority is with those of us who live right around the park.”

“This could be a project that increase walkability and increase more sense of community. And from all the study and research that I’ve seen, we don’t do that by prioritizing people driving. And I feel like we’re missing an opportunity to create more space for people to move by creating a wider multi-use path. So instead of, you know, pedestrians having to navigate the same space, as people cycling on Skidmore, why not make a wider? I’d also like to see the diverter option back on the table. But otherwise, this is a nice compromise and I look forward to the improvement.”

“I believe street narrowing is going to help. I’m not really worried about someone having to park a block away to go to the park.”

[From a very young boy, maybe 7 years old!] “I would like to have this because I usually bike to school. When I bike to school I usually bike on like, where the bike lane is. So I am in favor because I like having a clear bike lane. I don’t want to be rushed when I’m biking.”

“I’m in favor of the proposal… When are we going to stop making cars a priority and make bikes the priority?”

Overall I didn’t hear anything at the meeting that would stop or delay the project. Kudos to PBOT’s Cohen for his deft handling of everyone’s comments. PBOT’s goal is to finish up the design and build the new bikeway this summer. Learn more at the project page.

City’s bike committee explores south Portland’s riverfront bikeways

Scenes from Saturday’s BAC ride. (Photos: Taylor Griggs/BikePortland)

The route for this BAC ride. (Source: PBOT)

The Bicycle Advisory Committee’s monthly rides are great opportunities to learn about current and planned bike infrastructure. The rides are led by Portland’s Bicycle Coordinator, Roger Geller, who gives an inside look at Portland’s bikeways that few others can offer. They’re open to everyone, and are a great way to discover uncharted routes. On the last ride I accompanied in December, we traversed the new protected bike lanes on SE Division Street and checked out the advisory bike lane in outer NE.

This month, it was time to go south.

Saturday’s ride consisted of about a dozen participants in addition to Geller. There were some members of the BAC in attendance, including Chair Ally Holmqvist and Vice Chair Joseph Perez, as well as several local advocates unaffiliated with the committee. We started the ride at the Salmon Street Fountain downtown and headed south on Better Naito into the South Waterfront area. There’s a lot of new development happening in this part of Portland, which is the most transit-dense area of the city (when you include the aerial tram) and has some of the most sophisticated bike facilities in town.

But the network here is disjointed. The green, sidewalk-level bike lanes near the Tilikum Crossing and Oregon Health and Sciences University lower tram terminal end abruptly for people headed west. If you’re heading south, you can pick up the South Waterfront Greenway trail for a bit. That path doesn’t connect to anything, though, making it hard to fully appreciate how nice the trail is.

The abrupt end to the South Waterfront Greenway.

When construction is completed for an apartment complex on the lot between the end of the South Waterfront Greenway and the start of the Willamette Greenway Trail just south of the Old Spaghetti Factory, these two trails will be merged over the current gap. This will be very helpful for people traveling to and from south Portland by bike.

Geller then led us onto the Willamette Greenway Trail, a path with great views of people sailing the river that’s unfortunately hindered by treacherous bumps. We managed to navigate the bumps to the Sellwood Bridge, which is as far as the trail will take you.

I’ve never used the Willamette Greenway before — if I want to go to Sellwood or Milwaukie, I’ll take the better-paved Springwater Corridor Trail on the east side of the river — and I was most intrigued by the train tracks that accompany the path. These tracks are used by the Willamette Shore Trolley, a heritage rail line that travels between Portland and Lake Oswego as a summer attraction.

Last year, I talked to the folks behind a push to bring new life into this trolley line and potentially forge a new, more utilitarian connection between Portland and Lake Oswego. After seeing the largely-unused tracks with my own eyes, I believe something needs to be done here. Let’s bring back the conversation about building a trolley trail along the west bank of the Willamette through Riverdale and Dunthorpe to Lake Oswego.

Geller led us across the Sellwood Bridge to the east side of the river to head back north via the SE 19th Ave neighborhood greenway in Sellwood. The surrounding neighborhood has some great spots — my personal favorite is Piece of Cake, the incredible dessert shop on SE 17th — and is easily accessible by bike by taking the Springwater or via the MAX Orange line. Heading north through the area, it was great to see kids riding their bikes in the neighborhood.

As we made out way through the neighborhood, Geller pointed out another example of Portland’s smorgasbord of street designs: the pervious pavement on a few blocks of street in Sellwood near Westmoreland Park. This permeable pavement captures stormwater through the street surface and into the ground as opposed to in a drain pipe.

These streets in Sellwood received the treatment in 2004 and are the only public streets in the city with this kind of pavement, so clearly the city didn’t think it worked well enough to replicate everywhere.

The ride ended back at the Salmon Street Springs, though I split off early to stay on the east side of the Willamette. Overall, it was an interesting look at some infrastructure I hadn’t seen before. I’m very glad Geller is leading these rides on a monthly basis again. I highly recommend them to anyone who wants an insider look into Portland’s bike infrastructure. Check out the BAC’s webpage for more information. And hope to see you next month!

Podcast: Former Metro President and TransitCenter ED David Bragdon

As a veteran of Metro Council (Portland’s regional planning authority) — including a seven-year stint as president from 2003 to 2010 — David Bragdon has been around the block when it comes to Oregon transportation politics. And for the past decade he’s been executive director of TransitCenter, a nonprofit foundation that funds and conducts research and advocacy to improve public transit across the U.S. Before that he led a planning office for former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Suffice it to say, Bragdon has a mix of experiences in advocacy and government that I feel BikePortland readers could learn a lot from. So when I heard he was leaving his post at TransitCenter and was making a stop in Portland to visit family, I figured it was a perfect time to invite him into the Shed for an interview.

I hadn’t talked with Bragdon since I stayed at his apartment in Brooklyn after Hurricane Sandy in 2012, so I wasn’t sure what direction our conversation might go. Many of you are likely aware of Bragdon’s sharp criticisms of the Oregon Department of Transportation (which he insists on calling the Oregon State Highway Department). I opted to not rehash all of that (although we do touch on ODOT’s Portland megaprojects). Instead, we talked about a range of issues including: how advocates can influence government, what PBOT should look for in their hiring of a new director, PBOT’s budget woes, why he doesn’t trust ODOT, TriMet and transit governance, and more.

A few highlights:

Bragdon said his biggest regret from his 12 years at Metro is allowing himself to be “duped” by ODOT’s dishonesty.
He makes the case for why Metro should take over a leadership role of TriMet.
His opinion on transit enforcement and why he thinks there’s a roll for armed police response.
Why he thinks the plea of “We are out of money,” from PBOT is not a good strategy.
Why he thinks PBOT staff and the quality of TriMet’s bus service deserves more credit than it gets.

Listen to the episode in the player above or wherever you get your podcasts. And make sure to subscribe so you get the latest episodes first. Note that I’m leaving for vacation tonight, so the podcast will take a break for a few weeks. Expect fresh episodes the first week of March. Thanks for listening.

‘Bike Bus Bill’ would give school districts more flexibility with transportation funding

On February 20th at 3 pm, the Oregon House Committee on Education will hold a public hearing on HB 3014, a bill that could give schools more flexibility in how they spend transportation dollars. Currently, Oregon law says monies set aside for school transportation can only be spent on buses or vans.

Supporters of this bill, including Portland-based nonprofit Oregon Walks and Alameda Elementary School teacher and bike bus leader Sam Balto, feel like it’s time to expand the possibilities of these funds so they can support things like public transit passes and payments to crossing guards, as well as leaders of bike buses and walking school buses.

The introduction of this bill (which is included in our guide to the 2023 Oregon legislative session) was prompted by a school bus driver shortage that has created a school transportation crisis in Oregon for several years now. This problem resulted in Portland Public Schools cutting bus service for routes to Lincoln and Benson High Schools from areas outside of TriMet’s service area, a move that put some families in a transportation lurch.

Programs like Balto’s bike bus have demonstrated there are practical alternatives to school buses for a lot of students. But one of the things holding back the development of more bike buses across the state is the fact that most districts cannot currently can’t use their transportation funds to pay people to lead groups of kids walking and biking to school. They have to rely on volunteers instead, which isn’t sustainable for mass implementation of these transportation modes.

Here’s an excerpt from the bill text:

The rules adopted under this subsection must allow for the reimbursement of costs incurred by a school district in lieu of providing transportation, including public transit passes, payment for crossing guards or pedestrian or bicycle group leaders and payment for the promotion and coordination of alternative transportation options. In no event may a school district receive an amount under this paragraph that is greater than the amount the school district would have received under paragraph (a) of this subsection for providing transportation…

In a one-pager from bill supporters East Multnomah County Schools and Oregon Walks, they point out the bill doesn’t give districts any additional funding for new programming.

“Currently, school districts can only use State School Fund Transportation Grant dollars to cover certain types of transportation,” the brief states. “[This bill] simply gives them greater flexibility in how they use their existing dollars so they can do what it takes to get all students to school.”

Balto has long been advocating for paying bike bus and walking school bus leaders, saying it will be what truly tips the scale for these alternative transportation modes to be seen as legitimate just like the yellow school bus or the car drop-off line. HB 3014 is what could make this happen for Oregonians.

The bill currently has 11 sponsors — seven in the House and four in the Senate. All of them are Democrats. The bill will be heard in the Committee on Education. Two of the bills sponsors, Rep. Courtney Neron (D-26) and Rep. Hoa Nguyen (D-48) are members of that committee (Neron is chair).

So, if you want your kids to be able to ride a bike bus or you just want to see more TikTok videos of cute children riding bikes en masse (and who doesn’t?), pay attention to this bill. The hearing is not on the committee agenda yet, but should be posted here soon.

UPDATE, 12:50 pm: Bill sponsor Rep. Khanh Pham is hosting a bike bus day in Salem to show support for the bill at the hearing. See the flyer below for details.

Learn about all the bills on our watch list with our 2023 legislative guide.

Portland’s Office of Civic Life previews new district map

It has been wonderful to see BikePortland commenters refer to the Office of Community & Civic Life’s new neighborhood profiles. We reported on them a couple of weeks ago in our Portland Engagement Project post, and I’ve noticed some of you referring to stats from the profiles in your comments. That’s great!

Shortly after we wrote that article, the Office of Community and Civic Life issued a press release with much of the same information.

With one exception. The press release offered a preview of their new Neighborhood Association and District map (at top).

A comparison with the old map shows a small boundary change—the northern-most SW neighborhood association, SWHRL, joined the Northwest coalition. And the new map has substituted icons for coalition names.

Editor: The last several paragraphs of this story have been edited out per the comment below from the Office of Community and Civic Life. (10:23 AM 2/14/2023)

PBOT Begins Work on 82nd Avenue Critical Fixes

From Portland Bureau of Transportation:

Critical Fixes projects brings urgent safety improvements and maintenance repairs to 82nd Avenue.

(Jan. 30, 2023) – The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) began its multi-year effort to bring urgent safety and maintenance repairs to 82nd Avenue with the installation of new speed reader boards and traffic signal controllers on the 7-mile corridor. These initial investments come just six months after the ownership of the corridor transferred from the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) to PBOT and are informed by a decade of community planning and advocacy.

The speed reader boards alert drivers to “Slow Down” while providing real-time feedback on how fast they’re driving. PBOT deployed one speed reader sign north and south of McDaniel High School, just as people are approaching the school.

More safety improvements are expected as PBOT begins its work on the Critical Fixes: Signal Timing Improvements Project. The installation of new traffic signal controllers replaces the 20-year-old “brains of the intersections.” The newly-installed signals provide a major upgrade and bring PBOT’s signal technology up to modern standards. The new Advanced Transportation Controllers allow PBOT to interconnect its signal timing adjustments and high-speed fiber optic communications. With this technology in place, PBOT will make efforts to reduce opportunities for drivers to speed through multiple signals. Additionally, PBOT will remotely monitor performance in real-time and shorten overall wait time for all people traveling Tat traffic signals. B-roll video of PBOT crews installing the Advanced Transportation Controllers is available to news media upon request.

In total, PBOT expects this technology to be installed at 18 intersections on 82nd Avenue, with the majority of the installations occurring later this week.

This new equipment will enable PBOT to implement pedestrian head start signals at several locations throughout the corridor. A pedestrian head start is a signal timing strategy that improves the safety and visibility of pedestrians by giving pedestrians a walk signal several seconds before vehicles are given a green light.

As part of 82nd Avenue Critical Fixes, PBOT will improve safety for those moving along and across the corridor. Over the next several years, PBOT and ODOT will add a total of 17 new or upgraded crossings of 82nd Avenue to improve safety and fill many of the existing crossing gaps. As these 17 new crossings are installed, PBOT will update its traffic signal system to prioritize safety for all road users. Visit the Critical Fixes website for a full list of planned crossing and traffic signal locations.

PBOT’s safety improvements to 82nd Avenue come after years of community engagement. Watch the video below, and hear from McDaniel High students on how necessary critical safety improvements are to the corridor.

Job: Retail Sales, Customer Service & Mechanic – Metropolis Cycles (FILLED)

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Sorry, this job has been filled.

Shift needs help spreading bike fun in Portland

Shift helps get the word out about events like last summer’s “New to Portland” ride, plugging new people into Portland’s bike scene. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

“[Shift] doesn’t run itself, even though it might seem like it does.”
– Josh Hetrick, Shift volunteer

Shift is one of the mainstays of Portland’s bike scene. These days the non-profit is best known for their ride calendar, but there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes. Their tagline says it best — Shift is “bringing people together for bike fun.” At a volunteer meet-up last week, leaders of the group said they need more help to keep the fun going.

Shift was founded after the first ‘Bike Summer’ in 2002 and has been a focal point of free, social “bike fun” rides ever since.

So, what is Shift? After Bike Summer moved onto other cities, Shift volunteers got together and kept the fun rolling. They created what eventually became known as Pedalpalooza, which celebrated its 20th anniversary last year (and has since spun off from Shift). Shift is also the force behind Breakfast on the Bridges, the monthly events where kind folks show up to give away free coffee and donuts to whoever rolls by. In addition to their ride calendar and events, Shift also hosts an email list where people can communicate about bike issues in Portland. The Shift List was the communications channel back in days before BikePortland and social media, but it has quieted down a lot in recent years.

“Shift preceded social media, and it’ll be here after social media is gone,” said Emee Pumarega, a board member, at Wednesday night’s volunteer recruitment event. (This message is especially comforting as Twitter’s functionality seems to change by the hour.)

When a tool runs as seamlessly as the Shift calendar does, you might not realize that it requires upkeep and some human grunt work to keep it going. Right now, the non-profit has three board members, and they only have a couple other regular volunteers who chip in to help with social media and tech maintenance.

“It doesn’t run itself, even though it might seem like it does,” board member Josh Hetrick said.

Keeping Shift in order — and the gears of Portland’s bike scene greased up and turning — is a lot of work for just five people.

“It would be nice to have more people involved, to spread around the mental load,” Pumarega said. “And we could use a sustained PR push to let people know [what Shift is].”

Mostly, Pumarega said, Shift just serves as the “community underneath” the fun bike events and rides going on in Portland. They promote rides both on their website and on social media. Going forward, the current board members have plans to create initiatives like ride leader education and a grant program to help fund ride and event materials. They also want to add more functions to their calendar, like a search feature to sift through the hundreds of rides going on during Pedalpalooza.

In order to make these things happen, board member Logan Vickery said he wants to see the board expand to at least five people. He also wants to hand off his current position as the finance director and grow their social media team so they can do more ride promotion throughout the year.

But you don’t have to be on the board to help out at Shift. “You can create the volunteer job that you want to have,” Pumarega said. This could mean answering emails, helping lead ride workshops, doing tech fixes, tabling at the farmer’s market — or whatever you can think of.

Whether you’re a more casual bike fun participant or you’re a Pedalpalooza veteran, Shift has likely helped you have fun on your bike. Let’s show them some love in return by stepping up to volunteer and keep it going for years to come. Email board@shift2bikes.org to find out how you can get involved.

Comment of the Week: Origin of ODOT’s crosswalk closure rationale

Welcome to the Comment of the Week, where we highlight good comments in order to inspire more of them. You can help us choose our next one by replying with “comment of the week” to any comment you think deserves recognition. Please note: These selections are not endorsements.

The comment we’ve selected this week was buried deep in the 100+ comments of our story about ODOT’s decision to close 181 crosswalks in the Portland area.

But first lets talk about nominating comments to be a “Comment of the Week.” Do it! It is really helpful to us to have those suggestions. Here’s how I work: I keep an open file of what I think are good comments as the week proceeds. But if I push a comment through from the phone, I might forget to put it on my list. That’s what happened here.

Luckily, someone nominated Todd/Boulanger’s excellent comment to be “Comment of the Week,” and it has lived to see another day. Thank you.

This comment is a good example of an informative comment from a pro. We get a fair number of those, and it’s part of why people read the BikePortland comment section: Because you learn stuff.

In this example, Todd/Boulanger helps us understand where the idea of a “false sense of security” originated. He writes in reply to another commenter, “JP,” who labelled the ODOT decision “Orwellian.”

Here’s what Todd/Boulanger wrote:

JP, … it is actually “Hermsian”…

“In 1972, a researcher named Bruce Herms conducted a study of crosswalk safety in San Diego. He found that intersections with marked crosswalks had higher injury rates than ones with unmarked crosswalks. He concluded that marked crosswalks should only be installed where they are ‘warranted’ because they can give pedestrians a ‘false sense of security,’ encouraging risky behavior.” – Streetsblog 2016

Well educated North American traffic engineers and transportation planners stopped relying on this study as far back as in the 1990s (my experience)…when follow-up research found additional methodological shortcomings (not brought up by Streetsblog)…like the pedestrians typically seeking out crosswalks were the very old or infirm…while most other adult pedestrians crossed anywhere that they could in addition to marked crosswalks. He did not control for this and other confounding issues.

“Since the Herms study, other studies have refuted his conclusions, including work produced by the FHWA. Nevertheless, the influence of his research from [50] years ago persists. As backward as it seems, engineers still refuse to install crosswalks on the grounds that it would harm pedestrian safety.” – Streetsblog 2016

Thank you , Todd/Boulanger! And thank you for the links. You can find Todd’s comment, and the 106 other things people had to say, under the original post.

Monday Roundup: Major doc, your brain on cars, Dubai’s green loop, and more

Welcome to the week.

Here are the most notable stories our writers and readers have come across in the past seven days…

Recipe for low-car life: Driving less is imperative for our survival as a species and this article from Angie Schmitt is a wonderful summation of how to do it — no matter where live. (Vox)

USA’s (carfree) main street: It was cool when Pennsylvania Ave in Washington D.C. got it’s own, center-running bike lane. It would be much cooler if it went completely carfree. (Greater Greater Washington)

Cars as appliances: The auto industry has found a new way to integrate their products into peoples’ lives: As a power generator. Ugh. (Washington Post)

Vision Zero for buildings: Too many drivers are running into homes and businesses. A review of fire department records in Seattle showed that it happened once ever 3 and 1/2 days in 2022. (Seattle Times)

Toxic traffic: A new study shows that even relatively low levels of exposure to traffic pollution can have a negative impact on your brain and its author say, “if you’re walking or biking down a busy street, consider diverting to a less busy route.” (University of British Columbia)

Dubai’s green ‘Loop’: This city in the United Arab Emirates wants to build a 60-mile long, fully-enclosed biking and walking highway to reach a goal of 80% bike/walk mode share by 2040. Your move, Portland! (Arabian Business)

A Major documentary: “Whirlwind” is the name of an in-progress documentary that will finally tell the story of famed Black bicycle racer Major Taylor — if its creators can raise enough money to finish it. (Cycling Weekly)

Commute benefits: Researchers found that many people who’ve moved to remote work miss their car commutes because of the liminal space it provided between work and home. (The Conversation)

(Fre)e-bikes: This program that used grant funding to give free e-bikes to residents of the Wilmington neighborhood in Los Angeles is likely going to be a blueprint we see all over America in the coming months and years. (LAist)

About those freight train delays: In another good episode of KGW’s ‘Driving Me Crazy,’ they take a closer look at the annoying delays caused by freight trains in inner southeast and what might possibly be done about it. (KGW)

Thanks to everyone who shared links this week.

Green bike boxes, bike lanes return to 26th Avenue following tragic death

When the Oregon Department of Transportation strong-armed the City of Portland to remove the bike lanes and bike boxes on Southeast 26th Avenue and Powell Boulevard in 2018, we knew it would make the crossing less safe. But ODOT persisted. In a twisted plan to encourage people to not bike on 26th (lest they get hit and make ODOT look bad) the agency removed infrastructure that was meant to protect them.

Looking back, that plan was both twisted and tragic.

That’s because on October 4th of last year, Sarah Pliner was riding her bike to work and somehow came into contact with a large trailer pulled by the driver of a semi-truck who was making a right turn from 26th onto Powell. The collision killed Pliner and her body came to rest just yards from where ODOT removed the bike box.

Now the Portland Bureau of Transportation has re-installed the bike boxes. One of them is in the exact spot where, just four months ago Oregon Walks leader (now Metro Councilor) Ashton Simpson stood in the southeast corner of the intersection with a sign that read, “Human Bike Box.” He was part of a large protest that helped force the hand of PBOT and ODOT to step up and do the right thing.

It’s nice to see this infrastructure come back. But I won’t celebrate, because it cost us the life of Sarah Pliner.

When I visited the intersection yesterday to take a closer look, I had that sick feeling in my stomach. That mix of anger and frustration I’ve had so many times over the years as we sit back and wait for the city and state to get serious about reining in the inherent danger of streets filled with people driving cars and trucks in a way that endangers us every single day.

It’s the same feeling I had in July 2008 when I rolled up to West Burnside and 14th — the intersection I’ll always know as the place where Tracey Sparling was run over and killed by the driver of a large truck who — just like in Sarah’s case — was making a right turn. At that time, bike boxes were new, but the threat of right-hooks wasn’t.

When I heard about the installation of a bike box where Tracey died, I called her aunt. “It makes me physically ill to consider that such a simple fix would have definitely prevented the right hook that killed my niece,” she told me. When I got home and worked on my story, all I could think of was why Tracey had to die before we took that simple step. It was a bittersweet bike box. I even made a video about it (below).

The re-born bike boxes at 26th and Powell occupy a similar place in my head. When ODOT, PBOT, and The Street Trust agreed to remove them, we knew people would still ride through that intersection. We knew it would more dangerous. But they were removed anyway.

I’m glad they’re back. They seem to work very well. Combined with the head-start on the walk signal (a.k.a. leading pedestrian interval, which I was happy to see a bike rider use, even though Oregon law hasn’t caught up to this behavior yet), the new curbs in the southeast corner where Sarah was killed, the lower speed limits and school zone signage, it feels like drivers have calmed down a bit.

We haven’t done nearly enough to tame traffic on Powell Blvd, but adding back green bike lanes and bike boxes in both directions is a good step forward — or should I say a step sideways since we’ve merely added back what we had before.

Would they have saved Sarah’s life? We will never know. What we will always know, is that that it took her death to get them back.

Podcast: PBOT and their search for a new leader

What do we want to see in the next leader of the Portland Bureau of Transportation?

Why is this hire so important for the agency?

What were previous PBOT directors like and why does that matter?

These are some of the questions my co-host Kiel Johnson and I had on the latest episode of our podcast.

Last week, Kiel messaged me and said, “What are your thoughts on the PBOT director position?” I get messages like that all the time from local transportation activists and insiders. Typically we end up having a good conversation on the phone or on the side of an event. But since I’ve had a more audio-oriented mindset with BikePortland, I’ve wanted to share these conversations with you. So I invited Kiel over to the Shed and we recorded it.

This episode is different than we’ve had in the past. It’s more of an informal chat. It’s really just two old friends talking about something they both care about a lot. Hope you enjoy eavesdropping! And if you have thoughts about what you’d like to see in the next PBOT director, let’s hear them. We hope candidates for the job — and maybe even the folks that will make the hire! — will read this post and listen to this episode.

Find this episode on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen.

Beaumont-Wilshire residents profess love for car parking near Wilshire Park

City’s bike committee explores south Portland’s riverfront bikeways

Podcast: Former Metro President and TransitCenter ED David Bragdon

‘Bike Bus Bill’ would give school districts more flexibility with transportation funding

Portland’s Office of Civic Life previews new district map

PBOT Begins Work on 82nd Avenue Critical Fixes

Job: Retail Sales, Customer Service & Mechanic – Metropolis Cycles (FILLED)

Shift needs help spreading bike fun in Portland

Comment of the Week: Origin of ODOT’s crosswalk closure rationale

Monday Roundup: Major doc, your brain on cars, Dubai’s green loop, and more

Green bike boxes, bike lanes return to 26th Avenue following tragic death

Podcast: PBOT and their search for a new leader

Latest Headlines

Video: Meet a nursing student who received one of Portland’s first e-bike rebates

BikeCraft makes triumphant return with festive fun for everyone

Escape into far-flung adventures at bike touring slideshow

Local gas tax will fund two new crossings on SE Division

From the Archives

Portland’s invisible machine: Behind the scenes at the World Naked Bike Ride