“Come on drivers, get your shit together!” That was the text I shared on social media along with a photo of yet another mangled car on Portland’s streets. “The system is deeply flawed/broken/not working,” came a reply from my friend Sarah Risser with Families for Safe Streets PDX. “We should direct our anger at the flawed transportation system.”
Sarah then shared a video about “Safety Science” narrated by advocate and author Jessie Singer where she lays out an argument for why blaming individuals for crashes is a flawed approach to making roads safer.
That’s the exchange that led to the latest episode of the BikePortland Podcast where I sat down with Sarah in The Shed to hash out our difference of opinion on this issue. The conversation ended up in some interesting places and by the end of it I hope you’ll have an even more expansive view of the challenge of Vision Zero and other topics related to road safety. Sarah cares deeply about this topic and is a dedicated safety advocate because she lost her 18-year-old son in a car crash in 2019 (something we talked more about in a previous episode of the pod).
The exchange below gives you a taste of what to expect in this episode:
Jonathan: There’s a portion of extremism going on that throws everything out of whack… We have this extremism because of other systemic factors that are broken down. So now you have this whole block of drivers that will go on Instagram and film themselves burning out and doing dangerous things, like the guy who is doing donuts in a city park. Right? Like two blocks from my house! There’s this level of extremism and that’s what I feel like I’m responding to a lot. Someone has to put on the record that the people are not just going to allow that type of extreme behavior happen, and sit back in our chair and go, ‘Gosh, it’s, it’s not going to be fixed until the system’s better.’ I just can’t live like that. I feel like we need to at least have on the record: ‘We’re pissed and we don’t accept this! You’ve got to be better!’
Sarah: I think that maybe where you and I disagree is you’re directing that at the driver. They’re just doing what the system is letting them do.
Jonathan: But are they? A driver is making a conscious choice to use their car in a way that’s dangerous.
Sarah: It’s kind of like putting me in a room with chocolate and saying you may not have any of that chocolate… we’re just giving drivers this opportunity and we’re reinforcing it over and again.
Jonathan: But at what point would you say we’re not giving drivers that? I mean, like this guy that jumps a couple curbs with his truck and goes into Peninsula Park and starts doing donuts in a city park in broad daylight. That’s a street that’s had a road diet. It’s got 20 mile an hour speed limit, it’s got a concrete separated bike lane, and he literally jumped into a grassy park.
Sarah: Well, those interventions you mentioned are really good, but there are other ones too, right? Like, why do we have cars that can go as fast as they can go? And this is something that families for Safe Streets is really starting to work on, is the intelligent speed assist (ISA). I think that this is another issue that nobody is really talking about: Why do we have vehicles that are so big, that are so dangerous, that can go so fast? Why do we tolerate this? And why do we focus on systems to mitigate around that? And that has always been very frustrating to me.
Listen in the players above, directly on YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. I’ve embedded a transcript below:
UPDATE, 9/3 at 10:30 am: This interview will be livestreamed to YouTube. You can tune in starting at 5:30 here.
In case you haven’t heard, Mayor Keith Wilson will join us at Bike Happy Hour tomorrow (Wednesday, 9/3). Wilson credits his speech at Bike Happy Hour in February 2024 with launching his successful bid for mayor. Now he’s coming back to where it started because he wants our community to know he cares about street safety and cycling.
Or does he? Does Mayor Wilson really have what it takes to make real progress for cycling in Portland? Or is he still campaigning and looking for a friendly audience? Will he actually make bold moves to push the needle forward? How does he answer the pro-car lobby when they come knocking on his door at City Hall? And why the heck did he sign off on removing those diverters in northwest Portland?
I hope to find clarity on all these points and much more during our conversation on Wednesday. Show up any time after 3:00 to meet and mingle prior to the interview. I’ll plan to leave time for audience Q & A, and you can also contact me directly or leave a comment here to share a question you’d like me to consider asking.
This is a great opportunity to bend the ear of Portland’s most powerful politician. I hope you’ll join us and I look forward to seeing you there. The interview will begin at 5:30, but you’re welcome to come any time after 3:00 as per usual.
It happened near this location in Washington Park.
The Portland Police Bureau just reported a fatal collision involving a bicycle rider that happened Sunday night in Washington Park.
Here’s the full PPB statement:
On Sunday, August 31, 2025, at approximately 6:30 p.m., officers assigned to the Portland Police Bureau’s Central Precinct responded to a bicycle crash in the area of Southwest Sacajawea Boulevard and Southwest Lewis and Clark Circle in Washington Park. When they arrived, officers located an adult male cyclist deceased.
PPB’s Major Crash Team (MCT) responded to the scene. The preliminary investigation indicates the cyclist, who was not wearing a helmet, was riding a BMX-style bike downhill with a group of other cyclists when he crashed trying to ride between two boulders.
No further information will be released at this time.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact PPB’s Traffic Division and reference case number 25-238736.
This description would seem to imply that the person who died was taking part in a group ride. I’m not aware of any such ride that was going on yesterday that would have placed a group like this in Washington Park at that time. Hearing that it was a “BMX-style” bike (which I take it to mean it was small) and given the location, this might have been a group doing a sort of “Zoobomb” — which is a well-known tradition (which has fizzled out quite a bit since its heyday 15 years or so ago) where people ride minibikes up to the top of the park (the zoo) and then “bomb” down. The location at Lewis and Clark Circle is a common stopping point on some Zoobomb routes.
I don’t have any details beyond what the police have shared. So if you know more and want the community to hear about it, please reach out to me.
UPDATE, 5:32 pm: The man who died was 46 year old Brian Hesse. He was an active member of the PDX Bike Life community on Facebook. This His daughter posted this remembrance of him on that page along with the photo:
Just wanted to say how much my dad enjoyed every moment with you all. Everytime i would talk to him he’d either be out with yall or talking about the next ride.
You all gave him the best years of his life, and right now that’s the only thing im finding comfort in.
Oregon lawmakers passed a new version of a transportation funding package out of committee after a four-plus hour long marathon work session and public hearing on Sunday. And even though House Bill 3991 passed with changes that aimed to curry favor with Republicans, none of them voted in support of the bill.
Even though Democrats have a supermajority with control of the House, Senate and the Governor’s office; Republicans used their last piece of leverage — their ability to give Democrats the quorum needed to convene the special session — as a bargaining tool to force a change that further weakened transit funding and stripped the state’s power to levy minute increases to the gas tax without a vote of the legislature under certain circumstances.
As a result of these last minute negotiations to ensure Republicans showed up on a holiday weekend, Democrats agreed to make the payroll tax that funds transit — which the bill increases from 0.1% to 0.2% — temporary. Initially proposed as a permanent increase, it would now sunset in 2028.
In addition to a short-term increase in transit funding, the bill would: implement accountability measures for the Oregon Department of Transportation, give the state economist the authority to lower the gas tax and/or weight-mile tax to make sure it stay in balance for light and heavy vehicle owners, require e-car owners to enroll in a pay-per-mile program in 2028, increase the gas tax by six cents, increase vehicle title and registration fees, repeal the tolling program (but not the state’s authority to levy tolls in the future), increase funding to roadside rest areas, and simplify how truckers calculate weight-mile fees.
The bill passed 7-5 on a party line vote after lawmakers heard dozens of Oregonians testify for and against it.
One person they didn’t hear from was Governor Tina Kotek. She wasn’t in the building. That fact gave Republicans and their supporters online a chance to lambaste the governor as being disrespectful, uninterested and out-of-touch. Asked by Republican Senator Daniel Bonham where Governor Kotek was, her Transportation and Infrastructure Advisor Kellly Brooks said, “I am not going to disclose the governor’s exact whereabouts right now, but she has been intently engaged in working with me on today’s materials, and I’m fairly confident watching this right now.”
TriMet General Manager Sam Desue was watching. In his online testimony he said he supported the bill, but told members of the Joint Special Session Committee On Transportation Funding, “Anything less than a permanent increase [to transit funding] will result in deep cuts to transit service by the end of this decade.” Desue was aware of the amendment to sunset the payroll tax increase and remarked that, “A sunset of the 0.1% increase in 2028 will not leave enough time to generate replacement revenue from other sources, while inflation will continue to put pressure on the cost of providing service.”
Republicans spent quite a bit of time Sunday poking holes in transit and the state’s efforts to fund it. Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis implied that the state is merely subsidizing transit agencies who choose to offer free fares and who want to do nothing but purchase electric buses with it. Senator Daniel Bonham implied the funding wasn’t need because ridership on transit was higher before 2017 before ODOT had a dedicated stream of funding for it. Committee Vice-Chair Christine Drazan implied that rural people could just switch to taxis and rideshare providers, instead of public transit.
Later in the hearing, Rep. Drazan maintained that Republicans weren’t trying to cut transit funding. “Transit is an essential part of our transportation system,” Drazan said. “The fact that I want to have a conversation about how we pay for it shouldn’t be confused with the fact that I believe we need it.” Either Drazan is more of a transit supporter than it appears, or she’s trying to sound more moderate on transportation ahead of a run for governor in 2026. Either way, she and her party have seriously weakened transit in Oregon.
The other change made yesterday was to how the state handles the constitutional requirement for car and truck drivers to pay an equal amount for road use. A provision in the original bill would have given the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) the ability to make small adjustments in the gas tax (what car drivers pay) and weight-mile tax (what truckers pay) if the state’s analysis showed the ratio was too imbalanced. The original bill would have let DAS raise or lower the taxes to achieve equity. In a compromise with Republicans, a successful amendment passed that only gives DAS the ability to lower the taxes.
With these changes — along with the fact that the bill will now raise only around $4.5 billion instead of the $15 billion Democrats and the governor initially sought — the bill was finally successful.
Republicans on the committee said they couldn’t stomach voting for any new increase in taxes. And Democrats who voted in support of it offered only tepid enthusiasm. Senator Khanh Pham described her vote as a “courtesy yes.” “It just kicks the can down the road for both road maintenance safety and also for public transit,” Pham continued. “So I am voting for this reluctantly because I can’t, in good conscience, jeopardize the critical work that is needed on our state roads right now, and I can’t deprive our state or transit agencies of even two years of funding right now.”
The bill is being voted on in the House Chamber right now. It’s expected to pass barring any last-minute snafu.
Hi friends. Welcome to the week. Make sure you can attend Bike Happy Hour this week as I’ll sit down with Portland Mayor Keith Wilson for an interview in the plaza. We’ll start around 5:30 and you’re welcome to show up any time after 3:00. Check the Shift Calendar listing here.
And with that, here are the most notable stories of the past seven days…
Rwanda on global cycling stage: The 2025 UCI Road World Championships are later this month and they’ll take place far from what one fan refers to as, “traditional European hubs.” (We Love Cycling)
Bus blindness and escapism in rural Oregon: This amazing essay busts myths of public transit and driving in rural Oregon while sharing personal fears and vulnerability. It’s the most powerful article I’ve read about these topics in a very long time. (Oregon Humanities)
Portland Police back on TriMet: In the latest sign of change since the George Floyd protests, the City of Portland and TriMet have come together to add our local police force back into the transit system. (TriMet)
New Shimano cleats: It’s big news when industry giant Shimano makes the first change to its ubiquitous cleats in 30 years. The new model promises more ways to enter and exit. (Pink Bike)
Newly-printed bike gear: A large, online 3-D printing community site held one of their contests to design the coolest new product and the theme was bike gear. The result: Hundreds of nifty little items that can make bike life easier. (Printables)
EV charger survey: The City of Portland is asking for feedback about where folks want EV chargers. Depending on how these are installed, I hope they are mindful of how the equipment might impact popular cycling routes. (Portland Bureau of Transportation)
Populist policing: In what will be seen as good news for PBOT — since they’re doubling-down on automated enforcement cameras — one of the most respected thinkers in the transportation and safety journalism space lays out his case that they’re more popular than the popular narrative might suggest. (Bloomberg)
PBOT guidelines: I found it interesting how deep The O went on a story about how PBOT went against their own guidance to set new parking meter rates. I mean, PBOT commonly goes against adopted policies for things like road design, but somehow this is a bigger story. (The Oregonian)
PR for the resistance: Was fun to see how the War on Cars Podcast crew’s new book got this venerable book publishing industry outlet to use the phrase “anti-car activists.” Love to see that term normalized! (Publisher’s Weekly)
Tesla cover-up: Upholding the long tradition of Big Auto not giving a shit about people who use their products or the people who are killed and injured by them — it took a hacker and a lawsuit to find out how Tesla lied about having data that showed someone was using their dangerous Autopilot feature when they hit and killed someone. (Washington Post)
Eva Frazier joined me (BikePortland founder and editor Jonathan Maus) for our 40th episode of “In the Shed” — the show where we chat about whatever comes to mind. In this episode we touched on a bunch of good stuff:
Thanks for listening. And thanks to all BikePortland financial supporters and monthly subscribers. Please become a paid subscriber of BikePortland today so we can keep making cool things for you to read, watch, and listen to.
Listen in the players above or wherever you get your podcasts.
Here’s a fun little clip of when Eva shared about the upcoming Week Without Driving:
New speed cushions coming to this section of N Ainsworth, which will hopefully prevent folks from driving like this person. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/Bikeportland)
The City of Portland is nearing construction on a project that will help North Ainsworth finally achieve its true potential as a key east-west cycling thoroughfare. Already a bike route in name, the street has suffered for years from having too many drivers going too fast too often. With new bike lanes, traffic calming measures, parking removal, and other changes coming to the street, Ainsworth will soon move closer to becoming the low-stress street it’s meant to be.
As I reported back in May, Ainsworth is primed for major upgrades since it was cited as a top priority in the North Portland in Motion Plan. It’s a street that is supposed to be a major bike route — and it actually is in terms of people who ride on it — but its design leaves a lot to be desired. It currently has almost no dedicated bike infrastructure in the very popular section between the North Michigan Avenue neighborhood greenway and Willamette Boulevard. That segment also passes Ockley Green Middle School and connects to several major north-south bike routes.
That’s why the Portland Bureau of Transportation will break ground this fall on a $400,000 project to add buffered bike lanes, install speed bumps, and make other important changes to the street. Below are the elements of what PBOT is calling Phase 1:
A leading pedestrian interval (LPI) at Ainsworth and N Interstate. This is where the “walk” signal goes green before the main signal so that people on foot get a head start into the intersection.
“Fire-friendly speed cushions” will be installed west of N Interstate to reduce traffic speeds. Hopefully they’re installed more effectively than the previous ones PBOT installed further east on Ainsworth.
A new buffered bike lane between N Michigan and Interstate. This is the section that goes over the I-5 bridge. PBOT plans to prohibit curbside parking on two blocks between N Maryland and Michigan (see map) to make room for the bike lane.
To gain more room for the bike lane and reduce the presence of cars in front of Ockley Green Middle School, PBOT will prohibit parking on the south side of Ainsworth for one block between N Maryland and Montana.
Below are new graphics from PBOT to help explain the changes:
Phase 2 of the project will include a public outreach process to determine the best design for using modal filters and diversion tactics to reduce the number of car users between N Denver and Greeley (this is the diversion plan for the Omaha Treeway I mentioned back in May). PBOT needs to find a solution for getting auto traffic volumes down to acceptable neighborhood greenway thresholds in the westernmost portion of the project. “The goal of this phase is to emphasize N Ainsworth St as a local street and meet speed and traffic guidelines for neighborhood greenways,” PBOT says.
Once PBOT hears from the community, they plan to install a pilot diversion treatment at N Omaha by spring of next year if not sooner.
PBOT will spend the rest of this summer doing design and public outreach, with some initial elements being installed this fall. The new bike lane should be completed by next spring. For more on this project, see PBOT’s website.
Portland’s street art is second to none! (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Happy weekend everyone. It’s the final weekend of Bike Summer, but that doesn’t mean summer biking is over! Quite the contrary. We’ve got lots of great days and nights for riding ahead. And of course our awesome community will make sure there’s always something fun to do if you need the motivation to get out there.
One quick note about start times in this guide: I often share the meet-up time, which means the ride will leave a half-hour or so later. But I also always assume folks will click the “more info” link and verify details before heading out. Have a good one!
Saturday, August 30th
Asian Snacks and Friendship Ride – 9:30 am at Peninsula Park (N) “Close our bike summer and come join the Asian Snacks and Friendship Ride. Indulge in treats from some of the best Asian/Asian-American owned establishments that Portland has to offer.” More info here.
Bike Buddy Appreciation Roll-Out – 10:30 am at Ladds Circle (SE) “Join us for a summer ride to thank the Bike Buddy Portland community! Whether you’re a Bike Buddy, from Bike Loud, or a community partner, celebrate with us!” More info here.
Portland DSA Ecosocialists Punks N Rec Ride – 1:15 pm at Abernethy Elementary School (SE) “Do you support Medicare for All, Taxing the Rich, or more bike infrastructure? Do you like the policies of Bernie Sanders, AOC or Zohran Mamdani?You may be a democratic socialist! We’ll be jamming out to some punk hits old and new.” More info here.
Delta Carts Opening Celebration – 4:00 to 10:00 pm at Delta Carts Food Cart Pod (N) I personally love this place and the bike route to get there is really cool. You should go check it out and what better excuse than there big opening party! More info here.
Nomad Cycles 10 Year Anniversary Party and Kickstarter Launch – 5:15 pm at Oregon Park (NE) Ride to the party at this amazing local bike shop and help them launch their house-made e-bike brand. “We’re going to have a group ride that meets at Oregon Park and roll together to Nomad Cycles for the big party. All wheels are welcome. Please feel free to join us at Nomad Cycles anytime after 6pm.” More info here.
Sunday, August 31st
Sunday Social from Sellwood Park – 10:00 am at Sellwood Park (SE) Expect a 20-30 urban jaunt led by an experienced ride leader from Portland Bicycling Club. More info here.
Patagonia’s River Romp – 10:00 am at Patagonia Portland on W Burnside (SW) Hosted by the crew of the downtown Patagonia retail store, this ride is a, “cruise from our Portland store down to the riverfront, along the river and across the Sellwood Bridge. From there it is up the river along the Springwater and back up to the store.” More info here.
Street Art Bike Tour – 4:30 pm at Around Portland Bike Tours (SE) “You’ll learn about graffiti culture and some of our long-time favorite artists and the city’s newest darlings, pass by or visit cool old import shops filled with art inside and out, learn how the art culture is connected to the protest scene, stop for a treat if desired, and leave with a phone packed with vibrant photos!” More info here.
— Did I miss your event? Please let me know by filling out our contact form, or just email me at maus.jonathan@gmail.com.
About 50 local middle and high schoolers gathered at Gateway Green last night for weekly mountain bike team practice. (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland – View full photo gallery at end of post)
Portland has become a hotbed of scholastic mountain biking — despite a dearth of easily accessible local trails to ride and train on. That was part of what I learned last night when I met up with the Portland Metro Composite Mountain Biking team for their weekly practice at Gateway Green Bike Park.
PMC MTB is made up of riders from middle and high schools throughout the city. They’re a part of Oregon Interscholastic Cycling League which is sanctioned by a group known as the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA). Oregon’s program began in 2017 and has grown steadily ever since. They just had their first race of the season on Saturday and Team Director Duncan Parks was eager to congratulate the 50 or so riders and coaches who showed up for a weekly practice session last night.
“Make our circle nice and tight everybody, bring it in so we can hear,” Parks exclaimed as he shared remarks before practice. “I hope everyone is feeling stoked after the first race weekend,” he continued. “If you raced on Saturday, give yourself a pat on the back.”
Parks (in images above) and a crew of volunteer coaches (including a few who don’t have kids on the team and love riding and teaching so much they show up every week) deserve a pat on the back too. The team has swelled in recent years to 74 riders — with about one-third of them being females. “We’re really proud of that,” Parks shared in an interview after the riders fanned out across the park to different coaching stations where they worked handling, trail-riding, and other skills. “We really push getting enough girls together so we have a critical mass, because we’ve found that when girls have other girls to ride with, they stick with the sport and they really thrive.”
Roosevelt High School Senior Eliana Umberhandt is a living testament to that statement. She’s been on the team since 2019 (when she was in sixth grade) and can remember when she was one of just five girls on the entire squad. “I kind of suffered through the first two years, being kind of alone, and I didn’t really feel like I was getting the skills like everyone else was. And then when we got two new girls when I was in eighth grade, I decided they weren’t going to have to suffer like I did”
Umberhandt reached out to other women in the Portland bike racing community and began organizing all manner of group rides. “This past Monday,” she shared with me through a smile, “Some of the high school girls and I did a century together… it’s been really fun for me to see how this community of girls has evolved, from just me being the only girl at practices when I was 12, to me being almost 18 and seeing all these little sixth-grade girls — and they’re smiling and their parents are coming up to me and telling me how much their girls love this team.”
Eliana Umberhandt
In addition to riding together, the team volunteers at trail-building work parties. Liam Danon was eager to tell me about his experience doing trail maintenance work at Rocky Point. “We can build the berms, mend the trail with a hose and rakes and stuff. It’s really fun!” When I asked why a kid his age seemed to like doing yard work in his free time, Danon replied, “It’s just fun. You get to be with your biking community and you can ride the trails later and say, ‘Hey, I built that!'”
Liam Danon
Team Director Parks and his coaching staff have built something very special. But their growth has been limited by an issue that has plagued off-road cycling in Portland for decades: the lack of nearby trails to ride on.
“Training spots are a real challenge for us,” Parks said. Read trail riding opportunities are about an hour and-a-half drive from Portland. That means it’s impossible to train and practice on the type of terrain they compete on during the week. Instead, they make do with local park where they lay out cones and test the limits of their creativity trying to recreate natural obstacles. Gateway Green is great, but it offers just two miles of total singletrack.
Caleb Griffin
“We urgently need more access to ride close-in for a weekday practice,” Parks continued. “Forest Park huge, but almost nothing is legal for bikes in terms of singletrack. Firelane 5 is great, but it’s like this long [holding fingers about 10 inches apart]… the riders are ready for something new.” Parks described opportunities to improve bike trail access at Forest Park, including a location in Northwest Industrial Area where Portland Parks recently built the park’s first dedicated parking lot and a new entry to Firelane 1. Unfortunately, Parks didn’t make any improvements to bike access and the current route offers only an extremely steep unpaved road climb. “We could build a great singletrack that would connect what is essentially an unused parking lot, to the whole heart of Forest Park, and we’ve got the riders to do it: This team put 300 [volunteer] hours of build time in last fall.”
17-year old senior Caleb Griffin said “there’s not much going on” in the way of bike trails near his home in southeast. His closest place to ride is Mt. Tabor. “It’s fun, but there nothing for mountain bikes only. Everything is over-ridden and over-populated, so it makes it kind of sketchy and unsafe for walkers and bikers.”
The success of this team and the joy expressed by its riders can’t be fully dampened by a lack of trails. Umberhandt and her teammates have made lemonade out of lemons and the energy and excitement around among the riders for the upcoming season was palpable.
“I’m definitely excited for this season, as it’s my last year on the team,” Umberhandt shared. “To see that this is the legacy I will be having on the team, where I started this community for everybody,” she said before trailing off in thought. Then she bubbled up and added, excitedly: “It’s made college applications really easy because I already have all this awesome material for my essays!”
— Learn more about the team at pmcmtb.org. View a short video of this story on YouTube.
Looking east on NE Broadway from 13th or so. (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Do we have a new contender in the race for the best bikeway through a business district in Portland? With such a strong neighborhood greenway network, Portland has historically been relatively slow to install bike lanes on major commercial streets. I’ve long held that North Williams Avenue — even with its shortcomings — is the best example we have of a viable bike lane through a business district.
But after riding Northeast Broadway on Tuesday, I believe we might have another street that deserves consideration.
As I first reported 15 months ago, the Portland Bureau of Transportation once again seized an opportunity to make major striping changes to a street that was scheduled for a complete repave. The (very sensible and correct) thinking from PBOT is essentially (my words, not theirs): ‘We will have a blank slate after the repave, so we will restripe/redesign the street in a way that reflects adopted goals and visions.’ No specific changes are guaranteed on these “pave and paint” projects, and PBOT responds to what they think the community demands and will support.
Project area
In the case of the NE Broadway Pave & Paint project which PBOT began last summer, they had early support from both the adjacent business and neighborhood associations, so they were able to remove one of the general travel lanes and replace it with a bike-only lane.
Since the road is now fully open to traffic and PBOT has only a few more finishing touches to add, I felt like it was time to go grab a first look.
(More images below.)
Please keep in mind while you look at these images (and when you watch my video coming out later today) that PBOT still plans to add: a few short segments of concrete curbs to separate lanes, more signs and pavement markings, and signal timing adjustments. The work is expected to be 100% complete by the end of September. (See their separate page for project construction for the latest updates.)
The scope of this project is NE Broadway from NE 7th to 26th. PBOT was intentional in choosing those boundaries because 7th and 26th are well-established neighborhood greenways. Starting westbound from 26th, the first change is a new buffered bike lane to 24th. The road is still two-way in this section and PBOT didn’t make any lane reallocations here — that starts at 24th. The old cross-section had six lanes: three general travel lanes, a bike-only lane, and two car parking lanes. The new cross-section has five lanes: two for general travel, a bike lane, and two parking lanes.
Kris Perry, Cutters PDX
Kris Perry, a barber at Cutters PDX near NE 24th, said he supports the project. “It’s quieter,” he shared with me in a short interview. “The immediate thing I notice is the parking. The thing I hear from my clients the most is, ‘Oh, they took the parking away!’ It’s frustrating while it’s happening, just because of all the change; but honestly, I see the goodness in it. I’m excited for the safety of it, the families, the walkability of Broadway especially — it’s exciting!”
“I think it’s going to have a positive impact,” Perry added. “I think it might slow down traffic, but I don’t think that’s such a negative thing, not in Portland. Not today.”
Another barber at Cutters also shared how quiet the south side of the street had become and how he’d seen folks enjoying drinks at outdoor tables on the sidewalk. I talked to a group enjoying drinks at Swift Bar between NE 19th and 20th. They had a mix of feelings, and several of them were frustrated and angry about the changes. They said they wouldn’t use the angle parking because it was dangerous and they worried drivers wouldn’t stop as they backed out. Another person noted my “BikePortland” hat and remarked, “Oh you’re the one behind this. It’s you and the spandex mafia!”
Bike riders have almost double the space in the new configuration, while folks who use cars have one less lane, fewer places to park, and several blocks of angle-parking. Angle parking is something PBOT doesn’t do very often, but it was a compromise here as a way to maintain parking spaces in a way that calms traffic and creates a wider buffer between sidewalk users and people driving.
The other big compromise that everyone is talking about is the bike lane design. Unlike what has become PBOT standard practice of keeping the bike lane against the curb and making a “parking protected” bike lane — what we get on Broadway is a bike lane in the street with parking on the right and moving traffic on the left. I’ve reported previously that this was a budgetary compromise given the meager $500,000 budget (not including the paving work obviously) PBOT had to work with. (I’ve asked PBOT if they’d like to share anything else about that decision and will update this post if I hear anything new. UPDATE at 10:44 am: See end of story for PBOT statement.)
While the bike lane is not physically protected, PBOT has added two-foot buffer zones on each side, so at 12 feet it’s wider than the adjacent lanes for car users.
In addition to less space for driving and more room to ride bikes, PBOT has lowered the speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph. When you get west of NE 21st, the speed limit drops again from 25 mph to 20 mph.
The change with perhaps the biggest impact on the street are the five new crosswalks (at 11th, 13th, 17th, 19th, and 22nd) and numerous concrete median islands at intersections. These medians and crossings are a huge deal given the context of a bustling business district with a lot of foot traffic and bus transit use. To take just one example, I observed folks crossing at NE 19th — which has new concrete medians in the roadway, one at each corner — and drivers always stopped quickly. And what I loved was that they weren’t going fast to begin with. It’s an ironclad road engineering law that as space for driving shrinks, people drive more slowly. I have zero doubt the before-and-after analysis will show a significant drop in driver speeds.
Look at the before-and-after of NE Broadway and 19th:
From a cycling perspective, the new bike lanes are straightforward. There is a chicane at every intersection, where you’ve got to turn toward the curb to avoid the median, but that’s a great excuse to slow down a bit and be alert when crossing. My concern with this design is that some drivers will think this is a right-turn lane. I actually saw that happen twice while I was out there. I’m sure PBOT has prepared for this, and there will likely be more signs and markings to help prevent it.
The only real hot-spot I experienced on the route is at NE 16th. It’s a busy intersection because of a busy convenience store driveway on the northwest corner followed by a bus stop and new bulb-out waiting platform. Other than that, the fact that drivers have to cross over the unprotected bike lane to get into parking spots is not ideal. My hunch however, is that given the changes PBOT has made, combined with the presence of more bike riders in the future and the general caution people tend to drive with in dense commercial areas — the interactions between bike riders and car drivers will be more annoyances rather than serious injury or fatal collisions.
As I reached the western terminus of the project at NE 7th and was thrust back into the past in a narrow bike lane where I felt much more powerless and insecure, I couldn’t help but think of the Broadway Main Street project PBOT earned a $38 million federal grant for and was all ready to build. That project would have connected these changes all the way to the Broadway Bridge through the Rose Quarter — but the Trump Administration took that money back and the project is on ice.
I’ll take what I can get and this feels like a positive step forward. Prior to these changes, NE Broadway was not a very popular bikeway. I personally would almost never use it and preferred the NE Tillamook neighborhood greenway just a few blocks north. But now with a smooth road, more space to ride, slower drivers, and a design that tells me and everyone who uses the street that bikes belong on Broadway, I plan to use it a whole lot more.
And for what it’s worth, Mayor Keith Wilson is also a fan. He mentioned the project on my ride with him Wednesday morning, saying, “You have a dedicated bike lane on Broadway now. It’s beautiful.”
What about you? Have you ridden this yet? Have the changes piqued your curiosity enough to add Broadway to your bike routes?
UPDATE, 10:30 am: I asked PBOT to explain the rationale for implementing a buffered bike lane instead of a parking-protected bike lane. Here’s what they said:
The Broadway Pave & Paint Project is delivering a 12-foot-wide bike lane, one of the largest bike lanes in NE Portland, wider than the lane on N Williams Avenue, which has historically had among the highest rates of bike traffic in Portland.
This bike lane was designed to fit the $500,000 budget and tight schedule of a pavement maintenance project that also delivers extensive pedestrian safety and ADA access upgrades. This is the first significant change to the corridor in 30 years, though from a transportation perspective it is an interim improvement that sets up the area well for a new vision in the future, as funding becomes available.
Even with its limited budget, the design of the NE Broadway project makes it easier to install a parking protected upgrade at a later time. That’s because the design provides an immediate reallocation of space to bike and pedestrian safety and main street improvements, with a lane reduction for motor vehicle traffic.
We considered a parking protected bike lane for NE Broadway within the tight budget that would have been required.
On a high-traffic corridor, we need to provide vertical physical elements to provide effective protection of people using bicycles. Concrete separators and other civil elements would be required–which would add significant construction cost, and additional time for design and construction.
In our experience, lower-cost parking protected bike lane designs result in a low-quality project, with limited physical protection, unnecessary curb zone trade-offs and high maintenance costs.
When we use plastic delineator posts to create parking protected bike lanes, the posts are frequently knocked down. This creates an on-going maintenance cost for the bureau, diverting labor and funding from other needs.
In a bustling business district such as NE Broadway, plastic posts would also create a negative appearance of the bicycle infrastructure and the business district it is intended to support.
When it’s completed, this will be among the best “main street” bike lanes in Portland and a vast improvement over the previous condition. It places bike traffic in a buffered lane adjacent to two low-speed travel lanes and provides physical protection at intersections–where crashes, near misses and other conflicts are most common.
There is strong support from the businesses on NE Broadway for a corridor redesign to happen as soon as possible that includes additional improvements for people walking and biking, including a willingness to accept some on-street parking impacts.
I joined Mayor Keith Wilson for his ride into work this morning. It’s the first time we’ve met up since his successful campaign for mayor when he showed up to speak at Bike Happy Hour several times. I did my best to record the interview as we biked, so sit back and have a watch and/or listen as we tackle all types of topics on the 30-minute ride from North Williams Ave to City Hall.
I was prepped for a chill conversation about biking (since I have a more formal sit-down interview scheduled with him next Wednesday at Bike Happy Hour — you should totally come!), but in typical Mayor Wilson fashion, he got right into a bunch of serious issues and was well-researched and ready to go. Heck, we didn’t really do introductions and he was talking about tolling on I-5 and its impacts on bike safety.
It was a good conversation and shows the depth of knowledge, candor, and work ethic that have become hallmarks of Mayor Wilson’s approach to the job.
I just finished putting this together and don’t have time to share all the highlights since I need to run off to Bike Happy Hour (today, 3:00 to 6:00 pm at SE Ankeny Rainbow Road Plaza, Gorges Beer Co.). I’ve shared a PDF of the transcript below if you’d like to scan the text.
Be aware of a significant closure of the Springwater Corridor Trail path in southeast Portland early next month. Portland General Electric tells BikePortland there will be two sections of closures that will begin in early September.
A reader sent us an image of a sign and said when she called the Portland General Electric number, no one she spoke to could share any details about how the closure would impact the path. “This will have a big impact on lots of people’s morning commutes (mine included) so I thought more investigation may be warranted.”
I reached out to a spokesperson at the Portland Parks Bureau, who connected me with PGE Community Engagement Manager Alex Cousins. Cousins said PGE crews are scheduled to replace four transmission poles along the Springwater between September 8th-12th. Since they are high voltage lines, the path will be closed in two sections on those days from 7:00 am to 4:00 pm. Here are the exact details of the closures, according to Cousins:
Going east to west, the first closure will be from SE Stanley to SE 55th. That detour utilizes SE Firwood St. The second closure will be from SE 55th to SE Johnson Creek Blvd. That detour utilizes SE Rainbow Lane, SE Brookside Drive and a short segment of SE Johnson Creek Blvd. There are bike lanes and crosswalks on that segment of Johnson Creek.
As for why PGE customer service reps didn’t know anything about this? The contractor put up the signs before the reps were notified. It happens sometimes!
If this is your commute route or if you ride here and you experience the detour, please keep me posted on how it goes. And thanks to reader Shyla O. the heads up and the photo.
NOTE, 8/28 at 8:05 am: This post was initially published with incomplete information from PGE that described one, longer closure. Sorry for any confusion.
