A supporter of the diverter slated for removal on NW Johnson at 15th. (Photo: Courtesy BikeLoud)
Portlanders who do not want to see traffic diverters currently installed on neighborhood greenways in northwest removed plan to occupy an intersection to prevent their removal. A rally is planned at one of the locations today at 4:00 pm.
As I’ve reportedsinceFriday, an opaque government program that was created by former Mayor Ted Wheeler to address homelessness and related livability issues wants to remove traffic diverters at NW 20th and Everett and NW Johnson and 15th. They say the diverters get in the way of police patrols and that the absence of car drivers leads to an unsafe environment and increase in “nuisance behaviors.”
In the past 24 hours, we’ve seen an organized response to prevent the removal plan. Local advocacy groups including: Bike Bus PDX, Strong Towns, Bike Loud PDX, and Families for Safe Streets have all sent statements to Mayor Keith Wilson urging him to reject the plan or at least pause it until other solutions can be explored.
Signs from supporters of the diverters.
This morning I’ve confirmed that Public Environment Management Office (PEMO) Director Anne Hill will attend the August 12th Portland Bureau of Transportation Bicycle Advisory Committee meeting. According to the BAC agenda, Hill will, “present the agency’s reasons for the removal.” It might be an even more strained discussion if the diverters are already removed before the meeting begins. The most current information I’ve heard from Portland Solutions (the office PEMO lives under in the city’s organizational chart) is that the removals are set for sometime this week.
So far I am not aware of any public notice about the removal plan and the only public process that went into making the decision happened at a series of meetings that are invite-only and not easily accessed by the public. (PEMO’s Problem Solver meetings seem to violate several Oregon public meeting laws.)
Since my previous story yesterday, some concerned Portlanders who emailed Mayor Wilson and Portland Solutions Director Skyler Brocker-Knapp have received responses.
A staffer at Mayor Wilson’s office is sending this canned reply to everyone who contacts them:
“The City of Portland has implemented these temporary adjustments in response to serious public safety concerns brought forward by residents, local businesses, and public safety partners. These concerns include increased narcotic use and sales, reported instances of assault and harassment toward pedestrians and cyclists, and challenges faced by emergency responders navigating the area.
The decision to assess and modify traffic flow in this corridor is an operational one, made in close coordination between multiple city bureaus. A City of Portland engineering team is overseeing the design and implementation with safety and access as top priorities. In these two blocks, diverters are being re-positioned to allow for two-way vehicle traffic, while allowing for bike travel.”
And Portland Solutions Director Skyler Brocker-Knapp replied to one BikePortland reader with this message:
“This decision was based on more than two years of community feedback, as this area is used as a corridor for chronic nuisance behavior. We worked on every other tool and solution before reaching this point with PBOT’s engineer and PPB’s traffic team. They determined the four way stop solution at Everett and the modification to Johnson. The bike lanes will be maintained in both locations. In the future, if the nuisance behavior is curbed, due to all of the other mitigating measures also taking place, I think the locations should be revisited and diverters could be returned.”
While the removals could happen at any time, questions remain about how the decision was made and what the community can expect going forward.
Below are the questions I asked Portland Solutions Wednesday morning.
Since this issue is on the 8/12 agenda of the PBOT Bicycle Advisory Committee meeting, why not wait until after that meeting to schedule the changes?
The 8/1 email from Director Brocker-Knapp referred to diverters at NW 14th and Johnson. Was that a misstatement? Did you mean 15th? Or is 14th also being removed/changed? If so, why?
Does PBOT support these changes? You say they were asked to identify solutions, which sounds more like an order to me. So I’m curious: How should I characterize PBOT’s position on this?
When you say Portland Solutions added these concerns to the PBOT “tracker,” are you referring to their TrackIT system?
What type of public notification of these changes has happened thus far/or will happen before changes are made?
Why did plan on NW Johnson change from a sharrow marking (which is what was described on 8/1 email from Director Brocker-Knapp) to maintaining the bike lane (as per this 8/5 email)?
Will these changes be temporary? If so, what will the metrics for success/failure be?
Where did these community concerns about Johnson come from? Is there a way for me to verify that? Can you provide meeting minutes or PBOT TrackIT case numbers?
So to be clear, based on your answer to my previous question, there was no public process to make this decision. Is that correct?
I have not yet received responses to these questions. I will post them here when/if I do.
I’m hearing folks will gather at the two locations today to erect signs of support and attempt to prevent PBOT crews from removing the diverters. Stay tuned.
UPDATE, 12:34 pm: A rally is planned for 4:30 pm today at NW Everett and 20th. It’s being hosted by Strong Towns PDX, Bike Bus PDX, Families for Safe Streets and Bike Loud PDX.
View of I-5 and Moda Center from N Flint Ave. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
After getting a green light from the Oregon Transportation Commission last month to go forward with a plan to widen I-5 at the Rose Quarter, the Oregon Department of Transportation is moving forward with an initial construction phase of the project. I’ve heard a ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the groundbreaking of this multi-billion dollar megaproject could happen as soon as a week or two.
But lawyers representing a nonprofit that has filed a lawsuit to stop the project have a message for ODOT: Not so fast.
As I shared in a story July 23rd, ODOT officials recently suffered a setback in the lawsuit when, just days before a trial was to begin, the agency formally withdrew documents that were meant to show the project was compatible with Portland’s Comprehensive Plan. The trial has been rescheduled to January. No More Freeways expected ODOT to re-submit documents to convince the court their plan was compatible, but a 30-day window to do that expired over the weekend.
According to No More Freeways lawyer Karl Anuta, this means ODOT no longer has a “formal demonstration of compatibility,” so they are not authorized to do a groundbreaking.
In a letter from Anuta’s office to ODOT dated August 5th, Anuta writes:
“… the existing City of Portland Comprehensive Plan authorizes a Rose Quarter project, but not the same Rose Quarter project that ODOT is now proposing to build. The current proposal is simply not consistent with the one that the City expressly adopted as a Facilities Plan into the City Comprehensive Plan. There were significant changes in the location and function of key features of the project, which ODOT made before it approved the current Rose Quarter project that is specified… That requires that changes be made to the City Comprehensive Plan before the currently proposed Rose Quarter project can be found to be consistent with that Plan. Those changes have yet to be made.
Thus, ODOT cannot lawfully proceed with construction. For that reason alone, any “groundbreaking” or “initiation of Phase 1A” should be postponed or canceled. However, in addition to the illegality or moving forward when there is a lack of mandatory Findings, as a policy matter ODOT should not proceed with this project until the agency can establish that funding is actually available.”
I have not yet reached out to ODOT for comment, but this is just the latest snag in the project. Whether or not they announce a groundbreaking event remains to be seen. Stay tuned.
Diverters in the northeast corner of NW 20th at Everett, which Portland Police say inhibit patrols of the area. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Portland Solutions, the City office that’s driving an effort to remove two traffic diverters in northwest, says the changes to Northwest 20th and NW Johnson streets are going to happen this week. This means, if their plan comes to fruition, two neighborhood greenways developed through the Northwest In Motion Plan will lose key traffic calming infrastructure and it will be done without any public notice or transparent decision-making process.
One of the diverters, on NW 20th Avenue at Everett, is just one block south of the route taken by the Chapman Elementary School bike bus.
Safety concerns like that one are just one reason advocates have ramped up campaigns to fight the diverter removals. In the past few hours, urban advocacy group Strong Towns PDX has issued a statement opposing the plan and is spreading an email template in hopes of pressuring city leaders. Bike Loud PDX has also launched a campaign that encourages Portland Solutions to pause their plan until the issue can be vetted through at the city’s Bicycle Advisory Committee later this month. Bike Bus PDX has sent a letter signed by the leaders of nine local bike buses to Mayor Keith Wilson urging him to pause the plan. And Families for Safe Streets, a nonprofit made up of survivors of traffic crashes, has issued a statement saying traffic diverters have a positive impact on public safety.
In this story, I’ll share more reactions from City Councilors, update you on the latest plans, and share a few other important things I’ve learned.
Timing of the removal
When I first learned about this plan on Friday (through an internal email that was forwarded to me by City Councilor Mitch Green), it was unclear when the diverters would be removed. On Tuesday I reported that a Portland Solutions spokesperson said “We’re in the early stages of this… I still think that there’s time for engagement.” Now that’s changed. The confirmation that the work will happen this week came from Portland Solutions on Tuesday afternoon along with answers to other questions I asked that sought to gain a better understanding of why and how their decision was made.
(Their answers didn’t address all my questions, so I’ve emailed a set of follow-ups that I’m still waiting to hear back on. I requested a phone interview, but was told I could only email questions. I also asked for a name I could attribute their answers to — like perhaps Portland Solutions Director Skyler Brocker-Knapp — but I was told to use only “Portland Solutions” because the answers are being crafted by committee.)
How the streets would change
In an internal email announcing the plan Friday, Portland Solutions Director Skyler Brocker-Knapp told city councilors, transportation bureau officials, and city administrators that the diverters and one-way streets they create for drivers would be returned to two-way auto traffic in order to facilitate easier vehicle patrols by the Portland Police Bureau and to improve the general safety of the streets. The current plan is to replace the northbound bike lane on NW 20th with a sharrow marking and add stop signs to NW Everett (so the intersection will become a four-way stop). On NW Johnson at 15th, their plan initially called for removal of the diverter and bike lane and the addition of a sharrow marking. They now say they will remove on-street parking spots which gives them space to retain the bike lane. (I’ve asked what spurred this change and haven’t heard back yet.)
Portland Solutions also shared that the changes could be, “potentially temporary.” “The City will be keeping a close eye on traffic safety and public safety to determine if there should be additional changes or a reversion of the traffic patterns,” read their email to BikePortland. As far as I know, this possibility of a temporary change is new and only came about because of my coverage of this. I’ve asked for a confirmation/clarification on that and what the metrics for success/failure would be and have yet to hear back.
Impetus behind the decision
NW 20th and Everett Portland Solutions (through the Public Environment Management Office, or PEMO) says they asked PBOT to identify how two-way traffic could be restored on NW 20th (between Everett and Flanders) to, “allow police vehicles the ability to navigate north from Burnside to Glisan.” They say the issue came up in regular meetings with PBOT and that PBOT officials walked the block with Portland Police Bureau representatives, “to confirm the scope of the change.”
Today I spoke to someone who lives near this intersection. Dave Smith (not his real name, he requested anonymity) is active in neighborhood issues and attended several of the Problem Solver meetings hosted by PEMO where these diverters were discussed. Smith, who doesn’t own a car and walks everywhere, told me he’s torn on the issue. He’s heard directly from police officers about how much crime-related activity happens on NW 20th between Burnside (Fred Meyer) and Glisan (Couch Park) and he’s seen the 311 and 911 call log overlays of the area. “This particular zone has massive amounts of drug dealing and the highest amount of calls,” he shared, “and the diverter really limits their ability to patrol and respond to things.”
“I’ve seen it in real-time where criminals are running down the street and the cops are having to drive around the block as the person cuts through [the diverter at 20th and Everett],” Smith said. “I love that little median; but I’m also in favor of having way less crime and confrontations and hazards all near my house.”
I sensed a real frustration in Smith’s voice. “I don’t know what the right answer is,” he said at one point. What he would prefer is more of a compromise solution where the diverter barricades are adjusted so that emergency vehicles and police can more easily get through; but individual drivers could not. He’d also support a change to the parking permit program that would only allow residents to park on the street, but he says PBOT has shot that idea down several times.
NW Johnson and 15th When asked to clarify the rationale for the changes at this location, Portland Solutions said:
“The block is currently unlit and incredibly dark during both day and night. When cars do park on the block, community members and police have seen increased narcotic sales as well as nuisances/public safety impacts to pedestrians and cyclists. Community members in the area as well as [Portland Police Bureau] PPB have indicated it is usually unsafe to walk on either sidewalk. PEMO/ Portland Solutions asked PBOT to identify how to return two-way traffic to this block. PBOT followed up and validated that the parking could be removed to preserve the bike lane with the two-way traffic. PEMO is working with PGE, ODOT, and PBOT to add lighting to the block.”
The public process (or lack thereof)
I asked Portland Solutions if there was a public process or any public meetings where this problem/plan was discussed. They didn’t answer that question directly and instead wrote: “These changes are operational decisions based on discussions between Portland Solutions, Portland Police Bureau, and the Portland Bureau of Transportation.”
Who supports and opposes this?
I asked Portland Solutions to clarify whether or not PBOT supports the changes and have yet to hear back (PBOT won’t respond to my questions and has deferred everything to Portland Solutions). Their initial response said they asked PBOT how/if they could restore two-way auto traffic to these streets. To me that sounded like an order or a mandate. It’s not the same as them coming to PBOT and saying, “We have a problem with how this street works. What would you recommend we do about it?” I hope to hear more from Portland Solutions about this.
When it comes to City Council members, I’ve got a few updates to share.
So far we know District 4 Councilor Mitch Green (who’s also one of five members of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee) is strongly opposed. He’s working on hosting a public meeting to air concerns and share information. As for the other two D4 councilors, both Olivia Clark and Eric Zimmerman support the diverter removal.
I knew Zimmerman was in support of it because he mentioned it publicly in May. He’s also a strong supporter of the PPB in general. When I asked yesterday to confirm his views on the plan, he reiterated support for the removal, but also said biking and walking safety is a top priority. Here’s Zimmerman’s full comment:
“I want to be clear: the decision to remove the diverters at NW 20th and Everett is a direct response to ongoing public safety concerns raised by the community and brought to my attention by Portland Solutions. This change reflects input from neighbors at the Problem Solver meetings and coordination with Portland Police, PEMO, and PBOT.
Removing the diverters will improve emergency response access, while bicycle access will remain. If these city agencies think this change is important, and new sharrow markings are added to ensure all users understand the shared use of the street — I support them.
Keeping our neighborhoods safe and accessible, particularly for cyclists and pedestrians, is a top priority of mine.”
T & I Committee Chair Clark said, “I support this change primarily so our first responders can better navigate vehicles through the neighborhood during public safety emergencies.”
So far just one other councilor has responded to my request for comment. T & I Committee Vice Chair Angelita Morillo told BikePortland this morning that she was not notified of the plan, “even as Vice Chair of the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee.”
“I am firmly against the removal of this traffic calming infrastructure,” Morillo added, “especially at a time when the Portland Bureau of Transportation is facing immense budget constraints. It is a waste of money and resources to undo the hard work and community outreach that went into installing these diverters. This does not live up to our Vision Zero values.”
What about Mayor Keith Wilson? Portland Solutions reports directly to the mayor’s office, but I’ve been told by his Chief of Staff Taylor Zajonc, “I believe we’re going to decline to weigh in on this one.”
Portland Solutions in the city org chart.
One last tidbit
A local activist reached out to me last night with an interesting footnote to Portland Solution’s decision to remove the diverters. In 2022, when former Mayor Ted Wheeler issued the emergency declaration that formed what would become the Portland Solutions office, the language of the declaration included this language:
The City’s Public Environment Management Office (PEMO) … shall serve as the Mayor’s designee under this Emergency Declaration… In addition to other priority tasks, the Mayor’s designee will undertake to:
Ensure preventative measures are in place such as activating public spaces with positive means such as food carts, planters, more positive barriers, or reconfiguration of the public space.
Median diverters — especially ones that have become a community garden — are a proven tool to activate public spaces. And cars do the opposite. Portlanders have spent years trying to reconfigure public space away from being car-centric and toward being human-centric. This plan from PEMO would reverse some of that work and goes against the very declaration that created it.
I still have questions out to Portland Solutions and other city leaders and will continue to follow this story. Stay tuned.
UPDATE, 8/7: A few readers have passed along responses they’ve received from two key players in this story, Mayor Wilson and Portland Solutions Director Brocker-Knapp.
Here’s the response Mayor Wilson’s office is sending out:
“Hello ____,
Thank you for taking the time to share your concerns regarding the recent temporary traffic changes in the NW Portland area, specifically near NW 20th Avenue & NW Everett and NW 15th Avenue & NW Johnson. We appreciate your engagement and your commitment to Portland’s livability, safety, and multimodal transportation network.
The City of Portland has implemented these temporary adjustments in response to serious public safety concerns brought forward by residents, local businesses, and public safety partners. These concerns include increased narcotic use and sales, reported instances of assault and harassment toward pedestrians and cyclists, and challenges faced by emergency responders navigating the area.
The decision to assess and modify traffic flow in this corridor is an operational one, made in close coordination between multiple city bureaus. A City of Portland engineering team is overseeing the design and implementation with safety and access as top priorities. In these two blocks, diverters are being re-positioned to allow for two-way vehicle traffic, while allowing for bike travel.
Neighborhood notifications about these changes are currently being finalized and are expected to begin mailing and distribution as soon as today. The City will monitor and evaluate the temporary measures.
Thank you again for reaching out. Your voice is vital in helping shape a safer and more responsive city.
Faisal Osman (He/Him) Constituent Relations Coordinator Office of Mayor Keith Wilson”
And here’s a response some received from Brocker-Knapp:
Hi _____,
This decision was based on more than two years of community feedback, as this area is used as a corridor for chronic nuisance behavior. We worked on every other tool and solution before reaching this point with PBOT’s engineer and PPB’s traffic team. They determined the four way stop solution at Everett and the modification to Johnson. The bike lanes will be maintained in both locations. In the future, if the nuisance behavior is curbed, due to all of the other mitigating measures also taking place, I think the locations should be revisited and diverters could be returned.
We do this every week! (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Can’t wait to see you at Bike Happy Hour this week. We’ll gather at our usual spot in the Rainbow Road Plaza on SE Ankeny for food, drinks, community, and conversations. (Be sure to read the end of this post for a special announcement about open mic.)
Our special guest this week is the crew from Nomad Cycles. This Portland-based bike brand has revolutionized electric-assisted mobility and their latest project is nothing short of amazing: They are building their very own e-bike from the ground up. And you can see it for yourself if you join us Wednesday.
You might recall my story and video about Nomad last month. Their new “DoubleDown” model is built right in their shop on Northeast Sandy Blvd. But wait, there’s more! They’ve finished a second model with a more relaxed geometry they’re calling the “Kickback.” Brad, Tim Tim, and Nando will bring both models, as well as a bunch of cool parts for you to play with, to Bike Happy Hour tomorrow.
Brad and Tim Tim from Nomad.
We’re so lucky in Portland to have many talented bicycle fabricators (later this month you’ll have a chance to see dozens of them up close and personal when bike makers from around the world gather in Portland for the annual MADE Bike Show August 22-24th). Come meet the Nomad crew and hang out in the street with us tomorrow (Weds 8/6, 3:00 to 6:00 pm).
As always, Bike Happy Hour is open to everyone. If you have something to share, step up to the mic at 5:30. You can pitch a story you’d like to see on BikePortland, share an event you’re putting on, recite a poem, make a political speech, share your dreams and hopes, whatever you want! I’m going to bring my video recorder and will be posting some of the open mics to BikePortland social media. So if you’re looking to spread a message to a broader audience, don’t miss open mic!
This diverter on NW 20th at Everett is one of three targeted for removal. (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
A plan to remove traffic diverters on two neighborhood greenways in northwest Portland that has been developed largely behind closed doors, appears to be moving forward. Or does it? So far there’s a lack of clarity about why they’re targeted for removal and when it might happen.
The locations in question are NW 20th and Everett and NW Johnson at 14th and 15th. In all three locations, the Portland Bureau of Transportation has installed concrete barricades that prevent car users from turning onto a street, while allowing bicycle riders through (that’s why they are also known as “modal filters,” because they filter out car traffic).
As I reported Friday, the leader of Portland Solutions, a city program created in 2024 and overseen by the Mayor’s office to address homelessness and livability issues that, emailed District 4 City Councilors and other city leaders to inform them that these diverters would be removed. “We are working diligently with [PBOT] Director [Millicent] Williams to ensure these changes occur quickly for the benefits of all community members in NW,” the email from Portland Solutions Program Director Skyler Brocker-Knapp read. The only rationale for this decision provided in the email was to make it easier for Portland Police Bureau (PPB) officers to navigate the streets because the locations of these diverters, “have been particularly problematic in terms of chronic nuisance behavior (drug dealing, vandalism, etc.).” “These were public safety requests and we appreciate partnering with PBOT on these efforts,” Brocker-Knapp wrote.
These diverters are part of a citywide strategy to reduce driving, encourage bicycling, and calm traffic. They are part of a network of neighborhood greenway streets that allow bicycle users to navigate the city in a lower-stress environment and the locations in question were vetted and recommended through a formal process known as the Northwest in Motion plan, which was adopted by City Council in 2020.
That’s why I’m curious to understand more about how the PPB and Portland Solutions are able to mandate their removal with little to no public input. So far, I haven’t heard satisfactory answers to my questions and I remain very concerned not just about the impacts of removing these diverters, but about the precedent we would set by doing so.
The official rationale given by Director Brocker-Knapp was that the PPB needs to more easily navigate these streets so they could address crime hotspots (the diverters create one-way streets for drivers). But since my story published on Friday, I’ve heard other reasons behind the desire to remove them.
A Portland Solutions spokesperson shared with me in a phone call that the removal was, “An ask that came from PPB and PEMO [Public Environment Management Office, another program under the Portland Solutions banner] based over several months of conversations with the community.” I emphasized “community” because that’s an additional rationale not offered in Brocker-Knapp’s email and it speaks to reasons for the removal that go beyond making PPB patrols easier. Those “conversations” referenced by the Portland Solutions spokesperson likely happened at twice-monthly meetings of PEMO’s Problem Solver Network, which the city describes as, “an initiative to address community public realm issues across the city.”
The same spokesperson went on to tell me that their office heard about bicycle riders who are were afraid of using NW Johnson between 15th (where the diverter is) and 16th because of general safety concerns. According to them, the combination of a dark underpass and lack of auto users (due to the diverter), equates to a lack of “eyes on the street” and increases cyclists’ sense of danger. From what I’ve learned working on this story, some of the people behind this diverter removal plan believe having more drivers on these streets will increase visibility and make the streets safer. That line of thinking is not supported in any city planning document and goes against the City’s adopted principles of Vision Zero.
To better understand the issues surrounding these diverters, I visited NW Johnson and NW 20th over the weekend.
NW Johnson and 14thNW Johnson and 14thNW Johnson and 14thNW Johnson and 15thNW Johnson and 15thNW Johnson and 15thDiverters on NW Johnson.
NW Johnson between 14th (the old REI) and 15th was very quiet. There were more bicycle riders than car drivers using the street in the 15 minutes I was there. And all the bicycle riders used the bike lane adjacent to the diverters. There’s just one diverter at 15th, which means there’s ample space on the street for a police officer to drive through in either direction. I also noted how these diverters are part of a strategic, alternating series of one-ways designed specifically to reduce car trips. Prosper Portland’s Broadway Corridor Plan says the neighborhood greenway is a key part of the development’s goal to minimize car traffic on NW Johnson when it is extended through the site to connect to Union Station. “Neighborhood greenways should be developed on NW Johnson Street,” the plan reads, “with volume and speed management features that limit the amount of auto traffic using the street.”
If these diverters on Johnson are removed, it would defeat the purpose of the neighborhood greenway — which is by definition supposed to remain under a specific threshold of cars per day (1,000 cars per day is the target).
Diverter at NW 20th and Everett.
Over on NW 20th at Everett (just one block from where U.S. Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici was hit by a car driver while walking in a crosswalk in 2023), I found a bustling streetscape adjacent to multi-story apartment buildings and Fred Meyer store. That part of the Nob Hill neighborhood is dense and the intersection of 20th and Everett had a constant flow of drivers, walkers, bicycle riders, scooter users, folks in mobility devices, and so on. The two concrete barriers the create the diverter in the northeast corner of the intersection help calm the intersection by eliminating one option for drivers. Since 2022, this greenway on 20th has been an important north-south street in the bike network that connects to other greenways on Flanders, Johnson, and so on.
I also noticed that if the city removes this diverter, they’ll also be removing the community garden that has sprung up inside them. The two large concrete barrels are filled with soil, plants, and flowers that spill over the sides and onto the street. “Please leave the plants and their flowers as they are so everyone can enjoy them,” reads a sign hanging by a string between to “Except Bicycles” signs.
There would be a significant impact to road conditions in northwest if these diverters are removed. For that reason alone, I’m surprised at how this plan to remove them has emerged largely outside public view. The Problem Solver Network meetings where issues were apparently first raised are not easy to access by the public. Their website doesn’t list dates or times and there are no meeting minutes or agendas to review.
If, as Portland Solutions maintains, these diverter removals have been discussed for several months/years, that means there’s been plenty of time to notify the public and seek feedback to make sure it’s a sound decision. When the removal was announced last week, there hadn’t been any outreach to the City’s Bicycle Advisory Committee, a body that exists to help advise on this exact type of issue.
I’ve got questions out to Portland Solutions and others to learn more about the rationale behind this decision and to find out whether or not the removal is imminent. And I’m not the only one.
“Keeping the diverters intact is the outcome Councilor [Mitch] Green is working toward and at a minimum wants to get a comprehensive understanding from officials responsible why removing these diverters is justified,” Green’s Chief of Staff Maria Sipin shared with me today. “Our office is concerned that this could initiate more removals if the public and City Council aren’t informed.”
I’m still waiting for more clarity. But at this moment I’ve heard mixed signals about how imminent the removals are. I’ve heard the order to remove them is final and that City Administrator Michael Jordan is moving forward with it right away. And the email from Brocker-Knapp used the word “quickly”. But Portland Solutions shared with me Friday that, “We’re in the early stages of this,” and that, “I still think that there’s time for engagement.”
A local urbanism advocacy group that supports the diverters is meeting tonight to talk about the issue and leaders from Portland Solutions are expected to attend the PBOT Bicycle Advisory Committee on August 12th. Let’s hope they remain on the street until at least that meeting so we can better understand the argument against them.
This issue is not just important from a traffic safety and planning perspective, it’s a test of how public engagement works (or doesn’t) in Portland’s new form of government. So far there’s been a major lack of transparency around how the decision was made. In the past, anyone concerned about this could contact the commissioner in charge of PBOT. But now we have city administrators who oversee PBOT and they’re not set up for easy public contact. The page on the City’s website that lists City Administrator Michael Jordan and Deputy City Administrator of Public Works Priya Dhanapal, for instance, doesn’t even have individual contact information.
If you care about this issue and want to make your feelings known, use this form to contact city leaders (in addition to leaving a comment here so city leaders can read it).
I expect to hear more from Portland Solutions and others in the coming days and will continue to monitor this issue closely. Stay tuned.
The scene outside Kerr Bikes on the Esplanade at an Adaptive Biketown ride in 2022. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
The City of Portland program that offers free adaptive bicycle rentals could look a lot different next year.
Since it launched in 2017, the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s Adaptive Biketown program has partnered with Kerr Bikes as its vendor and physical location right on the Eastbank Esplanade near OMSI. That contract end at the end of September and the City says they’ll seek a new vendor.
Adaptive Biketown was the nation’s first-of-its-kind program that offered free rentals of a variety of recumbents, hand-cycles, four-wheelers, trikes, and other types of bicycles that can be ridden by people who don’t want to use the standard, two-wheel variety offered in the Biketown bike share system. Today it’s seen as a big success, but the program came into existence by accident.
In 2016, just as PBOT was finally going to launch the Nike-sponsored Biketown system, activists starting wondering how folks with disabilities would participate. A BikePortland story asked the question: Is Biketown bike share for all? Or only the able-bodied?. Following a broad community dialogue about the need for adaptive bikes, PBOT swung into action by hosting an adaptive bike clinic and shortly thereafter found support to launch a pilot Adaptive Biketown program.
In its first year of operation (2017) PBOT reported year 59 total rentals to 27 unique participants. In 2024, the program had 443 rentals. Each year PBOT has added to the bike fleet and has continued to host encouragement events to make people aware of the resource. Now the program has secured funding from the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund to maintain its operations until at least 2028.
Kerr Bikes is run by Albertina Kerr, a nonprofit that empowers people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. They say they’ll donate all bikes and equipment to the next operator of the system. PBOT will open a Request for Proposals (RFP) later this year with hopes of starting the 2026 season with a new operator. If you are interested or know of organizations who might be a good fit for this opportunity, email sharedmicromobility@portlandoregon.gov to make sure you receive the RFP notice.
The chances of a future electric passenger ferry service on the Willamette River just got a bit better. That’s because Frog Ferry, the nonprofit that launched in 2018, announced today they’ve secured tentative permission to use two public docks owned by the City of Portland: one at Cathedral Park (near the St. Johns Bridge) in north Portland and one at RiverPlace Marina in south Portland.
In a letter dated July 25th, Deputy City Administrator of Public Works Priya Dhanapal wrote: “The City of Portland is open, in principle, to the potential use of two City-managed docks located at Cathedral Park and RiverPlace for future ferry operations with appropriate dock upgrades by the Frog Ferry to ensure ADA compliance and safety.”
To unlock the permission, Frog Ferry needs to secure additional funding that allows them to complete a host of necessary dock upgrades and go through all required City permit processes.
Even without that money in hand yet, Frog Ferry backers see this is a major step forward. “In the ferry industry, being granted use of the docks is like being handed keys to a building,” said Susan Bladholm, the tireless founder of the organization who has deep ties the transportation and business community.
The City’s decision saves the project millions because they won’t have to engineer and build docks of their own. It’s also a stamp of approval the project desperately needs to regain momentum lost when it floundered under previous PBOT Commissioner Mingus Mapps. With Mapps out of office, Bladholm and her supporters seized the opportunity to pitch their idea to a new slate of councilors under a new local political system.
Now Bladholm says the project is close to reaching its pre-launch funding goal. In their statement Monday, Frog Ferry said they’ve secured $40 million so far for research and planning of the ferry service and need another $20 million for capital construction in order to get the boats on the water.
The ferry would use the boat launch dock just north of the St. Johns Bridge.
They hope to raise half of that amount, $10 million, through a Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF) grant they’ve already applied for. A decision on that application is expected sometime this month. In addition to the PCEF grant, the group says they have private donors lined up and willing to put money on the table.
The ultimate vision of Frog Ferry is to deploy up to seven, 70-100 passenger vessels with up to nine stops between Oregon City and Vancouver, Washington. The ferries would not carry cars, but would allow bicycle storage. The estimated commute time between Vancouver and Salmon Street Springs would be 44 minutes.
When funding to build the system is secured, Frog Ferry says they’ll begin operation within three years.
For now, the clock is ticking. The letter from the City of Portland that opens the possibility of using these two publicly-owned docks comes with this disclaimer: “Any preliminary support expressed herein is revocable and expires if project funding is not secured within 12 months.”
Guardrail damage and flipped car in Columbia River from single-car crash on NE Marine Dr. at 122nd Ave Saturday. (Photos: PPB)
Two people who hit and killed in separate crashes in Portland Sunday night. Both victims were walking and were hit by car users. According to the Portland Police Bureau, the collisions happened less than one and-a-half hours of each other. Those are just two of the serious crashes in the past three days involving car users.
Around 10:06 pm Sunday night, officers responded to a call of someone struck on SE 122nd and SE Ash (see below). They arrived and found a person who appeared to be walking prior to the collision, with serious injuries. Police say the driver of the car who hit the pedestrian remained at the scene. The person who was struck was transported to a hospital and announced as deceased today. This section of 122nd is wide and has a 30 mph speed limit. The intersection with Ash is slightly off-set. It’s slated for a signal upgrade in PBOT’s forthcoming 122nd Avenue safety project.
Then at 11:20 pm last night, Police say a pedestrian was struck by a driver 10 miles west of 122nd on NW Yeon Ave and 44th (see below). The person who was on foot was seriously hurt and died a short time later at the hospital. This is an industrial area with a very wide streetscape and a speed limit of 40 mph.
SE 122nd and AshNW Yeon and 44th Ave
According to the BikePortland Fatality Tracker, these are the 17th and 18th fatalities to occur this year on Portland roads. At this same date in 2024 we had 38 deaths.
Police are also investigating a crash on NE Marine Drive that happened Saturday morning. They say a driver bursted through a guardrail at the 122nd Avenue intersection and drove their car over the levee and into the Columbia River. The driver’s body still has not been found.
And this morning near Glendoveer Golf Course on NE Halsey and 148th, police responded to a rollover crash that sent the driver to the hospital with serious injuries.
Existing speed enforcement camera on NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Over the past week or so, several people contacted BikePortland with reports that automated speed enforcement cameras in their neighborhood had either fallen into disrepair and/or had been removed. In digging around about what might be behind this, I learned some pretty big news: the City of Portland has finally inked a contract with a new company to supply and operate the transportation bureau’s speed and intersection safety enforcement camera program.
I say “finally,” because problems with the original vendor have come up several times since at least 2021. Back then, a former Portland Bureau of Transportation Commissioner told BikePortland during an interview that the relationship was so bad that the city had considered firing the company. PBOT has never publicly acknowledged a major issue with its previous vendor, but has referred to “supply chain delays” as one of the reasons its camera enforcement program has not grown as expected.
Today PBOT says they and their partners at the Portland Police Bureau will work with NovoaGlobal to supply and operate their program with, “the most advanced automated technology available.” “NovoaGlobal will be the City of Portland’s sole supplier and operator for the Speed and Intersection Safety Camera program, as well as PPB Traffic Division’s two mobile speed enforcement vans,” reads a statement from PBOT today.
NovoaGlobal is based in Orlando, Florida. The company’s website features automated enforcement tolls for crosswalks, school speed zones, oversized vehicle identification, and more. They’ve been hired to supply and operate to cameras all over the U.S. including Washington D.C., Tacoma, and Beaverton.
PBOT crews are currently at work replacing all 32 existing camera locations and retrofitting the PPB’s two mobile vans. The new camera installation work is projected to be complete by November 1st. While the work is being done, PBOT announced today they will add three more camera locations:
SE Powell Boulevard at 34th Avenue (westbound)
NE 82ndAvenue at Fremont Street (southbound)
NE 82nd Avenue at Klickitat Street (northbound)
PBOT also says that by January of 2026, they’ll install two speed safety cameras on SE Powell Boulevard at or near 60th Avenue. After that, the next two locations will be on SW Barbur Boulevard at the 5900 to 6100 blocks.
This doubling down on camera enforcement shows how confident PBOT is in the technology. PBOT claims that speeding at all locations has dropped by 59% at all camera location since the first ones were installed in 2016. And for an agency often embattled with criticisms, enforcement cameras are actually popular. In a November 2024 survey commissioned by the City of Portland between 72% and 82% of respondents said they support the cameras.
These cameras are pillars of PBOT’s Vision Zero program and will likely be a point of discussion at the new Vision Zero Task Force being assembled as part of a renewed effort to save lives spearheaded by City Councilor Tiffany Koyama Lane. With renewed political support, a new supplier and operator lined up, and a more streamlined method to review camera citations, this technology is finally poised to reach its potential.
Here are the most notable stories that came across my desk in the past seven days…
Thrust into advocacy: Many riders get into gravel cycling to avoid drivers; but the author of this piece experienced something tragic while bicycling with a friend and says it has made him want to change the system. (Bike Gear Database)
Look in the mirror: It always feels good when an idea I’ve been beating on my desk about for a while gets carried into a national op-ed by a credible source. This 25-year automotive industry journalist believes we can save thousands of lives by simply taking more responsibility for how we drive and improving our driver education system. (The Washington Post)
E-bikes in war: A Ukrainian drone carried an e-bike and dropped it to a soldier who was stranded on a battlefield. The injured soldier rode the bike to safety. (The Telegraph)
Bathroom lobby: I’m still waiting for someone in Portland to become the champion of public restrooms. Until then, let’s educate ourselves on good public restroom policy. (Yes this is an urbanism issue!) (Greater Greater Washington)
Hell-yes-sinki: This Finnish city experienced a full year without any road traffic deaths and its transportation engineers credit reduced speed limits, better road designs, a good transit network, and more. (YLE)
E-bikes FTW: A new study from Germany found that, “43.1% of electric bicycle trips and 63.2% of electric bicycle mileage would have been undertaken using a car if no e-bike had been available.” (International Journal of Sustainable Transportation)
Tour de France Femmes: Pauline Ferrand-Prévot won the women’s Tour de France in a year that saw big crowds and more interest in the event than ever. Ferrand-Prévot has also re-ignited a passion for cycling in France. (The Guardian)
De minimis victory: Bicycle industry leaders are hailing a move by President Donald Trump that removed the $800 import threshold that allows Americans to bring in packages under that amount duty-free. It’s thought unsafe e-bike batteries and accessories and other products give overseas goods an unfair advantage and create safety hazards. (Bicycle Retailer)
This traffic diverter on NW Johnson at 15th is among three the PPB says have got to go. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
A City agency with the backing of the Portland Police Bureau has directed the Portland Bureau of Transportation to remove three traffic diverters in northwest Portland because they say the large concrete barricades and one-way streets — installed by PBOT to improve safety and calm traffic — hinder the preferred routes of police patrols. So far, at least one city council member opposes the move.
Skyler Brocker-Knapp is director of Portland Solutions, a city bureau formed in 2024 to address homelessness and related “livability challenges.” In an email today to District 4 city council members and copied to Portland Police Bureau Sgt. Ty Engstrom, Portland Bureau of Transportation Director Millicent Williams, and Deputy City Administrator of Public Works Priya Dhanapal, Brocker-Knapp wrote that diverters on NW 20th and Everett, NW 14th and Johnson, and NW 15th and Johnson must be removed.
“These locations… have been particularly problematic in terms of chronic nuisance behavior (drug dealing, vandalism, etc.),” Brocker-Knapp wrote. Apparently, staffers at the Public Environment Management Office (PEMO) have been working for three years to make this move. All the diverters (also known as “modal filters”) named in the email create one-way streets for auto users, since behind them the street becomes a bike-only lane. They were installed as part of PBOT neighborhood greenway projects and vetted through months of public outreach with a goal to calm traffic and reduce traffic deaths and injuries to the most vulnerable road users.
But if Brocker-Knapp’s email is the final word (I have not confirmed a date for removal) they’ll be torn out and replaced with sharrow markings.
The diverters in the northeast corner of NW 20th and Everett have been the target of neighborhood ire for a while now. An article in the NW Examiner last month asked rhetorically, “Do they make us safer, or just get in the way?” Article author Allan Classen wrote that the barriers, “prevent many neighborhood Fred Meyer shoppers from driving directly home.” Classen explained that drivers headed north or west on 20th from the Fred Meyer parking garage (on NW 20th Pl.) must travel three blocks east to 18th Ave before heading to their destination. 85% of the 156 people who voted in a poll posted on the Examiner’s website said they wanted the diverter removed.
From the PPB perspective, the diverters and one-way streets force them out of their way when traveling between Fred Meyer and Couch Park two blocks north. Couch Park has recently made headlines because local residents have complained that it’s a hive of open drug use and crime. Back in May the PPB conducted a focused enforcement mission around the park that resulted in three arrests, drug and gun seizures, and 12 people being transported to deflection centers. Also in May, District 4 City Councilor Eric Zimmerman made public his intention to have the diverters removed.
NW Johnson and 14th.NW Everett and 20th.NW Everett and 20th.
Fred Meyer and Couch Park circled. The green “x” marks location of diverter at NW 20th and Everett. (Graphic: BikePortland)
According to Brocker-Knapp, restoring the streets to two-way auto traffic will allow police to “better navigate” the area. The plan is for PBOT to replace the diverter with all-way stop sign configuration. (“People biking may also use the Flanders Greenway one block to the north,” the email states.)
Over on NW Johnson, PEMO is directing PBOT to remove diverters and restore two-way traffic at NW 14th and NW 15th to, “allow for easier movement for Portland Police through the area.” A spokesperson for PEMO told me in a phone conversation today that they’ve also had reports from bike riders who fear for their safety while using the underpass.
A request for PBOT comment was redirected to PEMO. In their email, Brocker-Knapp said they’ve already worked with PBOT to, “develop a solution for traffic redirection at these locations,” and staff from all involved agencies have conducted site walks with the city traffic engineer.
District 4 City Councilor Mitch Green opposes the projects. In a reply to Brocker-Knapp’s email, Green wrote, “I don’t support this at all and I’m curious to understand what the justification for this is, what problem it solves, and what consideration has been given to the new problems it creates.”
“At a time when vehicle-based pedestrian fatalities are up, it’s hard for me to see how this improves public safety.”
The PBOT Bicycle Advisory Committee has not been involved with these discussions. I’ve learned that it will be on the agenda of their August 12th meeting and a representative from PEMO and the Mayor’s Office have been invited to attend.
I’ve reached out to PPB Traffic Division Sgt. Ty Engstrom for comment. I’ve also asked PEMO how the PPB’s public safety concerns were weighed against the public safety concerns that resulted in the installation of the diverters to begin with. I’ll update this post as I learn more.
Rolling down SW 3rd Avenue. (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
I’d been itching to get out and cover a local ride (as my dang knees continue to rehab from surgeries in April and June), so last night I checked out The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Ride. It was a transportation nerd’s paradise that started at the monthly Urbanist Happy Hour hosted by Strong Towns PDX at a familiar location on the SE Ankeny Rainbow Road Plaza (where Bike Happy Hour meets every Wedesday).
It was a big turnout! Maybe 150 people or so? And judging from all the smiles in these photos, a lot of folks had a great time riding city streets and getting to know friends old and new. The ride was organized by several groups: the aforementioned Strong Towns, Bike Loud PDX, Sunrise Movement, Community Cycling Center, and Depave. Add in the fact that Urbanist Happy Hour welcomes folks from rail advocacy groups like AORTA (Association of Oregon Rail and Transit Advocates) and Parking Reform Network — and you get quite a diverse group of city lovers and transportation reform advocates.
“We’ve got public transit nerds social and climate justice advocates. We have people who care about zoning and housing and bikes and infrastructure all coming together. ‘Cause it’s gonna’ take all of us and our relationships to really change this city. There’s more of us than there are of them, and we can really go and get things done!” said Harper (Andrea) Haverkamp, one of the event leaders.
Haverkamp is a bright star in local organizing circles. She’s not only the self-described Mayor of Portland, but also an active volunteer with Strong Towns, the Transportation and Land Use Committee chair for Kerns Neighborhood Association, a member of the PBOT 2045 Transportation System Plan Community Advisory Committee, and holds a PhD in environmental engineering from Oregon State University.
Another young leader pushing for change is Jacob Apenes with Sunrise PDX. “We’re here, fighting for the end of the era of the fossil fuels,” he said to the crowd prior to the ride. “We’re fighting for pretty big things… We wanna build a city that’s actually multimodal, so people can get around in the mode they choose — safely and effectively at any stage of their life.”
Apenes, Haverkamp, and many others at this ride are proponents of tactical urbanism, where volunteers install inexpensive street interventions like crosswalks, transit benches and traffic calming devices (Strong Towns and PBOT are currently in negotiations about the group’s many DIY-painted crosswalks throughout the city). And it just so happens that the idea has political support in City Hall. One if its biggest champions in Councilor Mitch Green, who was also in attendance.
“We’ve got this giant fiscal gap in our budget and we’re going to be fiscally constrained for a long period of time. That sucks,” Green said in a short speech in the plaza prior to the ride. “But it’s also an opportunity to change the way our city thinks… We’ve got this army of volunteers that wants to do tactical urbanism to make our communities safer and to flourish. So I’m gonna be a champion for that, for you guys. So just tell me what you need and we’ll help you get it done.”
It was the latest sign that Green has embraced Portland’s trove of urban planners, environmental justice activists, and transportation reformers. “This fills up my cup,” Green said about why he chose to spend four hours hanging out in the streets after his work day in City Hall. “I like to be with cyclists. I like to be with activists who are trying to create safer spaces for us to exist. I also like to be with urbanists who are trying to imagine ways that we can all come together accelerate the rate at which we can build the city we deserve. I feel all that here.”
After all the remarks and community-building and conversations in Rainbow Road Plaza, it was time to get on our bikes. The ride made several stops and we heard short remarks from speakers at each one. The stops included: SE 7th and Sandy where we learned about Depave’s Green Plaza project; SW Ash between 3rd and 4th where we heard about the SW 4th Avenue project; the Blumenauer Bridge; Sandy Blvd, and perhaps others but I turned off when my knee got uncomfortably stiff.
Beyond the project talk, I feel like the most important part of the ride were all the conversations along the way. The large group took the entire westbound side of the Burnside Bridge, rolling into downtown on a perfect Portland summer evening. As I pedaled next to Councilor Green I asked what he thought about the moment. “I see nothing but opportunity,” he said. “The future looks pretty bright.”
