Reader Nick Welch sent in this photo of the new
shared-use path PBOT has built between Westanna and Newell
streets in north Portland.

The Portland Bureau of Transportation has just completed a new shared-use path as part of their North Portland Connector neighborhood greenway project. The new pathway connects N Westanna Ave to Newell Ave and to the Peninsula Crossing Trail just north of Lombard.

The pathway is a crucial section of PBOT’s east-west bike boulevard that allows people to ride safely across the north Portland peninsula west of Interstate Avenue via a combination of streets including N. Houghton, Dana, and Terry.

Kenton resident Nick Welch works in St. Johns and says this greenway is exactly what he needed. “Now you can finally get across the North Portland peninsula without touching the abomination that is Lombard Street.”
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Everywhere you look, PBOT is making neighborhood
streets safer. In this photo, people use the new
crossing treatment at N. Concord and Rosa Parks.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

It’s hard to overstate the importance of the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s neighborhood greenway program. The combination of considerable expertise in, and dedication to, neighborhood traffic safety from veteran staffers and engineers, and the $1 million (or so) annual budget thanks to Mayor Sam Adams, has resulted in a burgeoning and connected network of neighborhood greenways (a.k.a. their previous name of bike boulevards) that just keep getting better and better.

As I ride around, I’ve noticed the progress in almost every quadrant of the city; from new crossing treatments in outer southeast to speed bumps right outside my front door in north Portland. According to PBOT, they’ve got nine projects that are either currently under construction or just recently completed.

Below are just a few signs of progress I’ve come across recently…
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Detail from a PBOT mailer sent to people who live near the Going Street Neighborhood Greenway.

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The new median on NE 15th at Going.
(Photos: Charles Powne)

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PBOT planner Denver Igarta and the
reasons he cares about livable streets.
(Photo © J. Maus)

As a transportation planner at the Bureau of Transportation (PBOT), Denver Igarta has had a front-row seat to the development of Portland’s burgeoning network of low-stress, “neighborhood greenway” streets. Now Igarta will head to Europe to “uncover the secrets of residential streets that were built to first serve people rather than cars.”

Igarta has been selected as an Urban and Regional Policy Fellow by the German Marshall Fund. His research will include a one-month, four city tour with stops in Munich, Germany; Rotterdam, Netherlands; Copenhagen, Denmark; and Malmö, Sweden.[Read more…]

Approximate route of new bike boulevard
coming to east Portland.

The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) is close to the start of construction on a new “neighborhood greenway” that would parallel 82nd Avenue in northeast and southeast Portland. PBOT has put out a request for proposals to find a construction firm to start and the project is scheduled to begin next month.

The three-mile route would mostly use 86th and 87th Avenues and would stretch from NE Hassolo Street (near I-84) to SE Bush (south of Powell). The project is one of many neighborhood greenway projects PBOT is working on throughout the city (their plan is 15 miles of new neighborhood greenways (a.k.a. bike boulevards) each year through 2013).

To create a more comfortable and accessible route that parallels 82nd Avenue (an ODOT-controlled arterial), PBOT will use the familiar tools of speed bumps, curb extensions, sharrows, speed bumps, cycle-tracks, tree plantings, new signals, signage, and so on.[Read more…]

The City has been working on the new bike boulevard/neighborhood greenway on NE Klickitat Street. Readers Esther and Timo sent in the photos below of the brand new speed bumps and an interesting decoration on one of them. Does anyone know what the spider signifies? (There’s also a Batman symbol on the same street).[Read more…]

PBOT has begun installation of the new artistic elements on the SE Clinton bikeway.
-More photos below-
(All images by Paul Cone)

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PBOT’s Greg Raisman shared a list of new
neighborhood greenway projects last night.
(Photo © J. Maus)

The City of Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) released a new list of potential neighborhood greenways last night. The list of projects represents the third phase of implementation in PBOT’s ongoing effort to create a complete network of low-stress, family-friendly bikeways.

Below is the list (and a detailed map) as it was presented to the Portland Bicycle Advisory Committee last night:[Read more…]

See below for before/after shots.

This morning I shared how PBOT’s neighborhood greenways could have a dramatic impact on how it feels to move around our city’s residential streets. A perfect case in point is the NE Holman Street project.

Back in May, I took a closer look at the project, with a focus on a “pocket park” idea that was being thrown around. The concept was to take the existing, small and ordinary park at NE Holman and 13th and make it something special. Envisioned as a gathering place for the community, the revamped Holman City Park would be extended all the way across Holman, with through-access for biking and walking only.[Read more…]