holladay street project

PBOT director clarifies position, says Multnomah St project could be “transformative”

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

PBOT Director Tom Miller is juggling
two major projects in the
Lloyd District.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Back on Friday, we shared a major update on the City of Portland’s NE Holladay Street project.

Here’s a quick rewind: After a stakeholder advisory committee (SAC) spent almost a year debating, refining and compromising a proposal to vastly improve bike access on Holladay, the committee voted 12-1 in favor of moving forward with it. However, after being approached by a major business owner in the Lloyd District (the same person who voted no), the Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) decided to hold off on the Holladay project and take a look at Multnomah Street instead.

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Eschewing Holladay, Lloyd TMA considers road diet for Multnomah Street

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

NE Multnomah Street in the Lloyd
District could be going on a diet.

It’s been over two months since we last reported on the NE Holladay Street project. Remember that one? Part of a trio of Lloyd District Bikeway Development Projects, it was supposed to make NE Holladay an east-west arterial for bike traffic to connect inner northeast neighborhoods (and eventually the Sullivan’s Gulch path) through the Lloyd District all the way to the Willamette River.

But after a public process on the Holladay project fizzled out amid confusion and uncertainty back in October, a new effort pushed by a lone dissenting stakeholder who didn’t want major changes on Holladay appears to have successfully shifted the focus to NE Multnomah Street.

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PBOT’s new plan for Holladay St bikeway includes auto parking swap

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward
NE Holladay street-4

A new plan by PBOT would convert
the auto parking on this stretch
of Holladay into a 10-foot
wide shared auto/bike lane.
(Photo © J. Maus)

The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) has released a new plan for how to turn NE Holladay Street into a major, two-way bikeway from the Rose Quarter Transit Center to Holladay Park in the Lloyd District.

Advocates initially pushed to make Holladay completely carfree; but that idea was off the table by the time PBOT began an official public process for the project back in December 2010. Then, real estate developers, various Lloyd District stakeholders, and even the Portland Development Commission piled on with objections to the “loss” of any parking on NE Holladay — an element of the project that’s considered imperative to make the required space for a comfortable bikeway.

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From Sydney, a look at the future of NE Holladay?

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward
NE Holladay street-4

See image below for how NE Holladay
could be transformed with an
enhanced bikeway.
(Photo © J. Maus)

As I shared on Monday, the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) is still trying to figure out how to move forward on a project to make NE Holladay Street a high-quality, east-west bike route through the Lloyd District. The initial plan was to make the entire, southern side of the street carfree (the northern side is already taken by the MAX train) — but that idea fell victim to compromise due to opposition from real estate developers and other powerful stakeholders concerned about any loss of motor vehicle “circulation” and on-street parking.

This morning, a friend (Matt Haughey) shared a photo of a new bike facility in downtown Sydney, Australia…

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Analysis shows NE Holladay is best east-west bikeway option through Lloyd District

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NE Holladay-2

Analysis shows NE Holladay has
great potential as a bikeway
corridor.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Alta Planning and Design has evaluated three east-west corridors through the Lloyd District to determine which one has the most potential as a high-quality bikeway. The study examined NE Lloyd Boulevard, NE Multnomah, and NE Holladay streets. The winner was NE Holladay; which, if you’ve been paying attention, shouldn’t come as a big surprise.

The big question now is: Will this analysis be enough to persuade opposition to the Holladay project? Here’s the backstory…

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The parking/biking trade-off: Q & A with PDC Director Patrick Quinton

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

PBOT wants to create a high-quality, two-way
bikeway on NE Holladay. One of the issues
with the project is how to deal
with on-street parking.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Last month, a representative from the Portland Development Commission (PDC) said they’d oppose any on-street parking removal on NE Holladay as part of a plan to create a high-quality bikeway on that street.

The announcement was a surprise, not just because the PDC is a City of Portland entity, but because parking removal is considered nearly essential to reaching the project’s goal of providing, “comfortable and convenient non-motorized access” from the Rose Quarter through the Lloyd District.

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Opposition piles up on Holladay Street project

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Mick O’Connell said his new development
must have auto access on Holladay.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Efforts to improve bike access through the Lloyd District took yet another turn for the worse at a Stakeholder Advisory Committee meeting yesterday. Several influential business interests — including a representative of the Portland Development Commission (PDC) — expressed opposition motor vehicle access restrictions that many feel are key to turning NE Holladay Street into a low-stress bikeway.

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Holladay St project: From carfree to… compromised?

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward
NE Holladay street-4

Already half-way taken up by a MAX line,
a few parking spaces is all that stands between
an excellent east-west bikeway on Holladay.
(Photos © J. Maus)

If you’ve been paying attention you know that the City of Portland is coming up against considerable opposition in their quest to make even modest improvements to bicycle access in the Lloyd District.

We’ve detailed the opposition leveled at the City by the Central Eastside Industrial Council over the re-allocation of space on NE 12th Avenue. Now opposition has also reared its head on NE Holladay Street, where the the proposal to remove 33 on-street parking spaces faces opposition that could derail the entire project.

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Editorial: Does Portland’s Bike Plan matter?

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Time to get it off the shelf.
(Illustration: Mark Markovich)

I just returned from an open house for the Lloyd District Bikeway projects. Unfortunately, my hunches about the direction each of them is headed have been confirmed.

At this point, I think it’s time to take the Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030 off the shelf and give it a re-read.

After a presentation by the project team at the open house today, Craig Harlow, speaking as a member of the Lloyd TMA Bike Committee (he’s also a member of the Stakeholder Advisory Committee), shared some closing remarks. Here’s what he said:

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Bike project concerns shift to Lloyd District

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward
NE Holladay options close up

NE Holladay, initially proposed to be
completely carfree, could maintain full auto access.
(Photo © J. Maus

With the fire on North Williams Avenue somewhat under control for now, many people in the community who care about bicycling are now raising red flags about the situation in the Lloyd District; where what started out as three projects that would significantly improve bike access in and around the district are now being significantly compromised by an adherence to the status quo and push-back from business and freight interests.

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