Quiet truck service bays and parking lot at US Postal Service site as seen from NW Lovejoy.
(Photo: Jonathan Maus)

We’re happy to report that the right-hook risk at NW Broadway and Hoyt has significantly decreased.

As we’ve shared on several occasions since 2013, the northwest corner of the intersection was dangerous due to two main factors: It’s at the bottom of a downhill so bicycling speeds are high and it has a high volume of right-turning trucks who use Hoyt to access the adjacent U.S. Postal Service retail store, processing and distribution site.
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It’s past time to do something at NW Broadway and Hoyt to defend against right-hooks.
(Photo © Jonathan Maus)

As I said in October 2013 and on and more recently on May 22nd; the intersection of NW Broadway and Hoyt is dangerous by design and if the City of Portland doesn’t do something to make it safer for vulnerable road users, I’m afraid the next post I’ll write will be about a fatality.

On May 30th, just eight days after our previous story about this intersection, I received an email from reader NH about yet another right-hook.

Here’s his version of what happened:

The bike lane was very crowded with two lines of bicycles coming down the ramp from the Broadway Bridge near the post office. A white pick-up with Oregon plates travelling next to the cyclists flipped on her right-hook blinker but seemed to be going just a bit too fast to stop and yield before turning. She tried to thread the needle between two groups of cyclists by speeding up a bit. A guy on an e-bike had to slam on his breaks to avoid getting smashed but still crashed into the bed of the truck.

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Nine days apart: Same intersection, same trucking company, same type of collision, same result, same problem we’ve known about for over a decade.
(Photos via @SmplicityCycles via Twitter)

It’s disheartening to start writing a post about the need for changes at a dangerous intersection only to recall that I already wrote the story. Nearly five years ago.

“Another right-hook at Broadway and Hoyt: What can we do about this intersection?,” screamed the headline in our October 2013 post.

And here we are today with the same concerns, the same problems and the same intersection.
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A near-right hook on Southwest Broadway.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

This article was written by BP Subscriber John Liu.

This is the first of a series of planned Subscriber Posts on how to ride a bicycle defensively in the imperfect city.

Why read this post?

This post is meant to share riding skills for people who want to take extra precautions against drivers who are distracted, careless, aggressive, inexperienced, or simply fallible humans. And for responsible drivers who don’t ever want to hurt or kill a bicycle rider due to their driving.
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The right-turn warning at NE Couch and Grand is the only such sign in the country.
(Photos: J.Maus/BikePortland)

As Portland edges closer to possibly adding protected bike lanes to its downtown, a new study has found that one of its most unusual bike-lane intersection treatments seems to be working.

The LED sign above the intersection at NE Couch and Grand that flashes “Turning Vehicle Yield to Bikes” seems to have reduced right-turn conflicts by more than 60 percent since its 2011 installation.

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It used to be a bike lane.
(Photos by J. Maus/BikePortland)

The City of Portland Bureau of Transportation is trying out a new bike lane treatment on North Rosa Parks Way that they hope will lessen the risks of right-hook collisions.

A few weeks ago I noticed the bike lane on Rosa Parks (which was just installed in 2011) as it approaches Albina had been ground off about 50-feet from the intersection. In what used to be a parking lane and bicycle-only lane, PBOT has placed sharrow markings and a right-turn arrow.

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The scene this morning at N Broadway and Ross.
(Photo: Noel Mickelberry)

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As Portland wraps up its first major study of its unusual “yield to bikes” LED sign on Northeast Couch Street at Grand Avenue, a TriMet bus video of a recent collision at the intersection shows that the longstanding right-hook problem at the corner isn’t solved yet.

Lane Werner, a nursing student at Linfield College’s Northwest Portland campus who said he’s chosen not to own a car, has been kept off his bike for three months after the work van in the video above turned in front of him at the light as he was overtaking it. The slow-motion collision was captured by a bus that was immediately behind.

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NW Broadway at Hoyt is a high-risk right-hook spot and it needs to be improved.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

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In Copenhagen, this sign is placed directly in the bike lane.
See another photo below for another view.
(Photos by Tom Miller)

Copenhagen should become a sister city to Portland. I can barely keep track of all the local planners, politicians, advocates and bureaucrats who have made a pilgrimmage to the “City of Cyclists” this past summer alone.[Read more…]