Roland Chlapowski's blog

DJC News: Rubber meets the road at Columbia-Lombard connector

Roland Chlapowski — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 11:29:11 -0800

Efforts by businesses in the Columbia corridor helped keep project on radar screen of local agenciesLike a two-lane blacktop tourniquet, Northeast Columbia Boulevard to Lombard Street impeded the smooth flow of traffic near Portland International Airport. With freight and everyday commuters stuck at choke points, the business community and the city recognized the need to improve Portland's most important east-west arterial for freight traffic.

With the completion of the East Columbia to Lombard Connector - which widened roads, improved access points and created safer pedestrian and bicycle crossing - the city and the Port of Portland say they've solved a nearly 20-year-old transportation problem.

Dan Laden, Portland Office of Transportation project manager for the connector, considers it to be "the most significant" transportation project in the city since the aerial tram.

"In terms of road projects, this is the largest, the most expensive project we've worked on," Laden said.

Faced with a project cost of about $34 million, finding adequate financing for the complicated connector was always a main concern. The project had been pinpointed as early as the late 1980s, but budgetary concerns and a heavy backlog of road projects kept pushing the timetable back. In 1998, the project began inching forward again, Laden said.

Eventually, the city got the bulk of the connector's funding, more than $29 million, from the Oregon Transportation Infrastructure Act, which was established by the Oregon Legislature to support road and bridge maintenance across the state. Another $2 million came from Port funds, while an additional $3 million came from city development funds.

More than $7 million from that total pot of money was spent on right-of-way acquisition, a process in which the city moved seven businesses along the corridor to new locations in order to make room for the widened road.

For the businesses not displaced, keeping the project on the city's radar screen was the main goal.

The Columbia Corridor Association, an early-in-the-pipeline proponent of the connector, argued that congestion along Columbia Boulevard was a major problem for more than a decade. The association lobbies on behalf of the interests of Columbia Corridor businesses and was instrumental in gathering business-owner feedback on the project.

"The old intersection was just inadequate for the amount of traffic going through there," said Corky Collier, executive director of the Columbia Corridor Association.

With his office located on the corridor, and with a traffic-bundled bottleneck acting as a barrier, Collier says he would spend about 20 minutes per trip inching through the corridor's congestion.

The problem was a common one for businesses located along the corridor.

In 2001, Metro received 33 letters - drafted by the Columbia Corridor Association and signed by corridor-housed businesses such as Freightliner and Harsch Investment Properties - in favor of the project. The correspondence and effort of business owners along the corridor helped keep the project on the priority list said Josh Thomas, spokesman for the Port of Portland.

The corridor currently houses 3,000 businesses, 50,000 employees and has an estimated payroll of $1.4 billion, the Port says. At full build-out, the port expects the corridor will have about 90,000 employees. And with business expansion still taking place along the corridor, the city was concerned that the congestion would stall traffic altogether in the near future.

The connector is already having the desired effect in relieving congestion, according to the Port.

"We're starting to see significant improvements to that area," Thomas said.

And the Columbia Corridor Association's Collier, for one, is thankful. Businesses along the corridor depend on reliable routes for shipping and transportation. With a more dependable route, these businesses now expect to save time and money, Collier said.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

By Tyler Graf

© 2008 DJC News
The Daily Journal of Commerce Inc.
921 S.W. Washington St.
Suite 210
P.O. Box 10127
Portland, Oregon 97296

Phone 503-226-1311 | Web: www.djcoregon.com

Link to the full story here.

New York Times: Portland, Ore., Acts to Protect Cyclists

Roland Chlapowski — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 10:49:38 -0800

January 10, 2008

By WILLIAM YARDLEY

"Ghost bikes," riderless and painted white, were placed at two busy intersections in Portland, Ore., last October, makeshift memorials to two bicyclists killed when they were hit by trucks in accidents that month.

This spring, at those same intersections and at 12 others across the city, "bike boxes" will be laid out on the roadway to provide a clearly designated place for cyclists, in front of and in full view of drivers, to wait for traffic lights to change. The boxes will be marked with signs and wide stripes alerting drivers to stop behind them at red lights.

Portland, which has a higher percentage of people who bike to work than any other large American city, is already considered one of the country's most bike-friendly urban centers. But the boxes, believed to be the first such to be put to use by any city in the country, will make cyclists even safer and more comfortable on the street, biking advocates and transportation officials say.

"It's something the city has been talking about for a long time, but these two deaths have certainly given an added sense of urgency," said Jonathan Maus, whose bikeportland.org is a focal point for Portland cyclists. "The community has just made it so clear that this is very important, that they're very concerned following these fatal crashes that things need to change."

By allowing cyclists to wait in front of motorized traffic, the bike boxes are intended chiefly to reduce the risk of "right hook" collisions, the kind most frequently reported in Portland, in which a driver makes a right turn without seeing a cyclist who is in his path. Drivers will not be allowed to pass through the bike box to turn right on a red light, although many right hooks now occur after the light has turned green, when traffic quickly accelerates.

Right hooks were what killed the two cyclists in October, a college student and a bike racer hit by large trucks. The drivers say they did not see them.

"In a lot of people's minds they weren't doing anything wrong and they were just run over," said Roger Geller, bicycle coordinator for the Portland Office of Transportation.

Another feature of the new project is that on the approach to an intersection with a bike box, the bicycle lane will be the same color as the box. "We want them to have that visual cue to take a look over their shoulder," Mr. Geller said of drivers, "and we want cyclists to know this is an area for potential conflict."

The city will spend about $150,000 on the bike boxes and also plans to pay about $50,000 to retrofit larger trucks in the municipal fleet with new mirrors to reduce blind spots and with guard bars to prevent cyclists from falling into the trucks' big wheel wells.

The trucks involved in the October collisions were not city vehicles. "We're just setting a good example," Mr. Geller said.

There were six cycling deaths in Portland in 2007, an unusually large number, though Mr. Geller and others say that with bicycle use up fourfold since the early 1990s, the rate of collisions has actually declined. Mr. Geller credits driver awareness.

While the city is installing the bike boxes at certain busy intersections, it is also trying to shift more riders away from bike lanes on busy streets to what it calls bike boulevards, quieter streets with less potential for collisions. The city is weighing a proposal to spend about $25 million over 10 years to designate 110 additional miles of bike boulevards, for a total of 140, and make other improvements for cyclists.

About 4 percent of Portland workers already commute by bike, and city officials and biking enthusiasts say they believe the number can rise much higher.

"Bike advocates around the country are looking to Portland to create a model of how an American city can be a bike-friendly city," Mr. Geller said. "We feel that, and we take that seriously."

Council Votes Unanimously to Advance Improved Burnside-Couch Streetcar Couplet

Roland Chlapowski — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 16:56:44 -0800

Sam, who came into office in 2005, adopted many projects from predecessors, but most of them were straightforward, and only a few were contentious. The Burnside-Couch Couplet Plan was not straightforward, but it certainly was contentious.

The Burnside-Couch Couplet Plan was developed from a community process that began when it was clear that Burnside needed to be reconstructed. The street was so badly damaged that it needed to be rebuilt from the base up, and when such major, invasive work is planned, it often makes sense to look at larger fixes to achieve broader goals and cost savings. This is exactly what the community did.

The idea, to make both Burnside and Couch one-way streets (like the rest of the downtown grid) and split Burnside's traffic between them, was dramatic and that would inarguably be transformative for downtown Portland. It was whether the transformation was going to be positive or negative, was the question.

For supporters, it eased traffic congestion, allowed for more trees, supplied on street parking, widened sidewalks, provided for new park spaces, increased pedestrian safety, reduced traffic fatalities, improved travel times while reducing auto speed, reduced automobile emissions, and provided for a streetcar that promised high ridership from NW 23rd to E Burnside & E 12th in a corridor that could benefit from higher development.

For detractors, it meant that traffic would move onto streets where it hadn't been before. It was unnecessary. The streetcar was dangerous. It cost too much.

After slowing the project down, reevaluating the proposal and studying new alternatives, and finally weighing the pros and cons, Sam ended up slightly modifying the plan (adding a streetcar) and being its champion.

At the end of the day, after much news coverage and 6 hours of public testimony, Portland City Council unanimously approved moving forward with the preliminary engineering for the plan. It would come up with stronger cost estimates and address concerns of safety and funding strategies.

This process is currently underway, and will return to council for evaluation as early as January 2009.

Related Documents

Community Partners

Media Mentions

Our Blog

Making Portland's Streets Safer

Roland Chlapowski — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 09:57:00 -0800

When it comes to our transportation system, safety is Sam's top priority. Because of one-time general funds that Sam led the charge on and secured at City Council, many important safety improvements and projects were implemented in 2007 to make driving, walking and bicycling safer throughout Portland.

This safety funding resulted in the top ten highest crash locations in the city being evaluated for safety improvement. Short-term improvements of better signs, more visible lane striping, and better signal operations have been implemented. Longer-term and larger-scale improvements are in development.

Six new red light cameras have been funded. These cameras will be placed at the locations with the most crashes caused by red light running. To date, one of the six cameras has been installed. The remaining five cameras have been designed and will be installed by April 2007.

In addition, 14 speed reader boards were purchased. These electronic boards inform motorists about how fast they are traveling and encourage them to slow if they are violating the speed limit. The 14 new boards will be permanently installed throughout the city in 2008.

School traffic safety also got a boost in 2007. Three school zones had flashing yellow beacons installed. There were numerous speed bump projects funded near schools and several pedestrian refuge islands and marked crosswalks were installed to help children cross the street. Three schools have had sidewalk infill projects to help children walk to school.

There were a number of bicycle safety improvements in 2007 that were funded with one-time funds. A new median island at the intersection of Rosa Parks Way and Willamette Blvd slows traffic on Willamette and provides much safer bicycle and pedestrian crossings. New green curb extensions were used to help cyclists cross the street or to reduce the amount of conflict between bikes and turning cars. New bike lanes were installed on SW Jefferson and SE Flavel. Neighborhood traffic calming was completed on SW Vermont. Plus, an innovative new double bicycle lane was installed on the westbound approach to the Hawthorne Bridge to more safely handle the huge number of cyclists crossing that bridge each morning.

Pedestrian safety was a major focus in 2007. Pedestrian refuge islands were built to help people cross multi-lane roads that are served by transit. The main street crosswalk project installed crosswalks at every intersection along six of the streets with the most walking in the city. These improvements are making pedestrians more visible and encouraging motorists to stop for pedestrians while they are crossing the street.

Safety will remain Sam's top priority for 2008. We look forward to reporting to you about all of the traffic safety improvements that will be implemented over the coming year.

Our Blog

Addressing Major Transportation Priorities, Sam Seeks One-Time Funds

Media Mentions

"Portland Office of Transportation tackles ped, bike safety." Daily Journal of Commerce, June 26, 2007

Sam and PDC Help Push Start Oregon Custom Bike Show

Roland Chlapowski — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 18:19:50 -0800

Oregon Bicycle Constructors AssociationThe Portland Development Commission identifies the bicycle industries as one of the nascent cottage industries that it would like to see grow and flourish. Oregon, and Portland in particular, have unique advantages over other regions in terms of making bikes, and this Bike Show allowed craftsman to show them off.

To help promote this trade show of custom bicycle makers from across the state, Sam worked with PDC to make sure that as a seed industry that the Oregon Handmade Bicycle trade show got support from the local government.

The event was successfully held on Sunday, November 11, 2007 at the World Forestry Center in Washington Park.

Related Documents:

Oregon Handmade Bicycle Association Trade Show Site

Community Partners:

Portland Development Commission
Oregon Bicycle Constructors Assocation
Ahearne Cycles (Portland)
Bike Friday (Eugene)
Casmano
DeSalvo Custom Cycles (Ashland)
Good Times Bicycles
Keith Anderson Cycles (Grants Pass)
Landshark (Medford)
Lyonsport (Grants Pass)
Pereira Cycles (Portland)
Stites Design (Portland)
Strawberry Cycles (Portland)
Sweetpea Bicycles (Portland)
Vendetta Cycles (Willamette Valley)
Wolfhound Cycles (Talent)

Media Mentions:

"Handmade bike show will feature Oregon's finest", BikePortland.org, November 6, 2007

Milestones:

November 11, 2007 - Oregon's first city-supported local industry bike show ever!

35 Member Citizen Task Force Helps 'Keep Downtown Portland Moving'

Roland Chlapowski — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 17:50:40 -0800

With so much private and public construction in downtown Portland, navigating it -- whether by foot, bike, transit, or automobile -- has become more frustrating than it used to be. That is why Sam supported and expanded funding for Keep Portland Moving, a PDOT campaign to promote a vibrant, accessible downtown Portland.

Overseen by a 35-person stakeholder steering committee, Keep Portland Moving coordinates projects and works with other PDOT staff to give construction guidelines that minimize the impact of all of the new investment underway downtown.

As frustrating as traveling downtown might seem now, things would be much worse if it were not for this campaign, which coordinates complex projects, provides information to the public, and reacts in real time to calls it takes on its hotline.

Other KPM accomplishments include moving the bus mall to 3rd & 4th Avenues (in partnership with TriMet), working with a task force to consider new technologies like advance parking information and real-time traffic updates, and the installation of webcams that allows traffic engineers to know when problems are happening to address them immediately. The Task Force also looked into things like night work options, the appropriate enforcement of construction permits, and programs to keep people from commuting at peak hours. The Task Force/Advisory Committee of 35 members was convened in April, 2007, and has met eight times to discuss and guide the activities of the Keep Portland Moving campaign.

Sam has secured funding for this new position from City Council because he believes strongly that the best coordination amongst both public agencies and private developers is what Portlanders deserve.

Related Documents

Keep Portland Moving website

Community Partners

Message to City Club: 300,000 Projected New Residents Should Find Home Along Transit Corridors

Roland Chlapowski — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 16:33:55 -0800

Coming to a neighborhood near you?As Sam has discussed in his speech to the City Club of Portland, we are facing unprecedented transportation and land use challenges in the not-so-distant future. Whether it is extreme inflation of construction costs in conjunction with declining tax revenues, Peak Oil, global climate change, or simple population growth, we are going to have to change our transportation status quo.

This will take at a minimum some combination of land use, smart development, and investments in non-auto modes. And it is in this context that Sam has initiated a citywide streetcar plan.

According to Metro growth projections, the population of Portland is expected to increase by 300,000 and the population of the region region by 1 million by the year 2025. As the City of Portland prepares for this growth, development opportunities that can take advantage of transit, including streetcar, must be a part of the solution, and this is exactly what the SSP will do.

The Streetcar System Plan (SSP) is a big picture look at the City of Portland's transportation network and how the streetcar can fit into the future system. The goal of the SSP is to identify interconnected corridors to create a citywide streetcar system that is integrated with the City's transportation and land use network. Final decisions regarding where and when specific corridors will be built will be determined over many years after this process is completed.

The Portland Streetcar System Plan will play a key role in shaping the City by reinforcing walkable and economically-diverse neighborhoods and vibrant main streets; encouraging sustainable and equitable development and infrastructure; reducing vehicle trips; and supporting greater accessibility, housing options, employment and economic development.

There will be three primary criteria or questions that will drive this analysis. 1) Is high potential ridership foreseeable? 2) Is it financially feasible? 3) Will the communities affected accept or embrace it?

Community Partners

Media Mentions

"Adams sees web of streetcars" The Oregonian, July 21, 2007

Our Blog

"From Here to Portland's Transportation Tomorrow - Sam's City Club of Portland Remarks," July 20, 2007 (includes link to audio)

Fighting for Bike Funding, Platinum Master Plan Moves Forward

Roland Chlapowski — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 14:12:03 -0800

When it comes to our overall biking environment, we Portlanders certainly have much to be proud of - from our 270-mile bikeway network, to the thousands of bicycle parking spaces, and our great local bike culture. Whether that is embodied in Portland's nascent bicycle industry, CHVNK Bikes on Hawthorne, zoobombers, or bicycle performance art, Portlanders "get" bicycling.

But while we have a lot to be proud of, Sam thinks that we still have a long way to go towards achieving a truly bicycle-friendly city. And while the nearly 5% of our population that regularly bikes puts Portland's biking numbers far above those of any other city in the country, that is high praise based on a low standard.

That is also why when the mayor's budget did not include funding for completing the last half of the study and policy update, Sam worked with others on council and secured money for this important planning project.
First drafted in 1996, the Bicycle Master Plan had not been updated in over 10 years. As the major policy document that guides PDOT's policy decisions and investment strategies relating to bicycles, the update was necessary to acknowledge the changing demographics of the city, as well as the must current thinking on encouraging bicycling.

The first two chapters of the Bicycle Master Plan report on the existing conditions and are now complete. PDOT staff is now working on the next phase of the report that outlines what we will do in the future to make our city a truly bicycle-friendly. This project as has also entailed many open houses and extensive community outreach.

Related Documents

Community Partners

Media Mentions

Eastside Streetcar Loop Project Moves Down the Track

Roland Chlapowski — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 13:41:45 -0800

On September 6, 2007, Sam and the City Council committed to provide $27 million in tax increment funds to match $75 million in Federal Transit Administration resources to fund the cstreetcar is packing up and moving eastonstruction of the Portland Streetcar Loop Project, which will connect the east and the west side of the Willamette River. On the same day, Council approved the formation of a Local Improvement District, through which property owners will contribute $15 million to the Project. This action followed a Council work session where Sam presented the financial risks and benefits of proceeding with the Project.

Also, Sam and Mayor Potter asked for a third party review of the cost estimate for the Loop Project to be conducted by the Portland Development Commission. PDC has engaged consultant services to do so and an initerim report is due in February, to be updated after preliminary engineering is completed.

Currently, construction is expected to begin in Fall 2008 and last for 24 months.

Related Documents

Community Partners

Media Mentions

"Some eastside boosters see money in streetcar," The Oregonian, April 21, 2007

Our Blog

"City Council Concludes Work Session on Eastside Streetcar Loop Funding" August 14, 2007

Milestones

September 6, 2007 - Council Approves Funding, Moves Streetcar Forward

Hawthorne Improvement Project Completed

Roland Chlapowski — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 12:09:24 -0800

Sam accepts a medallion that will later be installed in the sidewalk.

The Hawthorne Improvement Project was first developed by the community with PDOT planners back in 1996. Council adopted the plan in 2007. But then, it languished.

Without any funding and with escalating construction costs, the project plans sat on a shelf. That is, until Sam secured the adequate for the project by asking for additional funds and shifting around some of PDOT's other projects and priorities.

The project finally broke ground in August of 2006, and was completed in November 2007.

Related Documents

Community Partners

The five neighborhoods that are united along Hawthorne: HAND (Hawthorne Abernethy), Buckman, Richmond, Sunnyside, and Mt. Tabor
Bicycle Transportation Alliance
Willamette Pedestrian Coalition
Hawthorne Boulevard Business Association
TriMet

Media Mentions

"City begins Hawthorne Boulevard Project" Bikeportland.org, July 10, 2007

Our Blog

"Hawthorne Blvd Improvement Project Breaks Ground, FINALLY!" August 3, 2006

Milestones

Groundbreaking in August 2006
Project Completed in November 2007

Funding, Implementing Bicycle Safety Improvements

Roland Chlapowski — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 10:57:13 -0800

.After two tragic bicyclist fatalities, Sam took immediate action by convening an ad-hoc Bicycle Safety Committee comprised of members of the Bicycle Advisory Committee, Bicycle Transportation Alliance, Portland Police, the City Attorney's office, freight interests, and others. This group came together to identify the most pressing issues and brainstorm on what could be done both short and long term to improve bicycle safety.

Additionally, Sam made the decision to close the N Greeley-Interstate intersection to right turns until PDOT's traffic safety engineers were able to engineer and implement safety improvements for that intersection. That Interstate-Greeley intersection was the site of of one bicyclist death and, just a couple weeks later, a collision requiring a cyclist to be hospitalized for an extended period.

Sam then went to council and secured $200,000 for bike safety improvements that will go mainly to an innovative new safety treatment called "bike boxes," which help prevent "right-hook" accidents, when automobiles that are turning right hit cyclists, and improvements to the City's fleet of vehicles to add safety equipment that prevents cyclists or pedestrians from getting caught under a vehicle.

Sam continues to work with the Portland Police to amend and update their policies regarding bicycle-auto collisions.

Related Documents

Resolution #1519, with reports included as exhibits

Community Partners

Media Mentions

"Bike crashes will change 'dangerous' intersections around Portland," KGW, November 7, 2007 "City closes an access lane after car and bike collide," The Oregonian, November 7, 2007

Our Blog

Changing Pedestrian Policy to Expand Crosswalks on Main Streets

Roland Chlapowski — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 09:37:35 -0800

Sam and neighborhood leaders unveiled the new crosswalk work to the press.When making decisions about where and whether to place crosswalks, PDOT has until recently only looked at automobile traffic counts to determine whether or not a crossing was worthy at any particular intersection.

This meant, however, that many notable streets, NW 23rd top among them, did not qualify for crosswalks, since there was simply not a high volume of traffic on these roads. But as anyone who has traversed NW 23rd knows, the combination of a small street and a huge number of pedestrians made for both a harried crossing for pedestrians and driving experience for motorists.

Sam felt that the old methodology used to choose which streets would get crosswalks missed the mark because some districts have particularly heavy pedestrian activity, and he that should count for something when choosing where to place crossings.

Sam worked with PDOT safety engineers to come up with a new way to gauge where to put crosswalks that took into account the nature of the street and the overall pedestrian traffic, on top of automobile traffic.

NW 23rd, NW 21st, Mississippi St., and many other streets have all now benefited from this policy change.

Related Documents

PDOT's report on revising crosswalk criteria

Community Partners

Northwest District Association (NWDA)Nobb Hill Business Association

Media Mentions

"Safety Trumps Cost: Crossings get Stripes" Oregonian, April 12, 2007

Our Blog

New Crosswalk Policy Adds to Safety of Main Streets

Milestones

Thursday, April 5, 2007- Crosswalks installed on NW 23rd.

Responding to Bicycle Safety Needs, PUBLIC FORUM ON WEDNESDAY

Roland Chlapowski — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 12:12:41 -0800

THINK BICYCLE SAFETY: All users of the road deserve respect, and all users of the road have responsibilities. When you use the road, think. Be careful. Watch for others. KEEP OUR ROADS SAFE.With the news of yet another severe automobile-bicycle collision that has led to major cyclist injuries on the intersection of N Interstate and N Greeley, we want to the public to know about what we've been doing in our office both in response to these specific tragedies, and to ensure that similar tragedies are prevented at all problem intersections in the future.

Sam Responds on Bicycle Safety

Sam, PDOT, and other stakeholders have already been working diligently on a wide-ranging bicycle safety plan that is a major component in the Safe, Sound, and Green Streets proposal Sam has taken to the public, as well as a central part of the Platinum Bicycle Master Plan, which is currently undergoing a comprehensive update.

But in addition to these projects that were already underway the Office of Transportation, Sam and PDOT have mapped out and taken a series of immediate steps to directly respond to these fatalities. These steps include:

1. Fast-tracking and moving forward with immediate bike safety engineering fixes for SW Burnside and 14th and N Greeley and Interstate.

2. Closing off the right southbound turn onto N Greeley from N Interstate to traffic until permanent safety redesigns are identified and installed.

3. Convening a nearly 25 member stakeholder group with people from the bicycling community, PDOT's safety engineering team, freight haulers, Portland Police Bureau, Multnomah County, bicycle lawyers, and others, who have tackled the bike safety issue from multiple angles.

4. Requesting that Portland City Council immediately fund $200,000 worth of new bike safety improvements.

5. Authorizing and unrolling a new pilot program for "bike boxes" - an innovative bike safety improvement used in many other parts of the world, but not yet in our neck of the woods - which would get bicycles in front of auto traffic at stop lights (instead of next to or to the right of automobiles) and prevent vehicular right turns on red.

At its first meeting, which was on the Friday, October 26, the Bicycle Safety Committee had a very fruitful discussion and its members have done great initial work that includes brainstorming a draft list potential action items that we've attached at the bottom of this post. These items will be considered further by the committee and traffic safety engineers at PDOT to identify the top priority steps we can take and laws/projects we can implement to help improve bicycle safety in the city. (Please see bottom of post for entire DRAFT list of potential responses and solutions to bicycle safety concerns.)

And, we also are well aware that people want to have a forum in which they can bring up concerns, issues, and ideas for moving forward. Following up on our first initial Bicycle Safety Committee meeting (which was made up of a small group of people in order to identify urgent emergency steps that could be implemented immediately) we are convening again with a meeting that will be open to the public.

We are actively soliciting public testimony to hear whatever you have to say about bicycle safety in the city of Portland. Please attend to share your thoughts with Sam and the Bicycle Safety Commitee.

THE BICYCLE SAFETY COMMITTEE WILL MEET NEXT WEDNESDAY EVENING TO TAKE PUBLIC TESTIMONY FROM ALL WHO WANT TO SHARE THEIR THOUGHTS AND IDEAS FOR HOW TO TACKLE THIS ISSUE WITH SAM AND THE COMMITEE.

PUBLIC TESTIMONY - BIKE SAFETY COMMITTEE
7 P.M. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2007
PORTLAND BUILDING, ROOM C . (2ND FLOOR, SW 5TH & JEFFERSON ST.)

All are welcome to attend this meeting to testify to Commissioner Adams and the Bike Safety Committee.

Roger Geller explains PDOT’s position, plans for bike safety improvements

Roland Chlapowski — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 12:02:45 -0800

“PDOT has strongly endorsed the design that enhances separation… similar designs are employed in the world-class cycling cities… whose ridership levels, policies and practices we hope to emulate.”

Originally posted on BikePortland.org by Jonathan Maus (Editor) on November 1st, 2007 at 12:31 pm

In the light of two recent “right-hook” crashes resulting in fatalities, Commissioner Sam Adams and PDOT have recommended a pilot treatment at 14 targeted intersections to create safer conditions for bicycling. People following this issue — motorists and cyclists alike — legitimately have questions about the effectiveness of the proposed design and how we selected the 14 intersections.

Following these crashes, there arose two leading and opposing options for treating intersections. One of these options eliminates the separation of cyclists and motorists as they approach intersections; the other maintains and enhances the separation. PDOT has strongly endorsed the design that enhances separation. Our approach is based on two guiding principles:

To increase bicycle ridership in Portland we need to create comfortable conditions for people to ride. The more people who ride, the better will be conditions for cycling,
Bicycling is safer when awareness and visibility of road users is enhanced and movements are well defined and universally understood.

We are further encouraged in our decision by the fact that similar designs are employed in the world-class cycling cities throughout Europe whose ridership levels, policies and practices we hope to emulate.

Figure 1: Colored Bike Lane/Bike Box
Treatment
All graphics by PDOT
(Click to enlarge)

The design we propose consists of three main elements: a bicycle lane that is colored as it approaches the intersection, a bicycle box at the intersection, and a colored bicycle lane leading away through the intersection (see Figures 1 and 2).

Other elements will include signing that alerts motorists to the presence of the bicycle lane and expected motor vehicle and bicycle movements through the intersection, a prohibition against turning right on a red signal, and, where feasible or considered necessary, flashing warning signing triggered by the presence of a cyclist approaching the intersection.

Figure 2: Advanced Stop Line
without Bike Box
(Click to enlarge)

The primary intent of this design is to increase the visibility of cyclists at the intersections.

We wish to heighten motorist’s awareness to the presence, or potential presence of cyclists. We want to remind motorists to look for cyclists who may be crossing their paths as they proceed through the intersection. The blue lanes approaching and leading away from the intersections are intended to be the primary trigger for this awareness. By coloring blue the approach, and especially the trailing lanes through the intersection, we will send motorists a clear message to expect cyclists moving through the intersection.

“Separation without safety doesn’t serve anybody well.”

This practice of using color to define a cyclist’s path through an intersection is a common design feature in the bicycle-friendly cities of Denmark, The Netherlands, and Germany. It is also common in those countries to keep cyclists to the right of the roadway — in their own designated space-and to the right of right-turning motorists. Why? Because, those countries have determined, through the repeated feedback from their citizens and following decades of experimenting and refining their designs, policies, and approaches to managing traffic, that people riding bicycles want to stay separated from motor vehicles.

[Editor note: Learn more about PDOT’s blue bike lanes, and view a study of their effectiveness here.]

It is this separation that creates comfortable conditions for bicycling. It is this feeling of comfort that serves to encourage more people to bicycle. Creating more cyclists, and having fewer people driving cars, makes bicycling safer.

Of course, separation without safety doesn’t serve anybody well. In this case, safer conditions will be achieved, in part, by clearly and unavoidably making known the presence of cyclists at the approach to and through the intersection. We believe the colored bicycle lanes in Portland, as in Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Muenster, and in bicycle-friendly cities throughout Europe, will encourage motorists to stay out of the bicycle lane when approaching an intersection, and look for cyclists before executing their turn through an intersection.

The bicycle box is a separate but related part of the design and is intended to do two things:

It will allow cyclists to go to the head of the line when the light is red so that they are more visible to queuing motorists and allowed to proceed through the intersection ahead of them,
It will allow the entire queue of cyclists to come up to the head of the line, so that when the signal turns green there are none or few cyclists moving through the bicycle lane to the right of motorists.

Additional signing and flashing lights would reinforce to motorists the idea to expect cyclists. We feel comfortable testing these designs in Portland because of their successful use in Europe.

However, there is another approach that encourages mixing motor vehicle and bicycle traffic when approaching and going through the intersection. This second approach encourages cyclists and motorists to share either the travel lane by dropping the bicycle lane before the intersection, or to share the bicycle lane, by allowing motor vehicles into the bicycle lane in advance of their making a right turn (Figures 3 and 4).

Figure 3: Bike Lanes Drop
(Click to enlarge)

This is an approach based on a “vehicular cycling” model, which suggests that bicycles, as vehicles operating on the roadway, should behave the same as the primary vehicles for which the roadways were designed: automobiles. The benefit of this approach is that it takes cyclists who are going straight through an intersection away from the path of a right-turning motorist. It conforms to standard automobile operating rules, in which a vehicle going straight is always to the left of a vehicle turning right.

We believe there are a few problems with this approach.

The main problem is that vehicular cycling is generally best used by those cyclists who are already the most fit and confident. While knowledge of vehicular cycling and the skills it encourages are beneficial to all cyclists, requiring such behavior at each intersection would not feel comfortable to the vast majority of Portlanders — the very people we are working to attract to bicycling.

Figure 4: Bike Lanes Skipped
to Intersection
(Click to enlarge)

Keep in mind that Dutch cyclists (and motorists) are perhaps the best trained in the world. They are taught throughout elementary school how to ride a bicycle. They generally begin riding a bicycle very young and continue to ride well into old age. Despite this intensity of training, the Dutch have firmly decided that maintaining separation between cyclists and motorists is what creates the most comfortable conditions for bicycling.

The other main problem with this approach is that cyclists and motorists will still cross paths at some point. Either motorists will merge into the bicycle lane (under the California law approach) or cyclists will have to weave across the path of cars (under the dropped bicycle lane approach). In either case, there will still be multiple conflict points. Instead of having one conflict point at the intersection, it is now moved some indeterminate and varied distance back from the intersection. Cyclists can still be in a motorist’s blind spot when the motorist merges to the right.

We believe that inviting motorists into bicycle lanes creates three conditions that will be uncomfortable to most cyclists.

First is the merge itself. It is not clear where this merge will occur and it still allows cyclists to be in a motorist’s blind spot when the motorist moves to the right.

Second is the blocking of the bicycle lane. One of the advantages of having a bicycle lane-the uninterrupted flow for the bicycle-would be eliminated at almost every intersection where there is a line of motorists waiting to turn right.

“We believe that inviting motorists into bicycle lanes creates… conditions that will be uncomfortable to most cyclists.”

Third is the weaving behavior this will encourage of cyclists, who will understandably not be content to stop in a bicycle lane, near the intersection, when the signal is green, and who will instead move left into the travel lane around the right-turning automobiles.

There are places in Portland where we have dropped bicycle lanes before an intersection. We hear many complaints from cyclists where that occurs. We don’t do it to create safe conditions for cyclists. Instead, we drop bicycle lanes in order to better serve motorists at the intersection. Typically dropping the bicycle lane in order to add an additional turn lane.

If Portland is to be successful in attracting the general public to bicycling as a main means of transportation, then we need to create conditions where cyclists both feel comfortable and are safe when operating their bicycles. Dropping bicycle lanes shy of an intersection and encouraging or requiring cyclists to merge left into the travel lane, is not the ticket.

We developed the list of 14 targeted intersections from three primary sources:

Comments received from the cycling public at the June 2006 Portland Bike Summit
Feedback from Portland’s Bicycle Advisory Committee regarding deficiencies in the city’s bikeway system
Feedback from the general public and analysis performed by technical staff as part of the city’s work to define existing conditions for bicycling in Portland as part of the city’s process to update the bicycle master plan.

We have chosen a design approach that we believe will create comfortable conditions for cyclists, improve safety by clarifying what we expect of motorists and cyclists, and continue to encourage increased bicycle use among more of the general public.

We recognize that intersection design alone does not create safe conditions. Appropriate user behavior is crucial to an individual’s safety. Being aware, looking out for others, yielding to others, and operating at slower speeds all help promote safety for all. This is true no less for cyclists than it is for motorists.

Roger Geller
Bicycle Coordinator, City of Portland Office of Transportation
(503) 823-7671