The City of Portland Bureau of Transportation will be testing several NEW TYPES OF BIKE LANES downtown this August in an effort to make Portlanders more comfortable riding downtown on a bicycle, whatever their skill level. The new “BUFFERED BIKE LANE” or “enhanced bike lane” project will be implemented on SW Oak and SW Stark streets from Burnside (at 13th and 10th respectively) to Naito Parkway. PBOT will remove an existing motor vehicle lane in order to create a wide, bike-only lane. Once complete, cyclists will enjoy 10 feet of biking space all to themselves. There will be a six-foot wide bike lane with an additional two-feet of “shy zone” on either side (hence the term “buffered”). Since there are relatively low traffic volumes on these streets, the removal of a travel lane shouldn’t inhibit traffic flow. Also mentioned last month is the CYCLETRACK coming to Portland State University at SW Broadway between Clay and Jackson Streets. The 7-foot bikeway with a 3-foot “shy zone” will be next to the curb and to the right of the 8-foot parking lane. Traffic is also under capacity here so removal of a travel lane shouldn’t impede motor traffic.
Here is an update on the OREGON CITY BRIDGE CLOSURE. As reported earlier, the bridge linking Oregon City and West Linn will be closed for two years for rehabilitation starting in January, 2010. The contract will go out for bids in August. Many commuting and recreational cyclists use this bridge on a regular basis. Although motorists can detour over the Abernethy Bridge on I-205, this is not a legal option for cyclists. There are plans to run shuttle buses for bikes and pedestrians but this is not a viable option for a group. I attended a recent Open House in West Linn but there was no satisfactory solution for cyclists. If you use this bridge, you can check out the web site, www.archbridgerehab.com. You can also contact Rick Keene, the ODOT project leader at Rick.K.Keene@odot.state.or.us. Some ideas are having an incentive contract where the contractor would be rewarded for every day the project finishes early. Or using double shifts to put more workers to work and finish the project sooner . Another idea would be letting cyclists use the shoulder of I-205 crossing the Abernethy Bridge. This has been done before. When TriMet and Bechtel built the Airport MAX, completed in 2001, they had to close the I-205 bike path near Gateway. They let cyclists use the shoulder of I-205, separating the shoulder from the rest of the highway with jersey barriers. This seemed to work fine for all cyclists, not just confident ones. I remember seeing families using this detour. Why couldn't they use this same system as an alternative to the Oregon City Bridge? My understanding is that some cyclists would be using the shoulder anyway (illegally) and the physical separation would make it much safer. ODOT is going to resurface the I-205 Bridge before the Oregon City bridge construction begins so maybe this idea could be incorporated.