Challenge

Biking through downtown Portland used to mean navigating between buses, turning vehicles, freight traffic, and some of the busiest streets in the city. To improve safety and visibility of people who bike in the area, the Portland Central City in Motion Plan identified SW 4th Avenue as a key link for a new and improved bike network.

Solution

Kittelson partnered with the City of Portland to complete the northbound half of a new protected bicycle couplet in the heart of downtown. This couplet transformed the street into a corridor that better serves everyone—‍pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, and drivers. By repurposing an existing vehicle lane, the project created a left-running, parking-protected bicycle lane that extends from I-405 at SW Caruthers Street to Burnside Street. The project also made American with Disability Act (ADA) and pavement improvements, signal upgrades, new stormwater facilities, and pedestrian safety enhancements to the corridor.

One of the unique items of this project was the left-running, parking-protected bike lane. When our team began the project, it was determined that a right-running bike lane was not preferred due to the high number of vehicles that need to turn right to access the bridges crossing the Willamette River. The team went back to basics by applying the core principles of right-running bicycle lanes and then adapting them to a left-running one. We implemented features like actuated flashers at lower volume left turns, bicycle signals at left-turns with an exclusive left-turn lane, and leading bicycle and pedestrian intervals. The signals are timed so that people who bike and drive can progress along the corridor without stopping.

The City of Portland and consultant design team worked closely with the contractor to implement traffic control throughout the duration of the project that directed travelers safely around construction activities and preserved their access to local businesses and transit services. We also coordinated with the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) to implement temporary operational changes at the I-405 ramp system, which allowed for longer work windows on SW 4th Avenue for concrete paving that requires longer curing times. Together, these tactics reduced the total duration of disruptions experienced by the public and supported worker safety by providing windows of work where the street was closed to all traffic.