County rendering of new design coming to Hawthorne Bridge offramp (SW Main) approaching SW 1st.
Two annoying sections of the very popular Hawthorne Bridge bikeway will get significant changes thanks to a project set to begin this spring.
At their meeting yesterday, Portland City Council passed an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) between the Portland Bureau of Transportation and Multnomah County, giving them a green light to break ground and complete a major bridge maintenance project. The County owns and operates the Hawthorne Bridge, and they plan to spend $9.5 million on a paving and repair project. The IGA passed Wednesday allows Portland to pay the County $220,00 to build two key bits of infrastructure that will have a big impact your bicycling experience over the bridge.
Currently as you ride westbound into downtown from the Hawthorne, bike riders transition from the sidewalk path onto the street-level bike lane just after the off-ramp to Waterfront Park. According to PBOT, the County will widen the westbound sidewalk all the way SW 1st Avenue, creating a shared pedestrian and bicycling space. PBOT plans and County design renderings shared with BikePortland (see below) show an 11-foot path split evenly between a green-colored bikeway and a sidewalk.
Westbound approaching SW 1st (Source: PBOT)
Eastbound bus island. (Source: PBOT)
County rendering of bus island.The County refers to the design as a “bicycle slip ramp.” The new raised bike lane will be five-feet wide, separated from a five-foot wide sidewalk. There will be a one-foot wide yellow stripe between them. The raised bike lane will return back to street level at the bike box at SW 1st.
The other change will be on the eastbound side on the viaduct. Currently, there’s a TriMet bus stop just after you pass over Water Avenue that requires the bus operator to drive over the bike lane to service the stop. According to PBOT, the County will build a new bus island at this location that will allow the bus operator to pick riders up without weaving across the bike lane. PBOT’s plan drawings show that the bike lane will be colored green and will go up onto the island, behind a bus waiting area. Bicycle users and bus riders will need to use caution and treat each other with respect to minimize the risk of collisions or dangerous passes.
The County expects to break ground on this project in spring and it should be completed before the end of summer. Seet plan the plan drawings to get more details and stay tuned for updates.
