Current and future conditions on NE 148th and Sacramento in front of Margaret Scott Elementary School (lower left).
Like the parents of a child unable to safely use a dangerous toy, the Portland Bureau of Transportation is taking away two of the four general purpose lanes on Northeast 148th Avenue from car drivers. It’s a move any parent can relate to: Behave badly, get privileges taken away.
The street redesign currently under construction will update the striping on a half-mile section of NE 148th — from NE 146th Dr to Halsey. Despite the presence of Margaret Scott Elementary School at the intersection of 148th and Sacramento, PBOT traffic data shows that 86-93% of all drivers are going above the posted 35 mph speed limit. That’s over 5,500 cars per day speeding in front of a neighborhood school.
To make matters worse, the nearest marked crosswalk is a 10-minute walk away from the school.
This lack of safe infrastructure for walking and biking, combined with the selfishness and wanton disregard for other peoples’ safety displayed by so many drivers, gives PBOT all the justification they need for re-allocating road space (without even getting into the fact that our city’s adopted plans call for prioritizing walkers and bikers above car users).
In addition to reducing the number of general purpose lanes from four to two, the project (with funds from the Fixing Our Streets local gas tax) will build a new sidewalk on school grounds, update the bike lanes, and add a striped, median-protected crosswalk.
Existing conditions outside Margaret Scott Elementary School. View is looking southweste from NE 148th toward NE Sacramento.
PBOT photo of new bike lane installation this week.
Graphic: PBOTCurrently this stretch of 148th has standard-width (5-6 feet wide) buffered bike lanes. The new plans will create a much wider buffer zone. The bike lanes will remain paint-only, but the added separation and reduced driving space should lead to much less stressful conditions (and can be hardened in the future).
And because NE Sacramento (which is adjacent to the elementary school where the new sidewalk and crossing will be installed) is a future neighborhood greenway, PBOT will construct a two-way bike lane on the east side of 148th in order to facilitate crossing the off-set intersection. That short section of bike lane on 148th will include plastic curbs and flex-posts for separation.
PBOT says the decrease in driving space will also decrease speeding and the new lane configuration will match the existing, two-lane cross-section north of the project’s boundary on 148th.
On the project website, PBOT says a person walking in east Portland is 2.3 times more likely to be hit by a driver than a person walking in inner Portland. “East Portland’s wide streets have historically prioritized motor vehicle speed above everything else, including safety,” the site states.
This project is currently under construction. This week, PBOT crews had already begun striping the bike lane. Learn more at the project website.
(Note: One element of the project I’m still trying to clarify with PBOT is why the new crossing at Sacramento and 148th is on the north side of the intersection, instead of the south side which would have been directly in front of the school. Old project documents on PBOT’s website show the crossing on the south side, which would have connected it directly to the new sidewalk. I’ve asked PBOT to clarify this change and will update this post when I get a response.)
