N Delaware crossing Rosa Parks Way. (Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
In the coming months there will be a new neighborhood greenway established in north Portland. The project will create a more bicycle-friendly street on a 1.3-mile stretch of North Delaware between Sumner and Terry.
Delaware is already an important north-south street in the bike network, but it’s currently listed on the official city bike map as a “shared roadway” — one step in quality below a neighborhood greenway. Delaware connects the campus of Adidas North American headquarters near Willamette Blvd in the south and crosses important east-west bikeways such as Ainsworth, Rosa Parks, Bryant and Lombard. Delaware also provides direct access to Arbor Lodge Park, Chief Joseph Elementary School, Portland Village School, and Kenton Park.
To make it safer and more welcoming for bicycle riders, the Portland Bureau of Transportation announced in an email to nearby residents earlier this month they plan to begin construction at the end of March.
Carfree block of N Delaware between Saratoga and Bryant where there’s a school on one side and park on the other.
Project circled in red and shown as “Tier 1” recommendation in North Portland in Motion plan.
Details from PBOT’s North Portland in Motion Plan.The plan calls for:
19 new speed bumps,green crossbike striping at N Killingsworth,green bike boxes at N Rosa Parks (along with parking removal at the corners and a ban on right turns during red signals),and sharrow pavement markings, new wayfinding signage, intersection daylighting, and turned stop signs along the entire route.Changes at Rosa Parks Way will be especially welcome. This intersection was the site of a very serious injury collision in 2016 that left a man paralyzed. It is also a busy cycling route for families coming and going to Chief Joseph Elementary School who want to use the existing protected bike lanes on Rosa Parks.
A few blocks north of Rosa Parks, between Saratoga and Bryant (an existing neighborhood greenway), PBOT has already made Delaware a carfree street. This section is between an elementary school and a park and is a safe place for kids and their families to play! In 2015, volunteers erected a covered bike parking area in the street.
Delaware emerged as a “Tier 1” recommendation during PBOT’s North Portland in Motion planning process.
Also of note in this project is PBOT’s decision to not address the problematic crossing at Lombard. You’ll recall that the Oregon Department of Transportation completed a major bikeway project on Lombard in 2022, but they downgraded the bike crossing at Delaware. PBOT is aware of the issue, but says they don’t have enough funding to make changes at this time.
Learn more about this project on PBOT’s website.
