VIDEO: See Before & After images of some major safety improvements built for the 20s Bikeway -- making it safer for everyone to walk or bike

The 20s Bikeway provides a major new link in Portland’s bikeway network. The 9.1 mile long route spans the length of the city, from the Springwater Corridor at the southern edge to NE Lombard St at the north end, going through many the neighborhoods with among the highest rates of bicycle commuting in the United States. After about a year of construction, it was substantially completed in August 2017.

The importance of this route starts with its north-south orientation. Most of the bicycle network is currently oriented in an east-west direction, where it can use a dense and continuous network of local streets. Portland’s north-south street network is more difficult to traverse on bike: the streets are often interrupted by dead ends and dogleg routes, there are major barriers with few places to cross, such Interstate 84, and because there are more busy arterial streets to cross. The 20s Bikeway provides a seamless, low-stress cycling path through these obstacles that serves a broad range of cyclists.

The new route connects to a large number of neighborhoods and destinations. More than 35,000 residents, including 5,500 school-aged children, live within a quarter mile of the route. It travels through 13 neighborhoods and six commercial districts, and provides access to 14 parks and 12 schools. Along the way, it intersects with 14 existing east-west bikeways and six more that are planned.

To make the route an enjoyable bicycling experience for people of all ages and abilities, the project used a broad range of roadway improvements to ensure safety and convenience for the public. It improved 17 crossings of busy arterial streets, with benefits for people walking and biking. More than two-thirds of the route uses low-traffic volume and low-traffic speed residential streets that have been calmed to the latest Portland standards for neighborhood greenways. The other third of the route uses neighborhood collector streets that have been upgraded with bike lanes, most with buffered bike lanes and several segments with protected bike lanes.

Design and construction of the project was funded through a $2.1 million grant from Metro. The grant was administered by the Oregon Department of Transportation. In addition, it was funded by $2.4 million of Transportation System Development Charges, which are one-time fees paid by new development to help fund the cost of capital improvements to serve a growing population.

For additional information, please contact Rich Newlands, Project Manager, (503) 823-7780.