(July 9, 2015) Pedestrian crossing improvements are coming soon to the Lloyd District near the Holladay Park Plaza Retirement Community!

PBOT is improving NE 15th and 16th avenues by:

• Adding a new marked crosswalk and median near the retirement community.

• Creating expanded, buffered bike lanes along the entire corridor.

• Reducing two lanes to one lane, in each direction, with no traffic impact.

• Improving connectivity within the neighborhood and to the rest of the city.

This project will construct crossing improvements across NE 15^th/16^th Avenue in the superblock between Halsey and Multnomah Streets. This project was initiated and is funded by Go Lloyd using a portion of parking meter revenue returned to the neighborhood.

The initial concept called for the installation of a marked crosswalk supplemented with rectangular rapid flashing beacons (RRFB). The flashing safety beacons were originally necessary due to the visibility limitations stemming from the curvature of the roadway and the need for pedestrians to cross two lanes of traffic (known as a double threat), rather than the actual speed and volume of traffic on the roadway.

When the flashing beacon option proved too costly, PBOT proposed the less expensive alternative of removing one travel lane in each direction to eliminate the need for beacons. The lane reduction alternative carried the added benefit of providing a safe crossing along the entire corridor regardless of where pedestrians choose to cross due to the elimination of the double threat risk.

Traffic impacts are expected to be minimal because the street has low traffic sufficient for one lane in each direction.  The restriping of the roadway to accommodate the pedestrian crossing will also provide wide buffered bike lanes. The current bike lane is five-feet wide and the new bike lanes will increase to seven-feet with a five-foot hatched buffer.

For questions regarding this project please contact:

Chris Armes, Project Manager

chris.armes@portlandoregon.gov

503.823.7051