There’s been a great deal of social media chatter focused on what’s happening with Skidmore Street around Wilshire Park. To bring answers to circling questions, we’re providing some important news for auto and park users, walkers, rollers, and strollers in our neighborhood.
The City of Portland’s NE Mason/Skidmore Neighborhood Greenway will be a new east-west major bikeway. Three projects will complete improvements for portions of the bikeway in Beaumont-Wilshire.
One project is along NE Skidmore Street from NE 37th to 47th Avenue and NE Mason Street from NE 47th to 77th avenues, see image below. The bikeway is being improved as a Neighborhood Greenway.
Neighborhood greenways are low-traffic, low-speed streets where the roadway is shared with vehicles, people walking, bicycling, and rolling. Project elements include speed bumps, pavement markings (sharrows), and signage. Construction of the project is planned for 2024.
There are two separate bikeway improvement projects planned around Wilshire Park:
NE Skidmore Street Corridor Safety Project: This portion of the project includes bikeway improvements on NE Skidmore Street between 33rd and 37th avenues. Planned improvements include a protected bikeway–called a cycle track–that would move existing parking away from the curb and reduce the travel lanes on NE Skidmore from two 12-foot lanes to one 14-foot lane and require oncoming traffic to pull over to let traffic pass, similar to other neighborhood streets, see Image A below. While parking will be retained on both sides of Skidmore, 20 to 25 parking spots will be removed at intersections to provide clear crossing for pedestrians coming from the north side of Skidmore to the park. Construction for this project is scheduled for this summer.
NE 33rd Avenue and NE Mason Improvements Project: As part of a NE 33rd paving project, bikeway improvements will be made between NE Mason and NE Skidmore. They include removing parking, upgrades to the signalized crossing at NE Mason Street to make it easier for people walking and biking to access Wilshire Park and NE Skidmore Street, and a new two-way, physically protected bike lane on 33rd between NE Mason and Skidmore streets, see Image B below. This will eliminate cyclists rolling across 33rd and onto the sidewalk adjacent to Wilshire Park. This project is tentatively scheduled for summer 2023.
Background
In August 2022, Portland Bureau of Transportation provided BWNA with two options for improvements on NE Skidmore between 33rd and 37th and requested feedback. One option was a greenway concept, with bikes and vehicles sharing the road and diverters added to reduce the daily volume of traffic. The second option was a cycle track design, with a two-way dedicated bike lane between the curb and parked cars along NE Skidmore. BWNA conveyed feedback heard at its August 2022 meeting, which included a preference for maintaining parking for the park, reducing speeds on Skidmore Street, and maintaining curbside parking along the park. PBOT initially indicated it would review the feedback and come back with options, allowing BWNA to vote on its preferred option. PBOT recently reported to BWNA that it does not have sufficient budget to develop multiple options.
Update and Feedback from February General Meeting
At the BWNA general meeting on Feb. 13, PBOT representative Scott Cohen provided an update on the proposed projects in our area and sought questions and feedback from attendees.
Feedback heard at the meeting included support for improved bikeways; one comment was from a child who described how much he enjoys riding his bike to school. Concerns were raised about poor ADA access to the park and the safety of children and the physically impaired arriving by car and having to step either into a narrowed travel lane or into a bike lane. Cohen reiterated there will be a two-foot buffer between parking and bike lanes, as well as the possibility of adding a disabled parking spot near the park entrance.
Concerns regarding plastic “candle sticks” within the buffer strip were also raised. Cohen said they will not be too closely spaced, so passengers can safely exit from the park side of a vehicle.
One resident commented he would like to see traffic diverted, while others were happy to see that option removed. Another commented that they would like to see the bike lanes widened.
The Wilshire Little League shared earlier that it’s highest parking demands are for weekend games.
There was a suggestion to maintain parking at “T” intersections, encouraging pedestrians to cross at the main park entrance on NE 36th. Lastly, concern was expressed that excess speed on Skidmore will continue to be an issue, and speed bumps were requested. Cohen conveyed that the narrowed travel lane has proven to be an effective way to reduce speed, and speed bumps are expensive.
It is unclear whether the feedback will result in any adjustments to the plans.
For more project information:
portland.gov/transportation/pbot-projects/images/ne-33rd-avenue-and-ne-mason-improvements
portland.gov/transportation/pbot-projects/ne-skidmore-33rd-37th-project
portland.gov/transportation/pbot-projects/construction/mason-skidmore-neighborhood-greenway-project