Current conditions on 122nd Avenue. Photos by the Portland Bureau of Transportation.
(Dec. 14, 2018) Anyone who has traveled on 122nd Avenue will tell you that it can make getting from place to place difficult and stressful. Most of the street is five lanes. The on-street parking and narrow bike lanes drop off to become turn lanes at the street’s major intersection. The sidewalks are often narrow and substandard. Most of the crosswalks need to be updated. Buses can be slow, delayed in traffic and late. In short, it’s time to fix 122nd Avenue.
The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) is developing a plan to make 122nd Avenue better. With the help of the public, PBOT is identifying projects to be built in 2020. Potential changes include safety improvements, more lighting, crossings, improved bike lanes, bus lanes, signal changes and more to help meet our safety and accessibility goals. A portion of the funding for 122nd Avenue comes from Fixing Our Streets, which will provide $2M for the design and construction of safety and access improvements focused on the following goals:
- Increase safety for all, improve pedestrian & bicycle access and support better transit while balancing needs of freight & other modes.
- Identify improvements to help eliminate serious injuries and fatalities and remove 122nd Ave from the High Crash Corridor network.
Potential future street designs for 122nd Avenue. Courtesy of the Portland Bureau of Transportation.
In hopes of gathering input from as many people as possible, the bureau has published an online survey for people to provide their feedback. This survey asks the same questions posed at a recent open house and other recent in-person meetings. The project team will combine the online and paper survey results. The online survey is open through Jan. 6, 2019.
Survey takers will be asked to give feedback on street design options for further study, locations and priorities for enhanced crosswalks and near-term improvements for construction in 2020. The survey is available in 6 languages: English, Español (Spanish), Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese), русский (Russian), Soomaali (Somali) and lea faka-Tonga (Tongan). Click here to take the survey and tell us what you think needs to be done to make 122nd Avenue safer for all.
Learn more about the plan at: www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation/122ndAve
Click here to sign up for email updates about 122nd Avenue.
About the Fixing Our Streets Program
The Fixing Our Streets program is the result of the passage of Measure 26-173, a 10-cent tax on motor vehicle fuels and Portland’s first local funding source dedicated to street repair and traffic safety projects. Passed on May 17, 2016, Measure 26-173 will raise an estimated $64 million over four years. PBOT will invest this money in a wide variety of street improvement and safety projects across the entire city. Fixing Our Streets will help PBOT expand preventive street maintenance that saves money and prevents potholes. It will support our work to make it safer for children to walk to school. It will allow us to build more sidewalks, traffic signals, street lights and bike lanes. The Portland City Council also unanimously passed a Heavy Vehicle Use Tax, for vehicles weighing more than 26,000 pounds, which will also fund the Fixing Our Streets program.