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Label:
Transportation
Label:
In planning
To improve safety and keep the Central Eastside moving, PBOT is restriping SE 11th & 12th Ave (Ankeny-Clay) to add a wider shared travel lane for cars, freight and buses alongside new bike lanes.
Construction 2027
Project description
As part of the Central City in Motion plan, PBOT is implementing near-term striping improvements on SE 11th and 12th Avenues between SE Ankeny and SE Clay streets to safely accommodate freight, transit, and neighborhood commuters. By repurposing one travel lane on each avenue, the project will deliver a wider lane for trucks and buses alongside new buffered bike lanes. Because street space is limited, PBOT is currently seeking community feedback to navigate design trade-offs, specifically balancing the addition of dedicated vehicle turn pockets against the preservation of existing on-street parking.
Project Overview
The SE 11th and 12th Avenue couplet is a critical connection to the Lloyd District, Burnside and the Burnside Bridge, and Sandy Blvd to the north, and SE Division, Powell, and Milwaukie Avenue to the south. The couplet is a bridge between the commercial hub of the Central Eastside Industrial District to the west and the Buckman and Hosford-Abernethy residential neighborhoods to the east.
Today, SE 11th and SE 12th feature two travel lanes that Portlanders have reported are difficult to cross and are too narrow to comfortably accommodate the mix of freight vehicles, buses, and people driving on them. Marked crossings and bicycling facilities have long been requested by neighbors.
PBOT has also received a number of requests to improve safety on the corridors, especially SE 12th which has been identified as a high injury segment of Portland's road network. Between 2016 and 2023, there were 11 crashes involving people bicycling, 8 crashes involving people walking, and 5 serious injury crashes reported in the project area.
To deliver safety and mobility benefits while working within current funding constraints, PBOT is rolling out near-term striping and signage improvements. This "quick-build" approach uses paint to reorganize the street in the near-term, setting the stage for the future, hardened infrastructure envisioned in the Central City in Motion plan. The near-term improvements scoped in this project run from SE Ankeny St to SE Clay St and are currently slated for construction in 2027.
What's Changing?
To create a safer streets recognizing they're role as both an industrial corridors and a neighborhood boundaries, PBOT is redesigning the roadway configuration primarily through new striping:
- Wider Travel Lane: A wider single travel lane is being considered on both corridors. This would provide extra space for freight trucks, TriMet buses, and people driving to navigate safely.
- Repurposed Lane: The second travel lane on both SE 11th and SE 12th will be repurposed to both provide space for the wider travel lane and to stripe new directional buffered bike lanes. The new bike facilities will provide a more comfortable, lower-stress route for neighbors and commuters.
- Safer Crossings: Shorter pedestrian crossings will be implemented, making it easier for people walking and rolling to get to and from the neighborhoods and the Central Eastside.
- Setting the Stage for Future Improvements: The striping changes will lay the groundwork for future in-lane bus stops and paving maintenance along the couplet.
Data Collection and Community Feedback
Because street space is limited, accommodating the needs of local businesses, freight, and residents requires careful balancing. We are currently gathering new traffic data (e.g. the number of vehicles and cyclists using the corridor during the day, the number of vehicles turning at key intersections) to inform our design. We are also reaching out to community to gather feedback.
In particular, we are weighing:
- Adding dedicated vehicle turn pockets at busy intersections to improve traffic flow during peak commuting times.
- Preserving existing on-street parking for local businesses and neighborhood residents.
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Project Background
The near-term improvements on SE 11th and 12th Avenues are a direct result of Portland's Central City in Motion (CCIM) plan, a strategic initiative by the Portland Bureau of Transportation to update our transportation network to face increasing multimodal needs.
- Public Outreach: The CCIM plan was shaped by a robust two-year public engagement effort. PBOT analyzed over 7,000 public comments, hosted online open houses with thousands of participants, and held more than 50 meetings with business and neighborhood associations, as well as focus groups with central city residents and stakeholders.
- Identifying the SE 11th & 12th Ave Project: Through this public engagement and a technical analysis of traffic crash data, bike network gaps, and transit delays, the SE 11th and 12th Avenue couplet was prioritized as one of 18 critical projects recommended for implementation. The community and technical advisors specifically identified these avenues as a vital north-south route that needed a redesign to safely accommodate the high volume of freight, buses, and vulnerable road users.
- Adoption: Portland City Council unanimously adopted the Central City in Motion plan on November 15, 2018. This adoption formally directed PBOT to secure funding, design, and implement these recommended improvements.