What’s happening now?
Improvements on Hawthorne and Madison from Grand to 12th avenue are complete.
Designs for the Hawthorne Viaduct portion of the project are being finalized, and anticipated to be in construction Summer 2022.
FEBRUARY 2022
The Portland Bureau of Transportation has updated the speed limit on SE Hawthorne Boulevard. The speed limit is now 20 mph starting at Grand Avenue and continuing east for the length of the street. We will soon be updating our citywide map of speed limits to show this new speed limit.
The reduced speed limit supports the City of Portland’s Vision Zero goal to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries. Speed is a factor in nearly half of deadly crashes that occur in Portland. Lower speeds result in fewer crashes. When crashes occur, lower speeds make it more likely that people will survive.
To learn more, visit: https://www.portland.gov/transportation/vision-zero/speed-limits
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Project Design
SE Hawthorne Boulevard and Madison Street are key connections for Portland’s Central City, linking the Central Eastside and downtown. In addition to their important transportation functions, these streets are also home to dozens of local businesses. Both serve as connections to the Hawthorne Bridge and SE Hawthorne Boulevard is a high crash corridor. From 2013 to 2017 there were 135 crashes on SE Hawthorne Boulevard between the Hawthorne Bridge and SE 12th Avenue that resulted in injury. Four of these crashes involved a pedestrian, 32 crashes involved a people on bikes, and 99 were crashes involving people in vehicles.
Implementing recommendations from the Central City in Motion plan adopted by City Council in 2018, the project improves safety by upgrading pedestrian crossings and bike lanes. PBOT will also add a new bus and turn (BAT) lane on SE Hawthorne Boulevard and upgrade the existing bus lane on SE Madison Street as part of the Rose Lane Project. The Rose Lane improvements will benefit the 17,461 people who ride Line 2, 10 and 14 into and out of the central city.
The new street will support dynamic needs throughout the day. Two eastbound lanes on Hawthorne will be available during the afternoon rush from 2 to 7 p.m. At all other times, the northernmost eastbound lane will be available for parking and loading.
The project design provides more space for people bicycling and reduces potential conflict between buses, cars, pedestrians and bikes. A new eastbound protected bike lane will separate people biking from other vehicles. This will improve safety for all roadway users in this High Crash Corridor. Protected bike lanes have been shown to reduce crashes by 40%.
The project will also bring safety improvements to the intersection of SE Hawthorne Boulevard at SE 7th Avenue, where the volumes of people bicycling combined with the many right turning vehicles have contributed to a history of collisions between people driving and bicycling. The new design will utilize a new traffic signal to separate right turns onto SE 7th Avenue from through-moving pedestrian and bicycle traffic to remove the risk of right hook collisions for people walking and biking.
The new design will also prohibit right turns from Hawthorne to 6th and from Madison to 6th, reducing the potential for a collision between right-turning vehicles and through-moving buses, pedestrians, and bicyclists.
Upgraded crosswalks and parking setbacks in key areas throughout the corridor will improve safety and visibility of pedestrians.
How does parking work?
On SE Hawthorne Boulevard, parking is available on the south side of the street between the bike lane and the travel lane. A similar design was first implemented on SW Broadway next to PSU campus in 2009. Since then, PBOT has installed many parking protected bike lanes such as those on NW Broadway, SE Foster Road and N Rosa Parks Way.
When parking, park parallel to the white posts in marked spaces. Follow all posted parking restrictions.
On the north side of SE Hawthorne Boulevard, parking and loading zones will be available all hours of the day, except 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Friday. During the afternoon rush, parking will be prohibited. This design will allow for an additional travel lane for eastbound traffic when it is most needed from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.
To provide the space for the new full-time bus and turn lane, parking on the north side of SE Madison street was be removed. Parking is available on the south side of SE Madison between SE 11th and 6th avenues all hours of the day except 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. This design will allow for an additional travel lane for westbound traffic when it is most needed during the morning and evening rush.
PBOT has installed two transit platforms to improve bus rider loading and unloading and reduce bus-bike conflicts on SE Hawthorne Boulevard. One was installed on the south side of Hawthorne, west of SE 6th Avenue, and a second was installed on the south side of Hawthorne west of SE 12th Avenue.
SE Hawthorne and Madison Multimodal Improvements project is one of two projects taking place along SE Hawthorne in 2021. The Hawthorne Pave & Paint project is also currently under construction between 24th and 50th avenues.
Map showing where improvements are coming to SE Hawthorne Boulevard this year. Hawthorne and Madison Multimodal Improvements project, between the Hawthorne Bridge and 12th Avenue (solid blue line to the left) will upgrade pedestrian crossings, bike lanes, and bus lanes. The Hawthorne Pave & Paint project, between 24th and 50th avenues (solid orange line to the right), including 180 ADA-compliant curb ramps, repaving, and restriping to new lane configuration.
Planning Documents
(Note: The following documents have maps and information that may not work with a screen reader. While we work toward providing that level of accessibility, please contact PBOT Project Manager Briana Orr at briana.orr@portlandoregon.gov for assistance with providing access to the information in the plan. You can also contact PBOT’s ADA Coordinator at Lisa.Strader@portlandoregon.gov or at 503-823-5703. Thank you for your patience and understanding.)
Public Involvement
Upcoming Events
No upcoming events.
Past events
2020 CCIM Open Houses
- Wednesday, March 4
- Tuesday, February 18 from 4 to 6 p.m.
- Wednesday, February 26 from 5 to 7 p.m.
Project Funding
$1.1 million from Metro’s Regional Flexible Fund