148th Avenue Safety & Transit Access Project (NE Halsey St to SE Powell Blvd)

Transportation

In Planning

The 148th Avenue Project will address major deficiencies and improve comfort and access for people walking, biking, and taking transit along and across the corridor.

Project planning in Spring and Summer 2025. Construction expected in 2028-2029.

PBOT was recently awarded $7.1 million from Metro to fund safety improvements to 148^th Avenue and PBOT staff are starting project development and design. The 148th Avenue Project will add eight new crossings and improve comfort and access for people walking, biking, and taking transit along and across the corridor. Improvements also prepare the street for planned TriMet bus service coming in 2025.

Stay tuned for ways to get involved and provide comments on the future of 148th Avenue this summer. Construction is expected to occur 2028-2029.

We want to hear from you!

We are currently conducting a survey to gather feedback on proposed crossing locations and preliminary designs! This feedback is crucial for refining the project and making sure it aligns with community needs and goals.

Take the 148th Avenue Crossing Project Survey

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Project Overview

New crossings are coming to 148th Avenue! Between NE Glisan and SE Powell on 148th, PBOT will be adding eight (8) new pedestrian crossings to improve pedestrian, bicycle, and transit access along the corridor. Improvements also prepare the street for planned TriMet bus service and improve access to the MAX station at SE 148^th Avenue and E Burnside Street. By providing more points for all road users to cross the street it also makes the corridor safer. The intersections of SE 148^th Avenue and SE Stark and SE Powell Boulevard have been identified as top 30 High Crash Intersections.

New crossings are planned at:

NE Couch
Midblock between E Burnside and SE Stark
SE Alder
SE Taylor
SE Market
SE Lincoln
SE Grant
SE Clinton

Project Context and Background:

148^th Avenue between NE Halsey Avenue and SE Powell Boulevard moves through a part of the city with high equity needs and helps connect the Rosewood/Glenfair and Division Neighborhood Centers. Improvements to 148^th have been identified in both the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) and Portland Transportation System Plan (TSP). Despite being identified as a Major City Bikeway and Major City Walkway in the TSP, the corridor has substandard bike facilities, missing segments of sidewalk, ADA ramp deficiencies and a lack of crossing opportunities. The project has public support from community partners such as East Portland Action Plan and The Rosewood Initiative.

Why are we doing this project?

148th Avenue is one of Portland’s most dangerous streets. It’s part of a “High Injury Corridor” identified by Metro, with major intersections—like Division, Burnside, Stark, and Powell—seeing frequent serious and fatal crashes. Since 2010, nine people have died traveling on 148th, including pedestrians and a person biking.

The street has outdated infrastructure: unsafe crossings, poor bike lanes, wide intersections, and missing ADA ramps. This project will make it safer for people walking, biking, and taking transit—goals supported by Portland’s Transportation System Plan and community feedback. It won’t affect driving, but there will be some changes to on-street parking.

What about potholes?

This project is funded by a Metro grant specifically for safety upgrades—not for repaving. PBOT regularly applies for these federal dollars to improve high-crash streets. Unfortunately, funds for fixing potholes are separate, very limited, and stretched thin since the pandemic.

We wish we could repave 148^th Ave too, but those funds aren’t available. Still, we’re moving forward to address urgent safety needs—especially for kids getting to school—while the funding is here.

Project Details:

The 148^th Avenue Project will address major deficiencies and improve comfort and access for people walking, biking, and taking transit along and across the corridor. The project plans to add buffered or protected bike lanes between SE Powell Boulevard and NE Halsey Street, with some parking maintained on one side of the street. It will also construct enhanced crossings with median islands at NE Couch, a midblock crossing between E Burnside & SE Stark, SE Alder, SE Taylor, SE Market, SE Lincoln, and SE Grant and SE Clinton St. Necessary signal modifications will be made at SE Mill and SE Grant. These comprehensive improvements will tie into several other funded projects: a neighborhood greenway project that will cross SE 148^th Avenue and SE Mill Street, a recently constructed protected intersection at SE 148^th and SE Division Street, and a funded protected intersection at the intersection of SE 148^th and SE Stark Street, as well as funded improvements at SE 148^th Avenue and SE Powell Boulevard. Sidewalk will be added to tie into existing sidewalk at proposed crossing locations, and improvements to prepare for transit service will be incorporated in coordination with TriMet.