What's happening now?
September 2024 Update
The project team is advancing designs to 60% and continuing to meet with immediately adjacent businesses and stakeholders.
June 2024 Update
A summary of 2023 public involvement and feedback is now available, and the project team has advanced designs. An updated design concept is available.
The project team is continuing to meet with immediately adjacent businesses and stakeholders.
Sign up for Building a Better 82nd Email Updates
Sign up for email updates
Project overview
For this project, PBOT will rebuild two signals on NE 82nd Avenue where it intersects Glisan and Davis streets. As part of this project, we will also upgrade corner ramps so they comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), add concrete traffic separators and median islands, plant vegetation in the median islands, widen the sidewalk on the east side of 82nd between Glisan and Davis, plant street trees in the sidewalk furnishing zone, and make additional safety improvements near the intersections.
We are rebuilding signals because the equipment is old and because the corner ramps and push buttons don’t meet current ADA standards.
After construction, the Glisan and Davis intersections will be safer, more accessible, and more efficient than before. PBOT will be able to implement advanced signal timing to improve operations. After the construction is done, we will continue to monitor the operations and make any necessary adjustments to ensure the safety of all travelers.
This project is in its early design phase and construction is expected to take two years. Construction is scheduled to start in 2025 and end in 2026.
Project background
Safety history
82nd Avenue has a significant history of serious crashes. It is identified as part of the Vision Zero High Crash Network, a network of the 30 streets with the highest number of crashes in Portland. Six of the city's top-30 high crash intersections are also on 82nd Avenue, including the intersection at Glisan Street.
PBOT reviewed 10 years of crash data (2012-2021) on 82nd Avenue, from NE Glisan to Davis streets, to understand patterns in safety issues. This analysis gave particular attention to incidents involving vulnerable roadway users and those that result in fatalities or serious injuries.
A total of 236 collisions occurred within this study area from 2012 to 2021, which is the most recent period with data available.
Seven of these collisions resulted in eight serious injuries and two deaths. Both of the fatal collisions involved a vehicle and a pedestrian, and both occurred at signalized intersections – one at Glisan and the other at Davis. PBOT found that 86 percent of serious injuries and fatal crashes involved travelers who disregarded their signal.
In 2023, a third fatal collision involved a vehicle and pedestrian using a wheelchair at the intersection of 82nd and Glisan.
The blocks just north and just south of the NE Glisan intersection have a notable pattern of left-turn crashes. Within five years, there were nine such crashes, resulting in a severe injury, a moderate injury, six minor injuries, and a pedestrian injury. The pedestrian was injured while crossing NE 82nd Ave north of NE Glisan. The proposed traffic separators and medians on NE 82nd Avenue will reduce or eliminate the risk of these crashes.
Project timeline
Design will take place in 2023 and 2024 and construction is expected in 2025 and 2026.
Project funding
$4,800,000 from the Federal Highway Administration
$500,000 from the Portland Clean Energy Fund
Public involvement
Upcoming public involvement
Past public involvement
Mailer to adjacent properties and residents regarding design concept online survey
PBOT faces a tight timeline to deliver critical fixes on 82nd Avenue
To meet the construction deadline, PBOT will rely on insights from the extensive community engagement the bureau and other agencies conducted over the past 10 years, including:
- Bureau of Planning & Sustainability 82nd Avenue Corridor Study (1980)
- PBOT 82nd Avenue Roses High Crash Corridor Safety Plan (2008)
- Jade District Visioning Plan (2014)
- Portland City Council Town Hall Visioning Forum on 82nd Ave
- ODOT Avenue of Roses Implementation Plan (2018)
- Bureau of Planning & Sustainability 82nd Avenue Study: Understanding Barriers to Development (2018)
- PBOT 82nd Avenue Plan (2019)
- Connected Centers Plan (2019)
- Metro’s Get Moving Regional Funding Measure (2020)
- Grassroots efforts of groups including the 82nd Avenue Improvement Coalition
Learn more about opportunities for public engagement
About Building a Better 82nd
A critical north-south connection and one of Portland’s high-crash corridors, 82nd Avenue is in urgent need of significant investments to improve safety and address maintenance issues. As of June 2022, ownership of 82nd Avenue transferred from the state to the Portland Bureau of Transportation.
Critical Fixes Now
PBOT is investing $80 million in 82nd Avenue to deliver critical fixes now. The needed basic safety and maintenance repairs to the corridor include paving, crossings, lighting, safety improvements at intersections, and sidewalk improvements.
Future Investments Next
After making the most critical repairs, PBOT will invest $105 million in future investments for a better 82nd Avenue. Over the next two years, PBOT will conduct broad and inclusive community engagement and work directly with community-based organizations and agency partners to determine what the bureau should focus on for improving 82nd Avenue long-term.