NE Glisan Paving and Safety Project

What's Happening Now 

[Updated October 14, 2026]

Crossing island construction expected to begin October 23rd

The final part of the project, construction of new or upgraded pedestrian crossing islands at NE 84th, 87th and 90th Avenues, will begin in late October and extend into November 2026. 

Grind and pave work on NE Glisan Street between NE 82nd and 92nd avenues was completed on September 8.

Previous work 

August - September 2026:

Crews repaved NE Glisan Street between NE 82nd and 91st avenues, then restriped Glisan between NE 81st and 93rd avenues with updated lane markings.

February - June 2026: 

View full size image of Two newly constructed concrete corners on the south side of NE Glisan Street

PBOT crews built 28 new curb ramps and upgraded existing ones to meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards. This work took place in advance of the Glisan street paving, striping, and crossing improvements. By federal law, PBOT is required to bring curb ramps up to ADA standards whenever a road is resurfaced.

Watch this short video about how PBOT crews construct an ADA-compliant ramp.

A contractor hired by the Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) constructed two new stormwater filtration systems along NE Glisan Street at 91st and 92nd avenues. Work was completed by the end of June. More information about this work is available on their website. 

August - December 2025: 

Initial and updated design concepts were shared with community members and neighborhood stakeholders. Design phase began.

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Project overview & design

In summer 2026, PBOT will repave NE Glisan Street from NE 82nd to 92nd avenues as part of our ongoing commitment to maintaining our transportation system. Repaving streets creates an opportunity to consider safety improvements and how street space is used. By converting the off-peak parking/travel lanes to buffered bike lanes and installing crossing improvements, this project will enhance access for people walking, biking, and accessing transit on this high crash corridor where 356 crashes took place over a 10-year period. Project design began in summer 2025 and was completed in January 2026.

Project details

Paving

• Repave NE Glisan Street between NE 82nd and 92nd avenues

Stormwater improvements (in partnership with the Bureau of Environmental Services)

• Ahead of paving, repair and build sediment/sump systems near NE Glisan Street at NE 91st and 92nd avenues to help prevent sewer and stormwater overflows to homes, businesses, and streets. 

Pedestrian improvements

• Ahead of paving, update or construct new corner ramps to meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards (Work begins spring 2026)
• Construct two new pedestrian crossings with concrete median islands at NE 84th and 90th avenues
• Enhance existing crossing at the NE 87th Avenue neighborhood greenway (see diagram below) 

New travel lane configurations / Bicycle improvements

• Convert off-peak parking travel lanes to buffered bike lanes on NE Glisan Street from NE 81st to 93rd avenues, with bike lanes transitioning to "right turn except bus/bike" lanes approaching NE 82nd Avenue

Construction will take place intermittently over the course of six months.

Enhanced crossing at NE 87th Avenue will prohibit left turns for north- and westbound drivers

Of the 365 crashes that took place on NE Glisan Street between NE 80th Avenue and the I-205 on-ramp, 7% occurred at the intersection of NE 87th and Glisan. The new extended median at the NE 87th Avenue greenway crossing will improve safety, visibility, and comfort for people walking and biking. 

Extending the concrete median will prohibit motor vehicle turning movements for northbound drivers traveling from NE 87th onto Glisan Street, and westbound drivers traveling from NE Glisan Street onto 87th Avenue. 

View full size image of Left turns will be prohibited at NE 87th Avenue for north and westbound drivers.

View full size image of Colorful map highlight project amenities and new crossing locations.

Design concept map

NE Glisan Paving and Safety Project 30% Design Concept Map 3.17 MB

Prioritizing Safety 

This portion of NE Glisan St is on the High Crash Network and a high priority in the Vision Zero Action Plan, with a demonstrated history of fatal and serious injury crashes as well as a high number of roadway departure crashes. There is a major gap in the east-west bicycle network in this area, and the crossing at 87th Ave for the 80s Neighborhood Greenway is deficient and in need of an upgrade. The peak-hour travel lanes that allow off-peak parking have resulted in unnecessary extra roadway capacity for decades due to very low parking occupancy, and has led to high speeds and risky passing behavior. This project was identified in the East Portland Arterial Streets Strategy and the Building a Better 82nd Ave Plan as a priority, and was the subject of a recent successful RFFA grant application. The repaving work on this segment presents an opportunity to improve safety and multimodal access. 

Our Vision Zero team analyzed crash trends for crashes that happened on NE Glisan Street from 80^th and the I-205 ramp between 2014 and 2023. There were 356 crashes, 196 of those crashes led to injuries. There were 832 people involved in those crashes, 296 of those people were injured. 

There were, on average, three crashes every month on this 0.75-mile stretch of NE Glisan Street.

• There were four deadly crashes killing four people
  • Two of those people were pedestrians, one was riding a motorcycle, and one was in a vehicle
• There were 12 serious injury crashes that seriously injured 16 people
  • Ten of the crashes only involved people in vehicles and seriously injured 13 people
  • Two of the crashes were pedestrian crashes and seriously injured two pedestrians and a motorcycle rider
• There were eight pedestrian crashes and two bike crashes

Speed crashes led to more severe outcomes. Only five percent of crashes were speed related but speed related crashes accounted for 38 percent of deadly and serious injury crashes. 

NE Glisan Street at 87th Avenue is where seven percent of crashes happened, including a deadly crash and a serious injury crash. The fatal crash involved a motorcycle driving too fast and overturning. The serious injury crash involved a pedestrian who was hit while crossing at the marked crosswalk. 

Relating to the scope of this project, there were eight deadly and serious injury crashes spread out along the half-mile segment between 83rd Avenue and 92nd Place. 

Project timeline

Design: Completed -- 2025
ADA ramp construction and stormwater improvements: Completed -- February - July 2026
Grind & pave road surface: Completed - August - September 2026
Construct new crossing islands: Late October - December 2026

More detailed paving dates for NE Glisan Street and other locations will soon be available at portland.gov/pavement.

Project funding

$750,000 from Fixing our Streets

Public involvement 

Latest notifications

NE Glisan Street Paving Notification Letter (mailed August 2026)

Paving & Safety Improvements Postcard (mailed May 2026)

Completed outreach (Fall 2025)

• Mailers to residents and property owners within the project area
• One-on-one meetings with business and property owners within the project area
• Business canvassing and follow-up correspondence

Additional outreach:

PBOT’s Vision Zero Action Plan has long highlighted NE Glisan Street as a High Crash Network Street, and subsequent analysis has shown this to be a particularly high-crash segment of the roadway. In 2021, PBOT developed the East Portland Arterial Streets Strategy (EPASS), which included recommendations for roadway design changes east of 82nd Avenue. This included a recommendation for NE Glisan Street east of 87th Avenue to be reduced to one general-purpose travel lane in each direction, a center turn lane, and bike lanes in each direction.  

In more recent years, through the Building a Better 82nd Avenue planning process and outreach, PBOT heard strong interest from the public in extending that cross-section further west, from 87th Ave to 80th Ave, to extend the safety benefits through one of the highest-crash areas, and to provide a badly-needed east-west link in the bicycle network in the area. There was also a strong desire for more pedestrian crossings and improvements to existing crossings. These recommendations were incorporated into the final plan adopted in 2024, and were the subject of a successful RFFA grant application for improvements from 80th Ave to 102nd Ave, scheduled for construction in roughly 2030. When a segment of NE Glisan St from 82nd Ave to 92nd Ave was scheduled for repaving and corner ramp work in 2026, PBOT decided this was a good opportunity to implement a low-cost, near-term improvement that could later be upgraded with the larger RFFA project.  

Before the project kicked off publicly, PBOT began engaging with community members to get an understanding of needs and concerns. In September 2024, PBOT staff organized a walk with representatives from Oregon Walks, Multnomah University, residents of the area, parents involved in Vestal Elementary PTA, and long-time neighborhood and business advocates. The walk highlighted the need for additional safety measures and pedestrian infrastructure. On the walk, community members noted the high speeds and risky behaviors they see while living along the corridor. They also shared photos of roadway departure crashes, including crashes into their own property as well on Montavilla Parks property. On the walk, it was evident that traffic safety was a major issue for this corridor and that the roadway had more capacity than needed for motor vehicle movement (leading to high speeds and risky passing movements), while creating a hostile environment for people walking, bicycling, and taking transit.  

At the end of summer 2025, the NE Glisan Paving and Safety Project began our in-person engagement efforts. Staff completed door-to-door business canvassing and presented our concept designs and project details to the Montavilla Neighborhood Association. The planning team worked with engineers to analyze collected business and community feedback and released an updated design concept map in December 2025. 

In addition, our team has strategically streamlining communication for businesses, property owners and residents at the intersection of NE 82nd and NE Glisan Street through PBOT's Building a Better 82nd Project. 

*This project will not be removing on-street parking between NE 80th and NE 81st Avenue, although future improvements will occur for a neighborhood greenway. PBOT will conduct future public involvement efforts with businesses, property owners, and residents near NE 80th Avenue.

Related projects 

The NE Glisan Paving and Safety Project adds to other PBOT investments in the area, including:

• Crossing improvements at NE 80th Avenue and Glisan Street (completed in 2024)
• Signal rebuild and safety improvements at NE 82nd Avenue & NE Glisan Street
• Future off-corridor improvements around 82nd Avenue (more to come). Click here for more information about the Building a Better 82nd Project

*This project is also implementing low-cost "Phase 1" improvements as part of a larger RFFA-funded corridor safety project on NE Glisan Street from NE 81st to 102nd avenues. That "Phase 2" project will further enhance the elements in this project, and will extend improvements east to NE102nd Avenue. This larger project will begin design in 2027 and we anticipate construction to begin in 2030.