Upper St. Johns & N Burr Neighborhood Greenways

UPDATE - What's happening now?

Project elements of the N Charleston Avenue and north end of the N Burr Avenue neighborhood greenways were constructed in late 2024. The south end of the N Burr Avenue Neighborhood Greenway is currently finalizing plans and will be constructed in 2026.

Additional project elements include lighting, striping elements, coordination with nearby greenway projects and traffic operational analysis and adjustments.

Background

North Portland in Motion is PBOT's effort to identify transportation needs and near-term investments in the North Portland peninsula. North Portland in Motion's goal is to improve access to community destinations and support walking, biking, and transit use.

As part of North Portland in Motion, several projects are undergoing early implementation. These are projects with identified funding from the Fixing Our Streets program with wide community support through the North Portland in Motion planning process. 

This webpage covers two neighborhood greenway projects slated for spring/summer 2024 construction:

• Upper St. Johns neighborhood greenway (see Discussion Draft map and elements, below)

• N Burr neighborhood greenway (see Discussion Draft map and elements, below)

Project elements (what's getting built)

You can view maps with infrastructure elements by clicking the location links, below.

• PDF fileN Bank Street, N Swenson Street, and N Bristol Avenue7.13 MB
  • Speed bumps on N Bristol Avenue from Central Street to N Pier Park Place
  • Sharrow, pavement markings
  • Wayfinding signs
  • 20 feet of parking removal at intersection
  • Stop sign re-orientation at two intersections (N Smith Street and Bristol Avenue; N Mohawk and Bank Street) and new stop signs at two intersections (N Tyler & N Banks; N Olympia & N Burr)

• PDF fileN Charleston Avenue portion (Lombard Street to Johnsonwood Drive)7.13 MB
  • Speed bumps from N Lombard Street Johnsonwood Drive
    • Bike-friendly speed bumps from N Lombard to Swenson streets
  • Sharrow, pavement markings (N Lombard to Swenson streets)
  • Wayfinding signs (N Lombard to Swenson streets)
  • 20 feet of parking removal at intersection
  • Median Island at N Smith and N Charleston
  • Stop sign reorientation at one intersection (N Charleston & N Hartman)

• PDF fileN Burr Avenue (Bank to Central streets)4.06 MB
  • Sharrow, pavement markings
  • Wayfinding signs
  • 20 feet of parking removal at intersection

• PDF fileN Burr Avenue (Willamette Boulevard to Central Street)4.06 MB
  • Speed bumps from N Willamette Boulevard to Lombard Street
    • Bike-friendly speed bumps
  • Sharrow, pavement markings (N Lombard to Central streets)
  • Wayfinding signs (N Lombard to Central streets)
  • 20 feet of parking removal at intersection (N Lombard to Central streets)
  • Crosswalks at N Lombard Street and Burr Avenue

Upper St Johns Neighborhood Greenway Map

View full size image of Image shows map and elements of the Upper St Johns neighborhood greenway

N Burr Neighborhood Greenway Map

View full size image of Image shows map and elements of the N Burr neighborhood greenway

Parking removal

There is a small amount of parking removal associated with these projects. PBOT's aims to daylight the corners by removing approximately 20 feet of on-street parking at intersections to make people and vehicles more visible while using or crossing the neighborhood greenway. You can learn more about PBOT's parking visibility guidelines here.

To see specific locations where parking removal is taking place please view the documents below:

Project schedule

Remaining elements include the south end of the N Burr Avenue Neighborhood Greenway are currently in design and public outreach phase.

Construction of last phase (N Burr Avenue) is expected in Spring 2026

The project will be phased:

• Phase 1 - Construction on N Bank Street, Swenson Street, and Bristol Avenue portion
  • Construction on N Burr Avenue (Central to Bank streets)
• Phase 2 - Construction on N Charleston Avenue portion (Lombard Street to Johnsonwood Drive)
  • Construction on median island at N Charleston Avenue and Smith Street may occur at different time than the rest of the project elements
• Phase 3 - Construction on N Burr Avenue (Willamette Boulevard to Central Street)
  • Construction of the crosswalks at N Lombard Street and Burr Avenue may occur at a different time than the rest of the project elements

Sign up for email updates

Sign up for the North Portland in Motion email list to stay up-to-date on project elements.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Will this project include bike lanes?

The projects will not include bike lanes for the entire street. Neighborhood greenways are shared streets for people bicycling and driving. There may be small sections (approximately 50 feet) where bike lanes are installed at intersections to separate people biking from people driving. These will be specifically called out in project elements above.

What will the wayfinding signs and pavement markings look like?

View full size image of Image shows a wayfinding sign and shared lane pavement marking.

The main pavement marking will be a shared lane marking that shows people where to ride and where to expect people on bikes. The wayfinding signs and pavement markings are shown in the image at right. 

Will on-street parking be removed?

There may be some parking impacted at intersections. In order to ensure visibility of corridor users, a short no-parking visibility area may be required. Those areas do not allow parking approximately 20 feet from an intersection or a marked crosswalk. Please refer to the Parking Removal section above for specific information.

How can I get involved?

The project team is actively looking for opportunities to meet with community organizations. Please contact the project team at: NoPIM@portlandoregon.gov

Or sign up for the email list to stay up-to-date on the projects in North Portland in Motion.

View full size image of Project paid for by Fixing Our Streets: Your dime at work.