3 – What’s 82nd Avenue Like Today?

Information

The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) is working with the community to develop a comprehensive plan for improvements along 82nd Avenue. This is page 3 of our 82nd Avenue online open house, "What’s 82nd Avenue Like Today?"

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A Closer Look at 82nd Avenue

The typical cross section of 82nd Avenue ranges from 56 to 60 feet between curbs. This includes two travel lanes in each direction ranging from 11 to 12 feet wide and a 10 foot wide center left turn lane. Sidewalk width ranges from 5 to 15 feet throughout the corridor.

The graphic shows a typical cross section of 82nd Avenue.

The graphic shows the Transportation System Plan classifications for 82nd Avenue, ranging from local, city, and major classifications. — This graphic shows the level of street classification (ranging from local to major) for 82nd Avenue by mode. 82nd Avenue is classified as a Major City Walkway, a City Bikeway, a Major Transit Priority Street, a Major Emergency Response Route, a Major Truck Street, and a Major City Traffic Street.

82nd Avenue serves many important roles from hosting a high ridership bus line, to moving goods and cars, and being a place where people walk and bike. According to PBOT’s 2035 Transportation System Plan classifications, 82nd Avenue should have a high emphasis on pedestrians, transit, emergency response, freight, and traffic mobility, and a medium emphasis on bicycle mobility.

A High Crash Corridor

This map shows which sections of 82nd Avenue have the most Vision Zero crashes.

82nd Avenue is one of Portland's most dangerous streets. It is identified as part of Portland Vision Zero’s High Crash Network—and has six of the top 30 high crash intersections along it including, NE Fremont, NE Glisan, E Burnside, SE Division, SE Powell, and SE Flavel.

Between January 2015 and December 2019, 82nd Avenue had 142 Vision Zero crashes. A Vision Zero crash includes any fatal or serious crash involving people in vehicles, and all crashes involving pedestrians and people biking. The highest concentration of crashes along 82nd Avenue are around the 82nd Avenue MAX Station and between SE Division and SE Foster.

Between 2015 to 2019, half (50%) of Vision Zero crashes along 82nd Avenue resulted in the death or injury of a pedestrian. Nine people died as victims of transportation-related violence between 2015–2019. Five of them were pedestrians, two of them were people biking, one of them was riding a motorcycle, and one was driving. From January 2020 to June 30, 2022, four more people died from transportation-related violence on 82nd Avenue, including two pedestrians, one person riding a motorcycle, and one person driving.

The graphic shows a pie chart of crashes along 82nd Avenue between 2015 and 2019 by mode. — Between 2015 and 2019, 50% of crashes (66 injuries and five fatalities) involved a pedestrian, 23% (31 injuries and one fatality) involved people in vehicles, 21% (28 injuries and two fatalities) involved a person biking, and 6% (8 injuries and one fatality) involved a person riding a motorcycle.

Lighting

This image shows a graphic of a wide street with a streetlight on the right side of the street. The light emitted by the streetlight is shown in orange. The orange light does not reach the left side of the street or the far sidewalk where there is a person walking. — The image here shows where light falls from a streetlight on one side of the street and how poorly it covers the opposite sidewalk.

According to city guidelines, streets 48 feet or wider, such as 82nd Avenue, should have lighting on both sides of the street. Some segments of 82nd Avenue have streetlighting only on one side of the street, which results in poor visibility.

Sidewalks and Crossings

Most of the existing sidewalks along 82nd Avenue are narrow and directly adjacent to traffic, lack street trees, do not meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) design requirements, and do not meet current city standards.

The image shows two photos of the sidewalk conditions along 82nd Avenue. The photo on the left shows a section of 82nd Avenue without any sidewalk. The area for pedestrians is full of puddles. The photo on the right shows a utility pole in a narrow sidewalk along 82nd Avenue.

Many of the existing crossings along 82nd Avenue are unmarked and unsignalized,making it more difficult for pedestrians to safely cross the street. Most of 82nd Avenue does not meet the city’s new guidelines for marked crosswalk spacing: enhanced crossings every 800 feet, or every 530 feet in pedestrian districts.

The image shows two photos of unsignalized crossings along 82nd Avenue. The photo on the left shows a marked crossing without a signal in the background with cars in the foreground. There's also a car exiting a driveway and blocking the sidewalk. The photo on the right shows an unsignalized crossings with a red truck approaching the crossing.

Road Conditions

82nd Ave is an older street with aging infrastructure that often does not meet current standards. Only 5% of pavement and sidewalks on 82nd Avenue meet PBOT standards.

The image shows two photos of cracked pavement and potholes along 82nd Avenue.

Transit Access and Delays

PBOT is working closely with TriMet and Metro to understand current challenges and opportunities for transit improvements along 82nd Avenue.

Click here to learn more about Metro's 82nd Avenue transit project

Many bus stops along 82nd Avenue do not have seating or shelter from the weather and are on narrow sidewalks without enough space for a bus shelter.

The image shows two photos of bus stops along 82nd Avenue. The image on the left shows a bus stop without a shelter or seating. The image on the right shows a bus stop along a narrow sidewalk with a large semi truck passing by on the street.

The map shows daily ons and offs of TriMet line 72 bus stops along 82nd Avenue. It also shows TriMet frequent service routes that cross 82nd Avenue.

Line 72, which runs along 82nd Avenue, is the highest ridership bus line in the region. Prior to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Line 72 had 14,000 rides on an average weekday—more than the yellow or orange MAX lines. During the pandemic, Line 72 maintained the highest ridership bus line in the TriMet system.

The bus stops along 82nd Avenue with the highest number of boardings are located at the MAX Station at I-84, SE Division Street, SE Powell Boulevard, and SE Holgate Boulevard. The majority of trips people take on Line 72 are three miles or less. Line 72 experiences the most significant delay approaching SE Powell Boulevard along 82nd Avenue in both directions.