High Crash Network streets and intersections

Information
A sign reading "CAUTION High Crash Intersection SLOW DOWN" is posted ahead of one of the high crash intersections on 122nd Avenue. Photo by PBOT.
Portland's highest-crash streets and intersections in low-income communities and communities of color receive priority for investments in safety.
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High Crash Network streets and intersections

Portland’s most dangerous streets cut across the city and touch every quadrant.

The High Crash Network — the 30 streets and intersections with the most serious crashes — represents 8% of Portland streets, yet it accounted for 62% of traffic deaths from 2018 to 2022.

Of the streets on the High Crash Network, 82% are owned and operated by the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT), 18% by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), and two bridges by Multnomah County.

These 30 streets and 30 intersections continue to require focused safety investments by all three agencies.

Map of Portland high crash streets and intersections overlaid on grey-shaded areas representing neighborhoods with higher scores on PBOT's Equity Matrix.

Safety project investments

Since 2017, PBOT, along with partner agencies, have invested $193 million in safety projects on the High Crash Network.

Safety projects on the High Crash Network have varied in scope but often aim to slow driving speeds and make travel safer for pedestrians, people biking, and those taking transit. They also aim to make transit faster and more efficient.

A Vision Zero guiding principle is to prioritize investments in neighborhoods with more people of color and people living on low incomes. Of the $193 million in safety investments on the High Crash Network since 2017, 66% were in neighborhoods with high equity scores, as measured using PBOT’s Equity Matrix.


High Crash Network streets

Deadly crashes

Top streets where people were killed from 2017 to 2021.

An orange and gray horizontal bar chart of deadly crashes by streets on the High Crash Network from 2017 to 2021 showing pedestrians, people on bicycles, and people in vehicles or motorcycles where NE Marine Drive is the greatest number of traffic deaths (16) and SE Cesar E Chavev Boulevard has the least number of traffic deaths
Source: ODOT Crash Data System. An orange and gray horizontal bar chart of deadly crashes by streets on the High Crash Network from 2017 to 2021 showing pedestrians, people on bicycles, and people in vehicles or motorcycles where NE Marine Drive is the greatest number of traffic deaths (16) and SE Cesar E Chavez Boulevard has the least number of traffic deaths.

Bicycle crashes

Top streets where people riding bicycles were killed or seriously injured from 2017 to 2021.

A horizontal bar chart of serious and fatal bicycle crashes in Portland. All other crashes are also shown, with Broadway having the highest of all crashes and NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd having the least.
Source: ODOT Crash Data System. A horizontal bar chart of serious and fatal bicycle crashes in Portland. All other crashes are also shown, with Broadway having the highest of all crashes and NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd having the least.

Pedestrian crashes

Top streets where pedestrians were killed or seriously injured from 2017 to 2021. 

A horizontal bar chart of serious and fatal pedestrian crashes in Portland. SE Powell has the most total crashes and SE Hawthorne has the least.
Source: ODOT Crash Data System. A horizontal bar chart of serious and fatal pedestrian crashes in Portland. SE Powell has the most total crashes and SE Hawthorne has the least.

Motor vehicle crashes

Top streets where people in motor vehicles were killed or seriously injured from 2017 to 2021.

Source: ODOT Crash Data System. A horizontal bar chart of serious and fatal motor vehicles crashes in Portland by car and motorcycles. SE Powell has the most and NE 102nd has the least..
Source: ODOT Crash Data System. A horizontal bar chart of serious and fatal motor vehicle crashes in Portland by car and motorcycle. SE Powell Blvd has the most combined fatal crashes, and NE 102nd has the least, in the high crash network.

Alphabetical by street name

Street & Quadrant(s)High # Driving CrashesHigh # Pedestrian CrashesHigh # Biking Crashes
4th Ave., SW----
7th Ave., SE----
82nd Ave., NE/SE
92nd Ave., NE/SE----
102nd Ave., NE----
122nd Ave., NE/SE
Airport Way, NE*----  
Barbur Blvd., SW*----
Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy., SW----
Broadway, NE/NW/SW
Burnside Rd., E/W
Capitol Hwy., SW----
César E. Chávez Blvd., NE/SE----
Columbia Blvd., N/NE----
Division St., SE
Foster Rd., SE
Fremont St., N/NE--
Glisan St., NE
Halsey St., NE--
Hawthorne Blvd., SE--
Holgate Blvd., SE
Interstate Ave., N----
Killingsworth St., N/NE*
Lombard St., N/NE*
Marine Dr., N/NE----
Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., NE/SE*--
Powell Blvd., SE*
Sandy Blvd., SE/NE*
Stark Street, SE
Terwilliger Boulevard, SW----

* Partially or fully owned by Oregon Department of Transportation.

Details and methodology

The High Crash Network includes 30 streets. These are a composite of the top 20 high crash streets for driving, the top 20 for bicycling and the top 20 for walking. The analysis uses crash data from 2004 through 2013.

Streets marked as "High # of Driving Crashes" are those with the highest number of people killed or seriously injured in vehicles. Streets marked as having high numbers of bicycle or pedestrian crashes include those with the highest number of crashes, regardless of severity, for people on bikes and walking, respectively.

While the aim of Vision Zero is to eliminate deadly and serious injury crashes, we include all crashes for people biking and pedestrians because the difference between a minor injury and a serious injury to a person biking or pedestrian is often random and circumstantial.


High Crash Intersections

Overall

The table below identifies the 30 intersections in Portland with the highest numbers of reported collisions using data from 2018 through 2022.

Intersections in the table are ordered from least safe to more safe. Rankings reflect three metrics: total number of crashes, collision rate, and total value of collisions.

RankIntersectionDeathsSerious InjuriesModerate InjuriesMinor InjuriesTotal CrashesCollision Rate
1SE Division St and SE 122nd Ave101467990.89
2SE Stark St and SE 122nd Ave231863860.78
3NE Halsey St and NE 122nd Ave111339750.74
4SE Powell Blvd and SE 82nd Ave *021787840.80
5SE Powell Blvd and SE 148th Ave *31632450.85
6SE Powell Blvd and I - 84 Fwy Ramp *011968860.87
7NE Glisan St and NE 102nd Ave10637620.73
8SE Stark St and SE 148th Ave11851540.68
9NE Glisan St and NE 122nd Ave05764820.84
10SE Division St and SE 112Th Ave22244440.50
11SE Holgate Blvd and SE 92nd Ave11522350.69
12SE Holgate Blvd and SE Mcloughlin Blvd221321500.41
13SE Powell Blvd and SE 174th Ave *01866701.19
14SE Powell Blvd and SE 92nd Ave *011465640.65
15NE Glisan St and NE 82nd Ave041144620.86
16SE Powell Blvd and SE 122nd Ave *031254620.80
17NE Victoria Ave and NE Weidler St042427560.81
18SE Powell Blvd and SE 112th Ave *011440480.96
19SE Powell Blvd and SE 136th Ave *001233571.19
20NE Sandy Blvd and NE 82nd Ave041427450.90
21N Columbia Blvd and N Vancouver Ave151116340.46
22N Vancouver Ave and N Weidler St12711340.49
23SE Holgate Blvd and SE 82nd Ave011028472.03
24SE Foster Rd and SE 96th Ave01932530.88
25NE Sandy Blvd and NE 148th Ave *02533443.88
26NE Glisan St and NE 99th Ave *01842640.69
27SE Powell Blvd and I - 205 Fwy Ramp *02850590.64
28SE Division St and SE 92nd Ave10021300.51
29SE Clay St and SE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd10412310.50
30SE Foster Rd and SE 82nd Ave01653570.63

* Intersection includes one or more streets owned by Oregon Department of Transportation.

Details and methodology

Crash data was queried from the Portland Bureau of Transportation's Accident History database based on Oregon Department of Transportation crash data. Query output included the top 100 intersections in Portland with the highest number of intersection and intersection-related crashes that occurred between 2017 - 2021.

Only fatal and injury crashes (of all severity levels: serious, moderate, and minor) were included. Crashes selected occurred at intersections or were intersection-related only. All modes were considered as part of the overall High Crash Intersection analysis. Separate HCI lists for bicycle crashes and pedestrian crashes are to follow.

The top 100 intersections in the City of Portland with the highest frequency of crashes following the above criteria were selected and then ranked using the sum of rankings from three different measures:

  1. Number of Deadly and Injury Crashes: The intersections were first ranked by number of crashes that occurred within the 5-year time period as aggregated by the original database query. 
  2. Collision Rate: Number of crashes coded to an intersection are normalized by considering the number of cars traveling through the intersection. The calculation for the collision rate (collisions per million entering vehicles) is: Collision Rate = (Crashes/5 years) X (1 year/365 days) X (1/ADT*) X 1,000,000. Note: ADT (average daily traffic) is the number of vehicles entering the intersection daily.
  3. Severity of Crashes: Severity of crashes is represented by the comprehensive economic costs of a crash. Figured by assigning monetary value to the severity of crash related injuries using the Federal Highway Administration Crash Costs for Highway Safety Analysis. The value of each crash is figured by multiplying the number of crash related fatalities and/or injury types by the values below. The number of fatalities and injuries are sustained injuries, not number of crashes. Total Value = # Fatals* Fatal $ + # Inj A* Inj A $ + # Inj B* Inj B $ + # In C* Inj C $
Fatal value$5,740,100  
Injury A value$304,400 
Injury B value$111,200 
Injury C value$62,700 

This report is compiled from data supplied by the Oregon Department of Transportation, Transportation Safety Division, Crash Analysis and Reporting Unit, from records originally received by the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles. Due to under-reporting of collisions, this list should not be considered to represent all collisions occurring at the intersections listed. The City of Portland Bureau of Transportation analyzed the data and prepared the resulting report.

Pedestrians

Intersections in the table are ordered from least safe to more safe for pedestrians using data from 2018 through 2022.

Rankings reflect three metrics: number of crashes involving pedestrians, number of pedestrians involved, and the estimated economic value of crashes resulting in death or injury.

RankIntersectionPedestrian-involved crashesDeathsSerious injuriesModerate injuriesMinor injuries
1SE Powell Blvd and I - 205 Fwy Ramp *41012
2NE Halsey St and NE 122nd Ave31011
3NE Alberta St and NE 82nd Ave22000
4SE Stark St and SE 146th Ave22000
5E Burnside St and SE 22nd Ave21100
6NE Shaver St and NE 122nd Ave21100
7SE Holgate Blvd and SE 92nd Ave31011
8SE Powell Blvd and SE 160th Ave *21010
9SE Stark St and SE 148th Ave21010
10SE Milwaukie Ave and SE Powell Blvd *50221
11SE Division St and SE 130th Ave21001
12SE Tibbetts St and SE 122nd Ave21001
13NE Broadway and NE Grand Ave21001
14SW Barbur Blvd and SW 30th Ave21001
15W Burnside St and SW 3rd Ave40211
16E Burnside St and SE Grand Ave40202
17N Interstate Ave and N Lombard St *50122
18SE Steele St and SE 52nd Ave60123
19NE Glisan St and NE 122nd Ave50113
20SE Washington St and SE 102nd Ave40121

* Intersection includes one or more streets owned by Oregon Department of Transportation.

People biking

Intersections in the table are ordered from least safe to more safe for people biking using data from 2018 through 2022.

Rankings reflect three metrics: number of crashes involving people biking, number of people biking involved, and the estimated economic value of crashes resulting in death or injury.

RankIntersectionBike-involved crashesDeathsSerious injuriesModerate injuriesMinor injuries
1SW Park Pl and SW Vista Ave21100
2SE Division St and SE 92nd Ave21001
3NW Broadway and W Hoyt St60132
4SE Hawthorne Blvd and SE 7th Ave50113
5SW Moody Ave and SW Sheridan St20110
6SW Capitol Hwy and SW Vermont St40031
7NE Broadway and NE 1st Ave50014
8NE Couch St and NE Grand Ave20101
9N Columbia Way and N Macrum Ave20101
10SE Ankeny St and SE 24th Ave30021
11N Weidler St and N Williams Ave20020
12N Vancouver Ave and N Weidler St20020
13N Broadway and N Ross Ave20020
14SE Stark St and SE 20th Ave20020
15NE Going St and NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd20020
16E Burnside St and SE 102nd Ave20020
17SE Division St and SE 72nd Ave20020
18SE Woodstock Blvd and SE 49th Ave20020
19NE Fremont St and NE 122nd Ave20020
20S River Parkway and SW Harrison St20020