Creating safe, active communities
The Portland Bureau of Transportation's (PBOT) Safe Routes to School program helps kids and their families walk, bike, and roll to and from school and around their neighborhoods. Through education and infrastructure improvements, Safe Routes to School increases safety, reduces congestion, encourages physical activity, and much more. Whether it's improving crossings, filling sidewalk gaps, or creating paths and connections to school grounds, Fixing Our Streets helps our youngest Portlanders safely walk, bike, and roll to school.
Voter-approved investments
2016: Measure 26-173, $8 million
In May 2016, Portland voters passed Measure 26-173, approving a new $0.10 per gallon gas tax for repairing streets. That same month, Portland City Council passed a Heavy Vehicle Use Tax on companies operating trucks over 13 tons. This dedicated $8 million to infrastructure improvements near schools.
2020: Measure 26-209, $6 million
In May 2020, Portlanders resoundingly approved Measure 26-209, a four-year renewal of Fixing Our Streets. In February 2020, Portland City Council renewed the Heavy Vehicle Use Tax. This dedicated $6 million to school-specific safety and access projects.
2024: Measure 26-245, $6 million
In May 2024, Portlanders renewed Measure 26-245, the 10-cent gas tax, for another four years. Earlier that year Portland City Council renewed the Heavy Vehicle Use Tax. This dedicated another $6 million for Safe Routes to School infrastructure projects.
Identifying projects
The original $8 million set aside for school improvements in 2016 was not tied to specific projects. With more than 100 schools across the city, the demand for safer streets near schools exceeded the Fixing Our Streets budget. Fixing Our Streets asked Safe Routes to School staff to find out what changes Portlanders wanted around their schools and to create a process to identify and prioritize safety investments.
The Safe Routes to School team worked with school communities to identify opportunities for efficient investments that would support students and families walking to school in neighborhoods across Portland.
The goals of this project planning were to:
- Map a priority network to every permanent public elementary, K-8, and middle school campus in Portland.
- Develop a prioritized list of infrastructure projects to improve safety and walking access along the network.
- Select near-term projects to build with current Fixing Our Streets funds.
Working with community to create a project list and map
Safe Routes to School staff began by asking school communities about their walking routes and how they could be improved. Staff gathered feedback through open houses, an online survey, community walks, school events, classroom activities, and six years of traffic-related comments from Safe Routes to School parent travel surveys. Based on community input and a computer model, staff drafted the priority network and then checked back with schools to confirm it reflected their needs. Once confirmed, the network was reviewed to assess if existing infrastructure supported safe walking. Staff considered speed, traffic volume, and the number of travel lanes. When gaps were found, staff recommended additional projects.
This process identified more than 1,200 projects, which were prioritized with guidance from a Stakeholder Advisory Committee. Equity, safety, and student/route density were the key factors used to set priorities.
A note about the network's name: In 2017, the planning process used the term "Primary Investment Routes" to describe streets where most students and families were likely to travel and where PBOT would invest in traffic safety. In 2024, Safe Routes to School staff renamed it to the "priority network" to better reflect the map's purpose and use among the public and City of Portland staff.
Progress to date
In summer 2018, PBOT started constructing Fixing Our Streets-funded safety and improvement projects. As of September 2025, PBOT has completed over 350 projects.
Some projects not funded by Fixing Our Streets have been built through other city improvements, Portland Public Schools bonds, the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund, or competitive grants. Safe Routes to School staff have also added streets and projects for schools that opened or re-opened since 2017. One example is Kellogg Middle School, which was rebuilt with funding from the 2017 Portland Public Schools bond.
Listening to families
In 2017, Safe Routes to School hosted nine open houses — one in each Portland Public Schools high school cluster and one for the Parkrose district. Staff also engaged families in the David Douglas, Centennial, and Reynolds school districts. An online survey was also available in Spanish and Vietnamese. The most valuable information gathered was which walking routes families took to school and barriers they faced getting there safely.
Oregon Walks, a pedestrian advocacy nonprofit, led 12 community walks at Portland Public Schools Title I schools through the Healthy Travel Options to School partnership. On these walks, families and students gave feedback on their daily routes.
Safe Routes to School staff also attended school events and community walks, met with school leaders and parent groups, and held classroom activities. Staff and volunteers reviewed six years of parent concerns from the annual Safe Routes to School travel survey.
What we heard
Across Portland, the top concern was unsafe crossings. Missing sidewalks and traffic speed were also major safety issues.
Families consistently said students should not have to walk more than one or two blocks out of their way to use a safer route or crossing.
Parents and caregivers had different preferences for the types of streets their children use, depending on the neighborhood. Some favored quiet back streets, while others preferred busier streets with more people around.
In areas that had sidewalks and supportive infrastructure, the most stressful part of the trip was often interactions with parents and caregivers driving to school to drop-off their students.
Families also said they wanted more emphasis on safety during arrival and dismissal times.
Safe Routes to School Infrastructure Plan
This interactive Safe Routes to School Infrastructure Plan map shows the locations of schools, Safe Routes to School infrastructure improvement projects — both funded (through Fixing Our Streets or other sources) and unfunded — and the priority network.
Project types include:
- Construct walkway – Build a sidewalk or path along the roadway to separate people walking from people driving.
- Crossing improvement – Upgrade an intersection beyond painting a crosswalk, such as adding a median island, curb extension, flashing beacon, or traffic signal.
- Mark or update crosswalk - Paint a new crosswalk or improve an existing one.
- Shared use path - Build a walking and biking path not necessarily along a street, like the Springwater Corridor or Marine Drive path.
- Signal intersection improvement - Review an existing signalized intersection on a major street and make changes to improve safety, such as adjusting signal timing.
- Traffic calming – Install speed humps or redesign streets to slow people driving in residential areas.
View the Safe Routes to School Infrastructure Plan
Note on accessibility
This map shows the locations of Safe Routes to School projects and the priority network for the purposes of identifying gaps and potential projects within the network. The network represents streets that students and families most likely travel to walk or bike to school. Staff prioritize projects along the network when funding becomes available.
PBOT understands that this map may not be accessible for all users, and is not compatible with screen reader technology. The City of Portland is committed to providing meaningful access. To request translation, map interpretation, modifications, or other auxiliary aids or services, call 311 (503-823-4000), for Relay Service & TTY: 711, or click the 'Request Accommodation' button below.
Frequently asked questions
How is Fixing Our Streets money split between school districts?
In 2016, Measure 26-173 split Safe Routes to School-dedicated Fixing Our Streets funding geographically into five school districts in Portland: Portland Public Schools and Parkrose, David Douglas, Centennial, and Reynolds school districts. The largest, Portland Public Schools, was split by high school cluster.
Dividing by school district ensured projects were funded across the city. Measure 26-173 prioritized school clusters with higher percentages of students of color, students receiving free and reduced lunch, and limited English proficiency households.
What is the priority network?
The priority network is made up of streets likely to have the most students walking on them to access a school. They were selected by using a computer model and community input by open houses, parent and caregiver surveys, and review with school leaders.
PBOT will focus projects on these streets to create a complete, connected network to school throughout the entire "walkshed" of a school. A walkshed is the area within a 1-mile walking distance from elementary and middle schools and 1.5 miles from high schools.
How was the priority network selected?
Safe Routes to School consultants, with recommendations from a PBOT Technical Advisory Committee, developed a computer model to identify the best and most direct ways for students and families to travel to schools. The computer model considered:
- Residential density - Preference was given to streets serving the most students and considered where students currently live or may live in the future, including multi-family apartment buildings.
- Existing infrastructure - Preference was given to streets with enhanced crossings, lower speeds, and fewer lanes; neighborhood greenway routes were also prioritized where possible.
- Minimizing detours - Routes were not allowed to go more than one block off the most direct route. This means some routes use crossings that are not suitable today, but those locations are where PBOT identified the need for a project.
- School communities provided key recommendations when the computer model identified equal but parallel network lines.
How did you decide which projects to build first?
Safe Routes to School formed a Stakeholder Advisory Committee with representatives from schools, government agencies, and community partners to guide investment priorities.
The committee agreed on three values for scoring projects:
- Equity (60%): Equity was the top factor. This helps identify parts of Portland that may need more investment.
- Safety (30%): The next priority was a project's potential safety impact. Where equity scores were similar, safety was the deciding factor.
- Population (10%): Projects earned points if they served more than one school or were located where many students live within walking distance.
Some high-scoring projects were not included in Fixing Our Streets funding because they already had funding from other sources and were completed within three years.
Why isn't the project I want on the list?
A project may not be on the list because:
- It is not on the priority network.
- It is not a walking improvement.
Bicycling and vehicle access improvements were not included in the original planning process because the need for basic walking improvements was extensive and a top priority for school communities. However, neighborhood greenways were included on the priority network where possible, and some projects may also improve conditions for people bicycling as well.
We need speed humps! Why are there so few traffic calming projects on the list?
Most traffic calming projects like speed humps require new data collection and depending on their emergency classification, may require approval from Portland Fire & Rescue. Ideally, they are delivered in coordination with other projects that may alter traffic patterns.
Safe Routes to School works with schools on an ongoing basis to identify locations that would benefit from further traffic calming, and evaluates locations based upon multiple criteria. In addition, in spring 2018, the speed limit on residential streets dropped from 25 to 20 MPH.
How and when will PBOT build the remaining projects on this list?
Construction of Fixing Our Streets projects began in the summer of 2018 and is ongoing. There is not an estimated date for all projects to be funded and completed given the large number of projects and lack of dedicated funding. Some projects identified in this process are funded and in the planning process.
PBOT will pursue additional funding for the remaining unfunded projects and Safe Routes to School staff will update the project map as new sources of funding are identified.
How are identified projects selected or prioritized when funding becomes available?
Safe Routes to School staff evaluate projects based upon multiple criteria, depending on the funding source, amount, and requirements. We consider PBOT's equity index score, safety need, geographic distribution, overlap with existing plans or projects, readiness, and project scale. For example, the Oregon Department of Transportation's Safe Routes to School Competitive Construction Grants have their own set of evaluation criteria. We look for opportunities to make our funds go further by leveraging other projects, programs, and coordinating with our maintenance crews' planned work (e.g., refreshing or upgrading marked crosswalks when crews are in the field for paint striping).
How can I show my support for a particular project?
We coordinate directly with school and school district leadership to confirm traffic safety priorities. Contact your school principal and 311 to express safety concerns and/or find out if there are others interested in the same improvement.
Are there opportunities for additional feedback?
Yes. When funding becomes available for currently unfunded projects, Safe Routes to School staff and PBOT will meet with school leaders and communities to confirm the project is still a priority. If changes are requested, we will work together to find solutions. School community and neighborhood feedback will be part of the design phase and before construction.
We may also add new school projects or streets to the project list if they were not open or planned when this work began. In 2017, high schools were not included in Safe Routes programs nationwide, but we have since added them and completed outreach in 2025 to verify the network and projects near them.
Stakeholder Advisory Committee
This work to help guide investments and prioritization would not have been possible without the effort and dedication of the Safe Routes to School Stakeholder Advisory Committee.
Committee members included:
- Linh Doan, Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon
- Greg Lecuyer and Rick Larson, Centennial School District
- Dan McCue and Barb Kienle, David Douglas School District
- Sophorn Cheang and Sumitra Chhetri, Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization
- Ximena Ospina-Todd and Carolina Reyes, Latino Network
- Brendon Haggerty and Becky Bodonyi, Multnomah County Health Department
- Cary Watters and Ashley Oakley, Native American Youth and Family Center
- Lake McTighe and Dan Kaempff, Oregon Metro
- Noel Mickleberry and Inna Levin, Oregon Walks
- Maria Hernandez, OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon
- Sharie Lewis and Tami Booth, Parkrose School District
- Lisa Kensel, Portland Council PTA
- Justin Dollard, Paul Cathcart and Christine Rutan, Portland Public Schools
- Kathy Houck and Rehana Nelson, Reynolds School District
- Kari Schlosshauer, Safe Routes to School National Partnership
- Diana Hall, Schools Uniting Neighborhoods (SUN) Community Schools
- LeeAnne Fergason and Elizabeth Cabral, The Street Trust
- Jeff Owen, TriMet
The committee met six times between February 2017 and March 2018. Committee members also provided advice and direction to inform the Safe Routes to School Strategic Plan 2018-2023.