In the spring of 2025, crews working for the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) will begin work on the Jade and Montavilla Multimodal Improvements Project, adding bike lanes and rebuilding crossings for safer road use by pedestrians and cyclists. The collection of upgrades tackles SE Thorburn Street’s connection with the SE Stark-Washington couplet and underdeveloped infrastructure between SE Division Street and SE Powell Boulevard near SE 82nd Avenue. Complimentary projects will add sidewalks to one block of SE Thorburn and two blocks of SE Washington Street, providing pedestrians with more options to safely navigate the area.

The SE Thorburn Street: 73rd Avenue to 74th Avenue Sidewalk Project will add approximately 355 feet of seven-foot-wide sidewalk to an area that only offered pedestrians a graveled and overgrown path. The new sidewalk will connect to an existing paved walkway on the west side of NE 74th Avenue and wrap around an undeveloped triangular lot onto SE Thornburn Street. Crews will need to reduce the new wider walkway to five-foot-wide in some sections to preserve street trees. However, the walkway will provide a significant connector for sidewalk users who face missing paved segments without many options to detour around the gaps. Due to the topography of SE Thorburn Street and its development before modern sidewalk requirements, it only has continuous space for pedestrians on the north side of the road between SE Gilham Avenue and SE Stark Street. Additionally, the sloped orientation of side streets connecting to SE Thorburn Street created challenging infrastructure for people with mobility devices, including sidewalk-stairs or steep and narrow paths.

Part of the SE Thorburn Street project will help improve the side street connections with three new curb ramps at the intersection of SE 74th Avenue and one new curb extension at the NE corner of SE 74th Avenue and SE Thorburn Street, improving pedestrian visibility. Crews working for PBOT will also build two new driveways to the homes fronted on the improved sidewalk section to support residents’ access while keeping pedestrians safe. Crews intend to begin work in the summer of 2025.

In winter 2025, PBOT crews will work on the second phase of the SE Washington St Sidewalk Infill Project- SE 80th Ave to SE 82nd Ave, adding missing sidewalks that will improve conditions for transit riders needing to access the TriMet number 15 bus stop. Crews will deconstruct the temporary bus platform on SE Washington Street, which transit operators added in 2020 to provide space for passengers to board the bus. The south side of the street is missing continuous paved sidewalks on two blocks leading to 82nd Avenue, and a lumberyard fence limits sidewalk width. These pedestrian improvements will join the planned bike lanes on SE Washington Street, mirroring the cyclist infrastructure on SE Stark Street, completing the multimodal efficiency of the paired one-way streets. PBOT must remove street parking from six blocks on one side of the road to accommodate the bike lanes without reducing car lanes. The bike lane will replace south side street parking on SE Washington Street from SE 76th to 80th Avenues and from SE 84th to SE 92nd Avenues.

Many cyclists have historically avoided the SE Thorburn Street/SE Gilham Avenue connector from East Burnside Street to the SE Stark-Washington couplet. Sections of the roadway support two travel lanes in each direction, and its tree-lined curves create visibility challenges. However, with the planned bike lane addition to the street, this section could become a practical path for East Portland bike commuters looking to link with the east-west Neighborhood Greenway on NE Davis Street.

Funds from a mix of Federal, State, and local money will pay for the three infrastructure projects. City funding sources include System Development Charges collected from developers and the voter-approved Fixing Our Streets program supported by a $0.10 per gallon fuel tax. Work will begin at different times in 2025, with the occasional disruption to traffic near construction sites.

Update: On February 28th, PBOT updated the Jade and Montavilla Multimodal Improvements Project‘s website page to reflect the current designs that reduce the extent of previously indicated south-side street parking removal for bike lane creation. The project will add over 20 marked parking spaces on SE Washington Street from SE 76th to 80th Avenues, replacing the southernmost travel lane. The recreated parking capacity offers slightly fewer spaces than the parking spaces removed. Still, it is a significant benefit for area businesses and residents living in housing on that street that do not have onsite parking options.