In the latter half of June, road crews reopened NE Halsey Street to bidirectional automotive traffic after months of work creating a new mini-roundabout near Interstate 84 and NE 82nd Avenue. Additionally, drivers regained full use of NE 80th and NE 81st avenues at the worksite intersections. Starting on February 16th, westbound motorists on NE Halsey Street were prevented from fully crossing the I-84 overpass as cement masons created the second half of a new mini-roundabout and other contractors built additional street improvements.
As this work nears completion, the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) recently scaled back plans for the NE Halsey Street Safety and Access to Transit Project, postponing a planned intersection improvement at NE 69th Avenue and removing a 150-foot section of new sidewalk and street trees from the project’s scope. PBOT says the $380,000 in cost savings is necessary to meet reduced funding for this project while still maintaining core improvement goals of filling gaps in walking and biking connections on NE Halsey Street from NE 80th to NE 92nd avenues.
The newly renamed NE Halsey Street (80th to 92nd Avenues) – Safety and Access to Transit Project contains many safety improvements for people walking and biking through the area. Future work will create a dedicated bidirectional cycle path from the mini-roundabout to 92nd Avenue through a challenging section of the City’s street grid carved up by freeway construction decades ago. Work on this project could help reconnect communities cut off by car-focused street infrastructure, while reducing injuries on an identified High Crash street.
Drivers and other street users should use caution around this new infrastructure, as the adjusted traffic pattern could confuse people unfamiliar with the change. The raised concrete center circle is designed with sloped edges so that long vehicles, such as first-responder trucks or buses, can drive over it, treating it as a speed bump when necessary. Look for continued road work east of the mini-roundabout as contractor Interlaken and its subcontractors work along the length of the NE Halsey job site.
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