Road crews will begin repaving NE Glisan Street between NE 82nd and NE 92nd avenues on Wednesday, August 19th. The approximately two-lane-miles of resurfacing work will take an estimated twelve business days to complete as heavy equipment grinds off the damaged top layer of asphalt and lays down a fresh mixture of crushed stone and bitumen. The Portland Bureau of Transportation’s (PBOT) re-striping plans will create a paint-buffered bike lane next to a single travel lane in each direction and recreate the center turn lane. Cement masons will add two new pedestrian crossing islands along the busy High Crash Street, with an existing crossing at NE 87th Avenue updated to prevent some left turns while better protecting pedestrians and cyclists.
This Fixing Our Streets-funded project included substantial updates to sidewalk corner curb ramps, bringing crossings in this area up to Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)- compliant standards. Starting in May, Crews working with Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) installed modern stormwater management sump drains under NE Glisan Street at the intersections of NE 91st and 92nd Avenues. In addition to creating a smoother driving surface for vehicles, this new phase of work will reconfigure the street to remove time-shifting outer lanes used for parking or as an auxiliary travel lane. Collisions occurred on this street where motorists parked cars during allotted times, but drivers may have assumed the outer lane was clear. PBOT engineers anticipate that removing that conflict point will yield significant safety improvements with minimal impact on vehicle throughput.
The new NE Glisan bike lanes will add a connection between NE 81st Avenue and NE 93rd Avenue. Early concepts for the cycling infrastructure showed the bike lane extending west to NE 80th. However, area business concerns over losing frequently used street parking on that block prompted a design that still helps people riding outside a car cross NE 82nd Avenue to meet up with side-street bike routes while minimizing impacts to adjacent commercial property users. PBOT planners anticipate further improving the bike infrastructure in 2030 with hardscape concrete dividers and flex posts to protect cyclists riding next to cars. The reconfiguration is happening during this repaving project to save money. Otherwise, contractors would need to grind off existing street markers and repaint as part of the 2030 work.
NE Glisan Street, from Interstate 205 to 82nd Avenue, is a notoriously challenging roadway to cross with vehicles driving quickly between the two points. Without any fully signalized intersections on this stretch and with a large hill blocking visibility, it can take an extended period to find a safe break in traffic to cross. In 2021, PBOT lowered the speed limit to 30 mph, but that still did not significantly improve crossing safety for people inside or outside a vehicle. The two new pedestrian crossings with concrete median islands at NE 84th and 90th avenues should help pedestrians cross in two phases, where they can focus on one direction of traffic at a time, and drivers can better see a person waiting at the high-visibility infrastructure.
The NE 87th Avenue crossing already features street-adjacent buttons that activate Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFB) to signal to drivers that bikes or pedestrians will cross soon. The updates will extend an existing concrete median island east with cutouts for cyclists crossing. This extended mid-street infrastructure will prevent northbound and westbound drivers from turning left at this intersection.
PBOT notes that paving and painting work is weather-dependent, so that project work dates may change. Drivers can expect rougher roads during the grinding and resurfacing process and should anticipate traffic delays with detours from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, with some weekend work. Parking on NE Glisan in the project area will end a few days before work begins, but pedestrian access will remain open. Anyone traveling through the worksite should follow all traffic control signs and flaggers and use heightened caution.
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