Tag: Expanded corners

Infrastructure August 28, 2020

Expanded Corners Come to 92nd

Expanded corners are now present at the intersection of SE 92nd Ave and Washington street. First appearing on 76th Ave, these are part of the Busy Streets program seeking to provide more space at heavily used intersections.

Portland Bureau of Transportation installed these temporary sidewalk expansions to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. These street crossings often become crowded with pedestrians trying to cross. This extra space should allow for social distancing while waiting for cars to yield.

Infrastructure August 20, 2020

Expanded Corners Come to 80th

Expanded corners are now present along SE 80th Ave on both Stark and Washington streets. First appearing on 76th Ave, these are part of the Busy Streets program seeking to provide more space at busy intersections.

South side of Stark Street looking west.

Infrastructure, View of Montavilla August 15, 2020August 20, 2020

Expanded Corners Come to 76th

The first Expanded corner of the Busy Streets program came to the corner of SE 76th Ave and SE Washington Street. Composed of paint and white plastic delineators, it extends the corner space out beyond the curb.

Strictly speaking, this corner is on the other side of the street from Montavilla. SE 76th Ave is the west edge of Montavilla between SE Division and E Burnside. It would technically be in the Mt. Tabor neighborhood.

SE Stark Street will also receive corner enhancements at 76th and 80th. Montavilla’s portion of SE Washington Street will get their expanded corners at 80th and 92nd Ave.

The yellow paint chosen is less bright than other street markings seen throughout Portland. Although new, it looks faded. However, it is only a temporary measure to allow distancing at the curb. Ideally, it will become a full extended curb if made permanent as part of the Jade and Montavilla Multimodal Improvements Project.

UPDATE – The crossing of 76th Ave and SE Stark Street in now complete.

Infrastructure August 7, 2020August 12, 2020

Curb Extension on Washinton

East of SE 80th on Washington Street, Portland Bureau of Transportation has installed a temporary Curb Extension for the bus stop. Constructed out of asphalt and rubber tire stops, it is a none permanent installation. The bus stop serves both the 15 and 272 bus lines. Before this upgrade, the stop had limited sidewalk space for waiting passengers.

Bus stop curb extensions (also called Bus Platforms) provide a passenger waiting area and allow buses to stop in the traffic lane. The added space helps for efficient loading and unloading of passengers. Not waiting to merge back into traffic saves considerable transit time on a route.

Although not a feature of this temporary curb extension, a permeant installation could improve pedestrian safety by shortening the distance to cross Washington Street. That will be a needed component of the future 80th Ave Greenway project.

Frequent users of this bus stop will enjoy the added space and faster service thanks to the new curb extension. This platform could last years before needing replacement by a permanent structure. Until then, TriMet riders will have a suitable temporary structure to wait on.

UPDATE – Bike Portland wrote about the new temporary bus platforms as part of the Busy Streets program. This program will add more temporary bus platforms, Expanded walkways, and Expanded corners to Montavilla.

Removed project attribution to TriMet. A TriMet representative responded to an earlier inquiry and said it was a Portland Bureau of Transportation project.