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.
NE Halsey mini-roundabout approach from NE 81st Avenue.
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.
Rendering of NE Halsey roundabout post 2026 update to remove sidewalk section, courtesy PBOT
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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Drivers on SE Thorburn Street merging into SE Washington Street up to I-205 will see a new 25 miles per hour (mph) speed limit. The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) reduced speeds on the roadway from 30 mph in June as its contractors began work creating approximately 355 feet of new sidewalk on the north side of SE Thorburn Street, between SE 73rd Avenue and SE 74th Avenue, filling a sidewalk gap. This work follows a 2025 lane reconfiguration in the area that reduced the number of travel lanes in each direction and added improved bike and walking infrastructure.
New 25 mph speed limit sign on SE Washington st
PBOT changes speed limits regularly to improve street user safety. The 2025 redesign made space for increased pedestrian access on both sides of the roadway and created dedicated bike lanes. The slightly reduced vehicle speeds will help those outside a motorized vehicle remain safe and lessen the injury caused by a crash. People walking or rolling on the south side of SE Thorburn Street use an on-roadway path, as the sloped topology and mature tree line of the adjacent properties make sidewalk expansion more involved. The north side of the street has some sidewalks that are narrow and curb tight—lacking a buffer space between the pedestrian zone and the raised curb.
SE Thorburn Street sign showing old speed of 30 mph
In a section of SE Thorburn Street where people walk through grassy, undeveloped land and gravel paths near SE 74th Avenue, contractors working for PBOT will build a 7-foot-wide sidewalk, with some sections reduced to 5 feet wide, to preserve existing street trees. During that work, cement masons will create new curb ramps at the intersection of SE 74th Avenue and reshape the sidewalk corners to make the intersection more perpendicular, which can slow turning vehicles and lessen the pedestrian crossing distance.
Project desing imag courtesy PBOT
This work is part of the Jade and Montavilla Multimodal Improvements Project and is funded by general transportation revenue, House Bill 2017, with a budget of $371,000. Crews working in the area will periodically close one lane of vehicle traffic on SE Thorburn Street between SE 73rd and 74th avenues through June 30th. Street users should anticipate some delays and detours as construction continues in the area. Drivers should also note the new, slower speeds on these streets.
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Crews and subcontractors with Raimore Construction will begin repaving SE 82nd Avenue south of SE Division Street starting May 18th. This continues repaving work from summer 2025 as part of the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s (PBOT) 82nd Avenue Major Maintenance Project. Work will focus on SE Clinton to Brooklyn streets and then continue south to SE Powell Boulevard later in the month. Road users should anticipate delays from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, due to active in-street construction.
This work is funded as part of the Building a Better 82nd initiative, created to address deferred maintenance issues identified after the jurisdictional transfer of 82nd Avenue from the Oregon Department of Transportation to PBOT on June 1st, 2022. PBOT classifies 82nd Avenue’s existing pavement as severely deteriorated in the section its contractor will repave this summer, including work from SE Clinton to Bush streets, NE Thomson to Hancock, and SE Schiller Street to SE Foster Road. The road surface in these areas exhibits cracking that allows water infiltration below the surface, leading to repeated potholes and shortening the road’s lifespan. Additionally, 82nd Avenue’s past expansions decades ago created weak points that need more significant repairs.
82nd Avenue’s 2026 Paving Schedule, courtesy PBOT
In its early stages, 82nd Avenue supported only three lanes of traffic, with one lane for vehicles traveling in each direction and a center turn lane. Transportation officials reserved the outer edges of the street for parking in many places, and engineers did not build parking pavement to the same standard as the street’s center. When transportation officials removed parking to add another travel lane in each direction, they did not update the road’s supporting base, leading to premature wear. Consequently, unlike many repaving projects that grind off the top layer of asphalt and replace it with a fresh mixture of aggregate and bitumen, this project requires more significant work in the outer lanes of the former State Highway. Crews working on this project will need to remove the outer lanes to their base layer and reengineer them to support the weight of moving vehicles before repaving the entire surface. The project calls for 13 inches of new asphalt pavement on top of the new road base, which can support freight and buses.
Northbound view of 82nd Ave, a five-lane street with two lanes in each direction and a center turn lane. Graphic courtesy PBOT.
The results will provide a smoother road surface that should last longer before requiring future repairs. It will also endure the new usage requirements proposed by the TriMet 82nd Avenue Transit Project that seeks to transform the 72 bus line into a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system under TriMet’s FX (Frequent Express) moniker. This enhanced transit service will use 60-foot articulated hydrogen fuel-cell electric buses that will serve 82nd Avenue. On February 13th, project designers were allowed to moved forward in developing 7 miles of Business Access and Transit (BAT) lanes along most of Portland’s portion of 82nd Avenue. With high-capacity vehicles, modern stations, traffic signal priority, and, now, transit priority on the outer lanes of 82nd Avenue, this updated project scope will shorten travel times for BRT riders and increase capacity, but place higher demands on the outer lanes of the roadway.
Crews grinding down the top layer of asphalt on previous project
PBOT anticipates work continuing through July, with contractors working on the western lanes first before transitioning to the eastern lanes. Crews will start on the outside lane, then move to the inside lanes on each side. One lane in each direction will remain open during the majority of the work. The final phases of repaving will create concrete median islands with space for street trees in select areas. Landscapers will plant those trees later this fall, when rainwater can help establish healthy root growth. Financial support from the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF) is helping the transportation agency plant more than 175 trees along 82nd Avenue as part of the 82nd Avenue Major Maintenance Project. Planners expect the shade from these trees will mitigate the impact of extreme heat events, which particularly raise temperatures in paved spaces.
2025 82nd Ave repaving
Drivers should expect delays in this area and always follow the crew’s instructions, as people entering and exiting adjacent businesses will require assistance to navigate the construction zone. This roadwork is just one of many PBOT projects underway, all aimed at creating a safer and more stable street. Current projects will extend throughout 2026. Funding for some of the ongoing work comes from the American Rescue Plan Act, which has a deadline of December 31st, 2026, to complete the funded work.
Disclosure: The author of this article served on the Building a Better 82nd Community Advisory Group and the 82nd Avenue Transit Project Community Advisory Committee (CAC).
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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.
In April, PBOT updated the “NE Halsey Street (68th to 92nd Avenues) – Safety and Access to Transit Project” website to redirect to the newly renamed “NE Halsey Street (80th to 92nd Avenues) – Safety and Access to Transit Project.” The removed western portion of the project cut a protected high-visibility crosswalk on NE Halsey Street at NE 69th Avenue and removed traffic flow improvements where Interstate 84 off-ramp traffic merges with NE 68th and NE 69th Avenues before joining a slip lane leading onto eastbound NE Halsey Street. This change pushes the start of bike lane infrastructure west of NE 70th Avenue and retains an intersection that some local residents have complained about for years. In 2020 outreach, it was identified as a conflict-heavy junction. In August 2025, PBOT representatives said the design would change, noting the 2020 rendering was outdated and no longer reflected current designs. Work on this portion of the project never broke ground.
Outdated PBOT rendering of the NE Halsey Street at NE 69th Avenue improvments
PBOT spokesperson Dylan Rivera explained that the NE 69th Avenue segment is separated from the other project elements by several blocks, and a staff review determined that it was the only major element that planners could cut without compromising the overall safety designs of the other elements. He notes that street designers still consider this intersection a priority for future implementation. “The intersection design is fully complete. It’s a shovel-ready project,” remarked Rivera. “We believe it’s an important improvement, and we are actively pursuing funding to build it as originally planned. While the work will be delayed, it should not be considered canceled.”
The other project reduction is south of the new NE 81st and Halsey roundabout. This pedestrian connector would have created about 150 feet of sidewalk and street trees on the north side of NE 81st Avenue, where it curves towards NE Halsey Street. Pedestrians can still walk on the existing sidewalk across the street. The PBOT representative explained that the unbuilt section of the sidewalk would not have completely filled the sidewalk gap, leaving a 200-foot section where people would have to use the roadway or cross the street. However, the sidewalk segment would have connected to a shortcut path that leads to the 82nd Avenue Bus and MAX station. That path is currently closed due to safety concerns following the adjacent property owner’s fencing of their parking lot. It could reopen to the public at some point, and a sidewalk connection on NE 81st Avenue would be helpful, according to some transit users in the area.
Rendering of NE Halsey roundabout pre 2026 update to remove sidewalk section, courtesy PBOT
Rendering of NE Halsey roundabout post 2026 update to remove sidewalk section, courtesy PBOT
PBOT says the cost savings implemented also shorten the project timeline by one month. Crews are nearing completion of the mini roundabout, which has taken months to construct. In December 2025, contractors began work on NE Halsey Street at NE 80th and NE 81st Avenues. At first, NE Halsey remained open to east-west through traffic as crews installed underground stormwater management pipes connecting to relocated catch basins as part of this street reconfiguration. The project then progressed to sidewalks and curbs on the south side of the intersection, with half the roundabout completed in early February. Starting February 16th, westbound motorists on NE Halsey Street began using a detour to NE 82nd Avenue during construction on the northern half of the new mini-roundabout. Crews completed paving in May, with the roadway still closed to vehicles at the time of publication.
The contractor working with PBOT on this project, Interlaken, and their subcontractors work the length of the NE Halsey job site. Rivera noted that observed inactivity at the roundabout was expected, as they manage resources across the whole project, and that Interlaken remains on track to finish work this summer. Pacific Power still needs to energize new power poles, and contractor Prairie Electric will install streetlights. Cement masons with Nu Wave Concrete have additional pavement work to complete around the intersection. PBOT expects the westbound Halsey closure to remain in place through the end of May to maintain crew safety working on the north side of the intersection.
I-84 off-ramp slip lane onto NE Halsey St at 68th Ave
PBOT has completed a new design for the postponed intersection improvements, which they anticipate will make it safer for people biking and walking to travel through the area where Interstate 84 eastbound travelers exit the highway and enter NE Halsey Street. Information about that work will likely become available when additional funding is secured by the transportation bureau.
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Crews working with Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) will install modern stormwater management sump drains under NE Glisan Street at the intersections of NE 91st and 92nd Avenues. This work is happening at the same time crews working with the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) are updating sidewalk corners and curb ramps in the area to meet modern Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards. These improvement projects are taking place ahead of a planned street repaving and painting project on NE Glisan Street from NE 82nd to 92nd Avenues. Additional work on SE 94th Avenue will add a new sediment structure and sumps near SE Stark Street.
Project map courtesy BES
Sump Graphic courtesy BES
This work requires in-street excavation to make room for the sump maintenance hole created by a large concrete cylinder installed under the street. This structure temporarily stores stormwater, allowing the ground to slowly absorb the rain runoff. During rainfall, water flows into curbside storm drains along the road, which connect to underground separation tanks called sedimentation maintenance holes. This filters out garbage and pollutants from the rainwater before it flows into the sump. At the surface, people only see the round metal maintenance hole covers and the storm drain grates, but the subsurface structures play a critical role in handling runoff from the impervious roadway.
NE Glisan St northwest sidewalk corner reconstructed at 91st Ave
Crews working with BES completed similar work on NE Glisan Street and 91st Avenue in March 2025. Cement masons reconstructed the northeast corner of the intersection during that project.
NE Glisan St mid-block curb ramp at NE 92nd Ave with stormwater inlet
Drivers should anticipate further lane closures starting early May, and pedestrians should be prepared to use detours to cross the street or avoid active job sites. People traveling in the area should follow all crew instructions during working hours and maintain a safe distance from heavy equipment operating in the public right-of-way. Motorists can anticipate further delays on NE Glisan Street during peak travel times.
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On April 22nd, crews with the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) begin grinding down the old asphalt pavement along NE 87th Avenue from the dead-end section near Interstate 84’s sound wall north of NE Hassalo Street and progressing south towards NE Glisan Street. This follows work started last summer to update sidewalk corner curb ramps to meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards. That sidewalk infrastructure upgrade and this repaving work underway will create a mostly accessible path through a section of Montavilla with inconsistent pedestrian infrastructure. The northeast section of the neighborhood’s connectivity is constrained by two freeways bordering it to the east and north, along with heavy traffic on NE 82nd Avenue and NE Glisan Street along the other edges of these blocks, inhibiting travel. NE 87th Avenue is part of the city’s low-traffic Neighborhood Greenway for walkers and people rolling to their destination.
Image from Portland Maps showing paving of NE 87th Ave in purple
In August 2025, cement masons reconstructed eight sidewalk corners along NE 87th Avenue and added a mid-block curb ramp on the south side of NE Glisan Street across from the northeast corner of 87th Avenue at the NE Glisan intersection. This project creates an opportunity for a near-continuously paved north-south pedestrian path between NE Hassalo Street and NE Glisan Street. However, missing paved sidewalks on the northern edges of 8631 and 8636 NE Holladay Street will require pedestrians to walk across the lawns of these homes to reach the new ADA curb ramps and the existing paved sidewalks. Future redevelopment of those properties could require installing new sidewalks to complete the pedestrian connection.
PBOT pavement grinding equipment parked along 8631 NE Holladay Street’s frontage without a sidewalk
PBOT will continue grinding down the road surface and then transition to repaving NE 87th Avenue from NE Glisan Street to just north of NE Hassalo Street. The maintenance paving crews will work on one travel lane at a time from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays. Drivers should expect delays and obey all crew instructions. The sidewalks will remain open. PBOT intends to complete work by Thursday, April 30th. Funding for this project comes from the voter-approved Fixing Our Streets tax, paid by heavy vehicle users and a 10-cent-per-gallon gas tax.
Dead-end section NE 87th Avenue north of NE Hassalo St
This work, along with the curb ramp improvements and repaving happening on NE Glisan from NE 82nd to 92nd avenues, will strengthen pedestrian and bike infrastructure for the Neighborhood Greenway network. The NE Glisan Street repaving and repainting project will provide space for bike lanes, and its intersection with NE 87th Avenue has a Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFB) to help people cross the busy NE Glisan roadway. People traveling outside a car should soon feel more comfortable navigating the neighborhood on NE 87th Avenue, thanks to these transportation bureau investments. Drivers should also enjoy a smoother street with brighter painted markings.
NE 87th Avenue looking north from NE Glisan St
Update May 1, 2026: Crews completed principle repaving work on April 30th. Replacement speed bumps and on street markings should return within the follow weeks as weather and scheduling allows.
Post-repaving on NE 87th Ave looking south past NE Hassalo StPost-repaving on NE 87th Ave looking north from NE Hassalo St towards the I-84 soundwall
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In early March, crews with the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) started preparing underground infrastructure ahead of updating sidewalk corners along NE Glisan Street as part of the planned NE Glisan Pave and Paint Project. The updates will use the pavement maintenance budget to restripe and reconfigure the roadway from NE 82nd to 92nd avenues. Ahead of the planned summer work, contractors will begin rebuilding crossing points to Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant standards for curb ramps and updating stormwater catch basin placement to match the new ramps and better handle rainwater runoff.
The first wave of work closed the outer travel lane on eastbound NE Glisan Street from the 82nd Avenue Burgerville parking lot’s entrance up to 85th Avenue. In street excavation barricades and heavy equipment block NE 84th Avenue at NE Glisan, requiring vehicles and pedestrians to take a detour in the area. A new maintenance hole cone sits on the side street, awaiting installation just below the road’s surface.
Excavation barricades, new maintenance hole cone, and heavy equipment block NE 84th Avenue at NE Glisan
Pavement markings added to NE Glisan Street along the project path in January indicate the placement of new curb ramps and stormwater inlets. Nearly every corner that hasn’t already been updated needs improvements to assist people trying to cross this stretch of roadway, which has few marked crossings. Up to now, anyone crossing the busy east-west street has had limited curb ramp options. PBOT will need to complete sidewalk and in-road updates before major roadwork takes place, as the repaving project will repair the asphalt cuts made by crews, creating new sidewalk corners and stormwater management at the street’s edge. People can expect that work to take place this Spring.
PBOT planners anticipate that much of the in-traffic lane work will take place in the Summer of 2026, when crews use heavy equipment to grind down old asphalt and spread a new layer of aggregate bound with bitumen to create a smoother driving surface. Contractors will repaint the lane markings in a new configuration to support painted buffered-bike lanes along the curb for much of the project length. This section of NE Glisan Street implemented alternating outer lanes used for parking or an auxiliary travel lane, depending on the time of day. Collisions occurred on this street where cars were parked, 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. This work will also increase safer bike and pedestrian infrastructure in the area this year, while later project work can build on the new configuration with hardened street elements for greater safety.
Illustration of the existing four travel and one turn lane over proposed configuration from PBOT’s NE Glisan St – 82nd Avenue Multimodal Safety and Access 2028-2030 RFFA Project Factsheet. Courtesy Oregon Metro
This stretch of NE Glisan received an Oregon Metro Regional Flexible Funds Allocation grant to add physically protected bike infrastructure sometime in 2030. The work included in the Northeast Glisan St: 82nd Avenue Multimodal Safety and Access project would require lane reconfiguration and repainting. PBOT Planners feel that this 2026 road surface maintenance presents an opportunity to save public funds by reconfiguring the street during the post-asphalt-work painting process, years before the larger safety improvement project. By doing road marking work now in the new configuration, PBOT can save taxpayer funds by lessening the reconfiguration costs four years later.
Travelers should anticipate construction on sidewalks and in the roadway along NE Glisan Street from NE 82nd to 92nd avenues as crews rebuild pedestrian and stormwater infrastructure. People walking in the area should anticipate detours when demolition and construction work ramp up. Drivers in the area should expect temporary outer lane closures on NE Glisan during construction, followed by permanent outer lane closures after crews paint new lane markings. Crews will work to maintain access to business and residential driveways. Details are available on the project website.
Correction: NE 84th Avenue was incorrectly identified as SE 84th Avenue.
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On Wednesday night, February 25th, community members and City representatives gathered in the cafeteria at Atkinson Elementary School for District 3’s local transportation funding open house. This is one in a series of four in-person events led by the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) to help inform the Portland City Council, which will consider new ways to fund the maintenance and operation of Portland’s streets. Mayor Keith Wilson spoke at the event, summarizing some of the alternative funding options under consideration. People interested in learning more and contributing their perspective can visit the online open houseand take a post-open house survey.
The two-hour event at 5800 SE Division Street saw visitors drop in between 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. as they moved through a self-guided arrangement of poster boards, with City staff available to ask questions and take notes. Portland transportation leaders have spent years warning the community and elected officials that its funding is overburdened by project-based restrictions, preventing 70% of PBOT’s budget from reducing a $6 billion maintenance backlog that impacts road conditions, sidewalks, bridges, signs, lights, and other infrastructure. Much of the funding sourced from Federal and Oregon State sources is for specific projects, such as new crossings or other safety infrastructure, and cannot directly fill potholes or repave roads. Even if a one-time grant were sourced to repair all of Portland’s transportation infrastructure to a “fair” condition, without an updated maintenance revenue source, PBOT assets would decline over the following decades, and a new generation of Portlanders would face the same systemic problem with infrastructure upkeep. In Wilson’s remarks, he painted a troubling picture of Portland’s $85 billion in street assets. “65% of our roads are in a state of not good repair. Most of the nation is above 50%, we are at 35% [for fair condition roads]. So we’re in trouble.”
Mayor Keith Wilson speaking to attendee at the February 25th transportation funding open house
The primary reason for the funding shortfall is inflation, with the presentation material noting that the costs of transportation, construction labor, and materials have increased rapidly while general funding sources have not kept pace. The mayor also pointed to the inequity and ineffective nature of a fixed gas tax that federal legislators have not increased since 1993. “I think we all know that fossil fuels and liquid fuels are going out of style. I drive an electric vehicle myself, and I don’t pay gas taxes. So when we think about paying our fair share, we have to think about the new generation, the new century, and not look to the last century for a failed taxing policy,” said Wilson. He explained the City is looking at “dozens of different options from around the country and the State” to evaluate for Portland transportation funding.
In the open house materials, PBOT has surfaced several proposals that may lay the groundwork for future street funding. Visitors read information about a possible “Street Damage Restoration Fee” that would be charged to utility companies, contractors, or other entities that excavate or trench in the public right-of-way, damaging streets and sidewalks. These crews, including other Portland bureaus, must repair the damage. However, that work often fails to adequately restore the full integrity of a street or sidewalk, and those assets can fail prematurely, a decade or decades earlier than expected.
Presentations also asked attendees to consider a “Transportation Utility Fee” as a funding source, as 31 other Oregon cities have implemented. It could be a monthly fee added to existing public utility bills, which residents and businesses pay. That money collected would support basic road maintenance, such as fixing potholes, and requested safety improvements. A “Retail Delivery Fee” concept would require major retailers to pay a fee for packages delivered to customers through the city’s transportation network. This would come from companies like Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot, Target, and eBay. Colorado and Minnesota have programs like this, but Portland could be the first city to enact this if the City Council adopts this idea. This approach could cover prepared-food transportation in addition to, or in place of, packages with a “Third-Party Food Delivery Fee” similarly proposed.
Asset graphic courtesy PBOT
The open house materials also stressed accountability through audits and transparency. Mayor Wilson’s remarks also centered on shifting taxes rather than simply layering new revenue sources on residents. “The one that we’re gonna be talking about is the transportation utility fee that is going to be a replacement for a gas tax… It’s a real fair way that all houses and/or businesses will pay a portion. My promise to you is if council passes this, I will work to phase out your gas tax for fixing our streets because it’s just not fair, and we have to start rethinking how we’re gonna move our city forward.
PBOT encourages people to visit portland.gov/pbotfunding for more information and share feedback by noon on Wednesday, March 4th, 2026. After that date, extending into May, Portland City Council members will deliberate on the presented materials and community feedback.
Correction: Updated a percentage in Mayor Wilson’s quote clarifying a statement that most cities in the nation have more than 50% of streets in “fair” or “good” condition and Portland is at 35%.
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Starting Monday, February 16th, westbound motorists on NE Halsey Street need to take a detour to NE 82nd Avenue during the next two months of construction on a new mini-roundabout. Eastbound travelers should not experience any significant disruption, but northbound users of NE 80th and NE 81st Avenues will continue to experience local-access restrictions from NE Clackamas Street to NE Halsey Street.
Crews recently completed half of a new mini-roundabout along NE Halsey Street as contractors working with the Portland Bureau of Transportation install street-level bike and pedestrian safety infrastructure, along with upgraded underground stormwater management pipes that connect with relocated catch basins. This street reconfiguration includes reconstructed sidewalks and curbs on sections of NE Halsey at notoriously challenging intersections with multimodal conflict points.
Portland Maps image with MV News illustrations
This work is part of the NE Halsey Street (68th to 92nd Avenues) – Safety and Access to Transit Project. It builds on substantial street safety improvements undertaken in 2024, when roadwork reconfigured NE Halsey Street between 68th and 81st Avenues, removing a lane in each direction while adding painted buffered bike lanes and a center turn lane. In this section of the project, the new mini-roundabout at NE 80th Avenue and Halsey Street will address a confusing intersection, located just before one of the three NE Halsey Street freeway overpasses. Renderings posted show that people will have access to high-visibility pedestrian and bike crossings. Rebuilt and extended corners will also shorten the crossing distance, and new sidewalk segments will guide users to pathways that lead to transit connections. When contractors complete work at NE 81st Avenue, cyclists will have access to a bi-directional buffered bike track on the south side of NE Halsey Street, extending up to NE 92nd Avenue.
PBOT provided illustration showing the NE Halsey, NE 80th, and 81st junction with mini roundabout
PBOT chose this intersection design to reduce crashes while keeping traffic flowing. The roundabout will slow drivers and reduce conflict points, without requiring drivers to come to a complete stop unless a cyclist, pedestrian, or other vehicle has the right of way. The infrastructure should have a lower lifecycle cost because it does not rely on electric traffic signal equipment. Buses and fire trucks can easily drive through the center of the roundabout to make tight turns when needed, improving safety without impacting critical travel routes.
The next phase of work will focus on the northern half of the mini-roundabout, following the recent completion of the southern portion. Crews will continue to work at the site from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. All driveways on these blocks will remain open for people traveling to or from the worksite. However, street users should anticipate additional detours and follow all instructions from crews working in the area.
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At the end of January, crews working with the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) completed the installation of slightly raised concrete separators for the newly created parking-buffered bike lane on the south side of SE Washington Street. This new physical infrastructure helps keep parking vehicles from encroaching on the curbside non-automotive path. However, the installation of the bicycle safety infrastructure on the one-way street is not universally appreciated by street users.
Concrete forms for lane separators on SE Washingtons St looking east from SE 76th Ave Jan 27th, 2026 (Crossett Freilinger)
In August, 2025, crews with Specialized Pavement Marking (SPM) removed lane markings on SE Thorburn, Stark, and Washington Streets as part of PBOT’s reconfiguration of the roads to improve safety for bike and pedestrian use. Road marking contractors repainted the streets, changing the traffic pattern for drivers on SE Thorburn and Washington Streets who lost a lane of travel in each direction. Bike lane users gained a protected route from SE Gilham Avenue to SE 92nd Avenue. PBOT retained much of the existing street parking on both sides of SE Washington Street for a critical two-block segment near the historic Montavilla downtown area. The road striping plan removed south curbside parking on SE Washington and replaced it with bike-lane-adjacent parking from SE 76th to 80th Avenues, creating a protected buffer for the five-foot-wide curbside cyclist route. To accommodate driveway access and maintain driver visibility, PBOT reduced parking capacity on the south side of the street, painting a white hatch pattern where vehicles should not stop and creating painted stalls where cars can park.
During the last six months, drivers have used the painted markings with varied success. At times, people continued to park against the southern curb, blocking the bike lane, or used the hatched area for parking. The addition of the raised concrete separators on the northern edge of the bike lane has helped keep vehicles aligned with their space, giving motorists’ tires a tactile street element to detect the proper position without extending into the bike lane. The width of the concrete separator also keeps vehicles from creating an open door obstacle for bike lane users. One of the challenges bike riders face in some parking-protected lanes comes from car doors opening into the lane. If the door is longer than the bike lane’s width and the vehicle is close to the outer edge of the lane, the rider is trapped between the parked vehicles and the curb, with no space to veer around an open door. In SE Washington’s configuration, most open passenger doors should allow enough room for the cyclist or scooter rider to hug the curb and zip around the vehicle’s door.
SE Washington St west of SE 76th Ave (Jacob Loeb)
Even with these recent concrete additions, some cyclists say they feel trapped in parking-protected bike lanes and fear reduced visibility to drivers who may turn across the path without noticing riders behind the parked cars. That has led some safety advocates to point to Dutch-style, physically separated, and often raised bike infrastructure that places the bike path next to the pedestrian sidewalk and pushes the planting strips and furniture zone, with utility poles, towards the curb. This design is costly to retrofit into existing streets because it often requires relocating overhead and below-ground utility lines. It also requires additional markings to help cyclists and pedestrians properly navigate a shared sidewalk space without conflict.
Some local business owners and drivers using this route have expressed dissatisfaction with the loss of a travel lane on the one-way street. During peak usage times, traffic can back up as motorists wait for the traffic lights at SE 76th, 82nd, and 92nd Avenues. Similarly, during the weekend farmers market or on busy evenings, the slightly fewer parking spots on SE Washington Street will require people to park farther into the residential portion of the neighborhood. However, at most times of day, the street flows without significant traffic buildup, and the commercial streets of Montavilla historically lacked sufficient capacity to accommodate the number of visitors seeking parking during big events. For years, drivers have ventured into the surrounding residential areas to park their vehicles during those peak times.
SE Washington St showing hight of raised concrete lane separator (Jacob Loeb)
For cyclists and scooter users riding in this new lane, the raised concrete separators help align the parked cars, providing protection. They also help motorists interact with the uncommon parking arrangement. However, these raised separators are shorter than a curb and beveled so vehicles can easily drive over them. They do not offer full protection for cyclists beyond simply encouraging drivers to stay in their lanes, and drivers will need to adapt to this new traffic pattern and parking system. Until then, all street users should use caution in this area and look for unexpected conflict points.
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