Division Reorganization Update

The City of Portland began restriping Division St. from 60^th to 80^th on Monday, Aug. 5. The re-striping has changed Division St. (from 60^th to 80^th) from two traffic lanes in each direction to one traffic lane in each direction with a center turn lane and bike lanes on the sides of the street. More work on signals and the installation of a pedestrian island will happen in September.

So far most feedback is positive. PBOT is monitoring issues and encourages residents with questions to contact Clay Veka via email at Clay.Veka@portlandoregon.gov. Additional materials about the project’s development and community input is available on the PBOT website at :  Division Street Webpage.

This project is in response to community requests to the City’s Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) for solutions to significant safety problems on this part of Division St.

Over the past year, PBOT worked collaboratively with the S. Tabor and Mt. Tabor Neighborhood Associations and Warner Pacific College to design and host a number of community meetings to talk about the safety problems and possible solutions. The majority of the community members who participated in the meetings supported the re-striping option with additional crossing and safety improvements.

Here is PBOT’s announcement:

The project commencing August 5^th will specifically include:

• Road restriping work from SE 60^th to SE 80^th that will change the roadway from four lanes to three lanes, including one travel lane in each direction, a dedicated center turning lane, and bicycle lanes.
• The installation of a pedestrian crossing at SE 68^th to provide a safer crossing for pedestrians on this busy street.
• Signal upgrades to improve the flow of traffic.

As many of you know, this is Phase I.  We have also submitted a grant application to ODOT to secure funding for Phase II, which would include curb ramps (throughout corridor), two additional marked crosswalks with pedestrian islands (64^th and 79^th), a new signal (SE 71^st) and a signal upgrade (SE 76^th). We will be in touch when we learn about the status of the grant application.  If we are awarded the grant, the money will be available in 2017/18, so it is still a ways off.

Additional materials about the project’s development and community input is available on the PBOT website at :  Division Street Webpage.