Ask ODOT for More than Buffers on Downtown Highways

You may recall the survey from ODOT last summer on downtown state highways. At the December MWACT meeting we learned they are sticking with the name, the "Urban Design Verification Study" for Salem.

Now ODOT has a new online Open House and survey on some preliminary concepts.

Downtown State Highways

Above all, there is plenty of room for more hardened protection than merely paint-striped buffers! In some cases the bike lanes are still old-school without any buffers at all. Stronger barriers and protection ought to be feasible in any space where a four-foot buffer is proposed! (And in smaller buffers also.)*

Buffers and Lane Widths (click to enlarge)

Additionally, some auto travel lanes are too wide and will continue to induce speeding. There's no need for 12 foot lanes in urban contexts. NACTO says 11 foot lanes might be necessary for truck routes, but focuses on 11, not 12. 

For designated truck or transit routes, one travel lane of 11 feet may be used in each direction. In select cases, narrower travel lanes (9–9.5 feet) can be effective as through lanes in conjunction with a turn lane....Lanes greater than 11 feet should not be used as they may cause unintended speeding and assume valuable right of way at the expense of other modes.

Has ODOT really tried as hard as they could to narrow auto travel lanes here?

The survey has detail on a number of intersections. The Commercial/Liberty couplet at the Parkway is the first. And it's a Byzantine treatment! Does it have to be this complicated? Maybe so with the true highway nature of the Parkway. But maybe you will think of ways to simplify it.

At the Parkway

One of the chief problems is the commitment to slip lanes — two of them! — from Liberty onto the Parkway so drivers don't have to stop. The slip lane from the Parkway north onto Liberty is also a problem. Until we are ready to deprioritize a constant flow of auto travel, we may be stuck with very inferior and complicated solutions for non-auto travel.

The problem of going north on Liberty (2010)

Here's the problem and right-hook hazard it seeks to solve. Note the current middle lane is optional straight or turn, and the new middle lane would be a mandatory turn. 

At least the proposed solution does offer a legal, signalized extension of the bike lane into and across the intersection.

South of the Parkway are a couple of sets of enhanced crosswalks without fully signalized intersections. These seem reasonable, and it will be interesting if immediate neighbors have any substantive critique. The narrative says neighbors redirected ODOT from improving an existing crossing on Columbia to a new crossing on Academy. That sounds like helpful responsiveness!

Some enhanced crosswalks

The bridgehead at Union Street and the alley has not seemed terribly difficult, but green paint would add clarity and also signal to drivers to expect other travelers. The intersection at Front shows curb extensions, but the median may need to be higher in order to hinder crashes like the "roadway departure" into the encampment two years ago. ODOT calls this out as a City project, part of continuing work on the Union Street bikeway. (There are some slight differences in a drawing showed to the Bond committee, and there might be more to say in a comparison another time.)

At the Union Street Bridge

In the wrap on 2023 at Salem Bike Vision, they talked about "Salem’s first bike box, which is planned for Liberty St./Trade St." And here is a picture! (This is at the Fire Station and Pringle Parkade, and also a City project.)

A bike box on Liberty at Trade

Since the section of Liberty north of Trade is not part of any scheduled project and is not being changed, the bike box will have limited utility. It will benefit only strong and fearless cyclists who are willing to take the Lane on Liberty through downtown. For them it will certainly help with positioning, with asserting their claim to the lane, and with minimizing danger for a right-hook from drivers turning right onto Trade. But for ordinary people biking, it is not likely to induce any new bike trips north on Liberty into downtown.

The underpass along the Millrace has a doomy photo in the survey, apt for its too frequent use as a toilet and camp site. ODOT proposes improved lighting and signage.

Pringle Parkway Underpass

And ODOT suggests signal changes at Winter and Bellevue to give people on foot more time to cross a sometimes difficult intersection (which will likely also help those biking). They also propose a mid-block enhanced crosswalk between the Hospital complex and WU campus, as well as widening the sidewalk on the north side of Bellevue into a multi-use path (dashed line on map).

Another enhanced crosswalk

Sidewalk into multi-use path on north side of Bellevue

The governing concept for the study was to find lower-cost interventions and generally these do seem to represent incremental improvement. 

But with buffers only and with 12 foot travel lanes, there are safety improvements being left on the table.

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*Salem Bike Vision excludes the Commercial/Liberty couplet from their proposal, and focuses instead on Broadway only, but this seems like a real missed opportunity in the context of this ODOT project. It will be interesting to hear what they have to say.

Broadway only