ODOT has a new online "Open House" for a project on Commercial Street near the new Police Station at the charlie foxtrot that is the intersection of Division, Front, and Commercial.
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| Part of the "Open House" imagery |
The whole thing is weird.
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| The context map shows a much larger area |
It says "Market Street to Union Street," but the detail map (at top) shows only a one block segment from Division to Union.
Is there more?
As for the Division to Union segment, overall it retains the Rube Goldberg system of crosswalks, islands, deviation, and multi-phase crossing procedure that together prioritize car travel and make walking and biking through it inconvenient.
The Open House has four numbered places on the map with a little more detail.
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| At No. 1 |
At No. 1 they highlight the green crossbike, but the real helpful part is a continuation of the southbound bike lane south of the Division/Front charlie foxtrot.
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| At No. 4 |
Then at No. 4 below there's a bike box for a jug handle turn onto Union Street eastbound. It also works for people on Union turning north or south onto Commercial. That seems useful.
But a couple of elements in the network could use more information.
Who is going to make a northbound turn? If you are coming off the Union Street Bridge eastbound, you might make a northbound turn onto Front Street and use that bike lane to reach Commercial Street northbound or Division Street eastbound. A northbound turn from the bike box is not useless, but it would be good to know more about the northbound bike lane on the curving section of Front Street between Union and Division.
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| Is the stopped "slip lane" going away? |
And how does that bike line work with the right-hand southbound stopped "slip lane" from Front onto Commercial? The reconfigured island in the elbow between Nos. 1 and 2 on the map suggests the slip lane and "pork chop" might be removed. Will right-hand turns for drivers be eliminated or just be relocated to a normal turn lane? Eliminating that "slip lane" would be an important detail! But there is no call-out and additional comment on the map. This corner is very unclear.
Also left unsaid is that a northbound bike lane on Commercial here would be a contraflow lane.
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| Unexplained! |
You'd think they'd explain that! But it's left implied.
The momentary sidewalkification marked by the green paint and swerve at the corner with Union on the south end makes for an awkward, very sharp 90 degree turn from Union Street in both directions.
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| No biking on sidewalk |
It continues to be unhelpfully random that very close to downtown we ask people biking to use a wider sidewalk and then ask them to dismount on the sidewalks downtown. This inconsistent switching is not helpful. A more consistent approach to the look and feel of bicycle facilities would improve compliance and comfort for all users.
And why not use traffic separators on both sides of new bike lane segments here on Commercial and Front? Make a real protected bike lane system!
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| At No. 2 |
Back up at No. 2 what is going on there? More weaving between a bike lane and the sidewalk, for one.
The crosswalk they say they are "moving south" remains not inline with Division Street and requires deflection from straight line travel. It's a hassle. Cars and drivers do not have to make such roundabout maneuvers.
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| At No. 3 |
Finally, why call out the sidewalk and driveway. That's just like normal maintenance. How does that matter?
Could it be because there's been a change in plan? You may recall a previous iteration of this did not include a striped southbound bike lane on the west side of the street, and instead employed a wider multiuse sidewalk path on the east side, the same location as No. 3 points to. This deserves more explanation, especially as it's a positive and seemingly responds to public comment.
See recently:
- "City Fails to Solve Charlie Foxtrot, Uses Kludge at Front-Division-Commercial Intersection" (2021)
- "Commercial Street at UGM and the Police Station" (2022)
- "More Detail on Commercial at Division" (2022)
The materials in the Open House look like they mainly highlight a bunch of green paint meant to bamboozle us a little with bells and whistles that may not actually make a short section of Commercial Street very much more usable.
The street network here is a real charlie foxtrot, and "improvements" deserve more commentary and analysis so that we we can really understand their intended functioning.
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