Portlanders rally support as diverters are slated for removal this week – BikePortland

Portland Solutions, the City office that’s driving an effort to remove two traffic diverters in northwest, says the changes to Northwest 20th and NW Johnson streets are going to happen this week. This means, if their plan comes to fruition, two neighborhood greenways developed through the Northwest In Motion Plan will lose key traffic calming infrastructure and it will be done without any public notice or transparent decision-making process.

One of the diverters, on NW 20th Avenue at Everett, is just one block south of the route taken by the Chapman Elementary School bike bus.

Safety concerns like that one are just one reason advocates have ramped up campaigns to fight the diverter removals. In the past few hours, urban advocacy group Strong Towns PDX has issued a statement opposing the plan and is spreading an email template in hopes of pressuring city leaders. Bike Loud PDX also plans to publish a statement later today that encourages Portland Solutions to pause their plan until the issue can be vetted through at the city’s Bicycle Advisory Committee later this month.

In this story, I’ll share more reactions from City Councilors, update you on the latest plans, and share a few other important things I’ve learned.

Timing of the removal

When I first learned about this plan on Friday (through an internal email that was forwarded to me by City Councilor Mitch Green), it was unclear when the diverters would be removed. On Tuesday I reported that a Portland Solutions spokesperson said “We’re in the early stages of this… I still think that there’s time for engagement.” Now that’s changed. The confirmation that the work will happen this week came from Portland Solutions on Tuesday afternoon along with answers to other questions I asked that sought to gain a better understanding of why and how their decision was made.

(Their answers didn’t address all my questions, so I’ve emailed a set of follow-ups that I’m still waiting to hear back on. I requested a phone interview, but was told I could only email questions. I also asked for a name I could attribute their answers to — like perhaps Portland Solutions Director Skyler Brocker-Knapp — but I was told to use only “Portland Solutions” because the answers are being crafted by committee.)

How the streets would change

In an internal email announcing the plan Friday, Portland Solutions Director Skyler Brocker-Knapp told city councilors, transportation bureau officials, and city administrators that the diverters and one-way streets they create for drivers would be returned to two-way auto traffic in order to facilitate easier vehicle patrols by the Portland Police Bureau and to improve the general safety of the streets. The current plan is to replace the northbound bike lane on NW 20th with a sharrow marking and add stop signs to NW Everett (so the intersection will become a four-way stop). On NW Johnson at 15th, their plan initially called for removal of the diverter and bike lane and the addition of a sharrow marking. They now say they will remove on-street parking spots which gives them space to retain the bike lane. (I’ve asked what spurred this change and haven’t heard back yet.)

Portland Solutions also shared that the changes could be, “potentially temporary.” “The City will be keeping a close eye on traffic safety and public safety to determine if there should be additional changes or a reversion of the traffic patterns,” read their email to BikePortland. As far as I know, this possibility of a temporary change is new and only came about because of my coverage of this. I’ve asked for a confirmation/clarification on that and what the metrics for success/failure would be and have yet to hear back.

Impetus behind the decision

NW 20th and Everett
Portland Solutions (through the Public Environment Management Office, or PEMO) says they asked PBOT to identify how two-way traffic could be restored on NW 20th (between Everett and Flanders) to, “allow police vehicles the ability to navigate north from Burnside to Glisan.” They say the issue came up in regular meetings with PBOT and that PBOT officials walked the block with Portland Police Bureau representatives, “to confirm the scope of the change.”

Today I spoke to someone who lives near this intersection. Dave Smith (not his real name, he requested anonymity) is active in neighborhood issues and attended several of the Problem Solver meetings hosted by PEMO where these diverters were discussed. Smith, who doesn’t own a car and walks everywhere, told me he’s torn on the issue. He’s heard directly from police officers about how much crime-related activity happens on NW 20th between Burnside (Fred Meyer) and Glisan (Couch Park) and he’s seen the 311 and 911 call log overlays of the area. “This particular zone has massive amounts of drug dealing and the highest amount of calls,” he shared, “and the diverter really limits their ability to patrol and respond to things.”

“I’ve seen it in real-time where criminals are running down the street and the cops are having to drive around the block as the person cuts through [the diverter at 20th and Everett],” Smith said. “I love that little median; but I’m also in favor of having way less crime and confrontations and hazards all near my house.”

I sensed a real frustration in Smith’s voice. “I don’t know what the right answer is,” he said at one point. What he would prefer is more of a compromise solution where the diverter barricades are adjusted so that emergency vehicles and police can more easily get through; but individual drivers could not. He’d also support a change to the parking permit program that would only allow residents to park on the street, but he says PBOT has shot that idea down several times.

NW Johnson and 15th
When asked to clarify the rationale for the changes at this location, Portland Solutions said:

“The block is currently unlit and incredibly dark during both day and night. When cars do park on the block, community members and police have seen increased narcotic sales as well as nuisances/public safety impacts to pedestrians and cyclists. Community members in the area as well as [Portland Police Bureau] PPB have indicated it is usually unsafe to walk on either sidewalk. PEMO/ Portland Solutions asked PBOT to identify how to return two-way traffic to this block. PBOT followed up and validated that the parking could be removed to preserve the bike lane with the two-way traffic. PEMO is working with PGE, ODOT, and PBOT to add lighting to the block.”

The public process (or lack thereof)

I asked Portland Solutions if there was a public process or any public meetings where this problem/plan was discussed. They didn’t answer that question directly and instead wrote: “These changes are operational decisions based on discussions between Portland Solutions, Portland Police Bureau, and the Portland Bureau of Transportation.”

Who supports and opposes this?

I asked Portland Solutions to clarify whether or not PBOT supports the changes and have yet to hear back (PBOT won’t respond to my questions and has deferred everything to Portland Solutions). Their initial response said they asked PBOT how/if they could restore two-way auto traffic to these streets. To me that sounded like an order or a mandate. It’s not the same as them coming to PBOT and saying, “We have a problem with how this street works. What would you recommend we do about it?” I hope to hear more from Portland Solutions about this.

A source who works at PBOT (who I won’t name) told me the diverter removals are “unsupported at every level in PBOT.”

When it comes to City Council members, I’ve got a few updates to share.

So far we know District 4 Councilor Mitch Green (who’s also one of five members of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee) is strongly opposed. He’s working on hosting a public meeting to air concerns and share information. As for the other two D4 councilors, both Olivia Clark and Eric Zimmerman support the diverter removal.

I knew Zimmerman was in support of it because he mentioned it publicly in May. He’s also a strong supporter of the PPB in general. When I asked yesterday to confirm his views on the plan, he reiterated support for the removal, but also said biking and walking safety is a top priority. Here’s Zimmerman’s full comment:

“I want to be clear: the decision to remove the diverters at NW 20th and Everett is a direct response to ongoing public safety concerns raised by the community and brought to my attention by Portland Solutions. This change reflects input from neighbors at the Problem Solver meetings and coordination with Portland Police, PEMO, and PBOT.

Removing the diverters will improve emergency response access, while bicycle access will remain. If these city agencies think this change is important, and new sharrow markings are added to ensure all users understand the shared use of the street — I support them.

Keeping our neighborhoods safe and accessible, particularly for cyclists and pedestrians, is a top priority of mine.”

T & I Committee Chair Clark said, “I support this change primarily so our first responders can better navigate vehicles through the neighborhood during public safety emergencies.”

So far just one other councilor has responded to my request for comment. T & I Committee Vice Chair Angelita Morillo told BikePortland this morning that she was not notified of the plan, “even as Vice Chair of the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee.”

“I am firmly against the removal of this traffic calming infrastructure,” Morillo added, “especially at a time when the Portland Bureau of Transportation is facing immense budget constraints. It is a waste of money and resources to undo the hard work and community outreach that went into installing these diverters. This does not live up to our Vision Zero values.”

What about Mayor Keith Wilson? Portland Solutions reports directly to the mayor’s office, but I’ve been told by his Chief of Staff Taylor Zajonc, “I believe we’re going to decline to weigh in on this one.”

One last tidbit

A local activist reached out to me last night with an interesting footnote to Portland Solution’s decision to remove the diverters. In 2022, when former Mayor Ted Wheeler issued the emergency declaration that formed what would become the Portland Solutions office, the language of the declaration included this language:

The City’s Public Environment Management Office (PEMO) … shall serve as the Mayor’s designee under this Emergency Declaration… In addition to other priority tasks, the Mayor’s designee will undertake to:

• Ensure preventative measures are in place such as activating public spaces with positive means such as food carts, planters, more positive barriers, or reconfiguration of the public space.

Median diverters — especially ones that have become a community garden — are a proven tool to activate public spaces. And cars do the opposite. Portlanders have spent years trying to reconfigure public space away from being car-centric and toward being human-centric. This plan from PEMO would reverse some of that work and goes against the very declaration that created it.

I still have questions out to Portland Solutions and other city leaders and will continue to follow this story. Stay tuned.