PBOT Director attends bike advisory committee meeting, urges advocates to see big picture – BikePortland

In remarks at last night’s Bicycle Advisory Committee meeting about what to do when cycling advocates and the City of Portland have “uncomfortable conversations,” transportation bureau Director Millicent Williams urged folks to be willing to compromise and see the big picture.

At the outset of her visit — where she touched on a wide range of issues speaking from both her own perspective and from pre-written statements prepared by PBOT staff — Williams said, “I’ll use the freight example: There are some routes that are just freight routes. And if in fact we are going to ensure that all users use the system safely, we have to be honest with ourselves when we say, ‘Hey, this is our freight route.’ Can cyclists choose this? Yes. Should we make that safe for them? Absolutely. But there may need to be a real conversation about where and what we do.”

“So I wanna share that because I can’t fail to see the whole community,” Williams continued. “And sometimes it’s an equal vision, sometimes it’s a preferential vision. But I have to make sure that you aren’t closing our eyes to the whole city and the whole set of solutions that are in front of us.” It’s unclear what specific project or policy prompted Williams to say that, or if it was just something she wanted to get off her chest.

Williams spent about thirty minutes at the monthly meeting where she was on the agenda to “share her vision about bicycling in Portland.” Williams gave an overview of major bike projects, then responded to questions collected from Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC) members. The questions had been given to PBOT staff beforehand and Williams switched between personal comments and answers to the questions that had been pre-written by staff.

In addition to the comment about seeing the ‘whole city,’ Williams addressed many issues — from how PBOT is navigating the new form of city government, to how her agency has aided Mayor Keith Wilson’s drive to end unsheltered homelessness. And even though she wasn’t asked about it by the BAC, Williams addressed the controversial plan to remove traffic diverters on neighborhood greenways in Northwest Portland back in August.

Director Williams acknowledged that when PBOT was first told about the issue by the city’s administrative wing (specifically, a group known as Problem Solvers that was formed to address things like graffiti, homeless camps, and other related issues), the agency opposed the plan to remove the diverters. When Problem Solvers urged PBOT to reconsider and look at how the diverters impact a wider range of “nuisance behaviors” in the area, Williams said the agency once again demurred. Ultimately, Williams said PBOT agreed to “look more broadly” at the concerns and the agency came up with an alternative plan that, “would create an opportunity for cyclist safety, for pedestrians, and hopefully, be able to create the opportunity for some of the nuisance behaviors to be curbed.”

As for an update on the diverter removals (which are still in a state of pause), Williams said PBOT is continuing to gather data, “On whether or not some of the nuisance behaviors are continuing to happen in that space to determine whether or not we need to move down that path [of implementing an alternative plan].”

Williams clarified to the committee that when PBOT is asked about a proposal that has a transportation-related solution (as was the case with the diverter removal proposal), the agency will be happy to weigh in; but not without doing necessary outreach and gathering data first. “They may need to pay for us to do the outreach, but we will make sure that we do our part to bring forward the concerns and a series of responses that reflect the best thinking we can.”

She added that sometimes the bureau will need to act quickly (“sometimes extreme circumstances require extreme measures” is how she put it), but when that happens PBOT will communicate directly with BAC leadership. Her final comment on the topic made it clear the city heard community pushback around the diverter plan loud and clear: “Cycling in the city is something that is broadly supported,” she said. “And people do not want to see that compromised upon.”

Here are a few other updates and tidbits she mentioned at the meeting:

• Portland has a total of 463 bikeways and PBOT has 36 more miles that are funded but not yet built.
• She spoke positively about the NE Broadway Pave and Paint and SW 4th Avenue bikeway projects, calling both examples, “what transformation looks like.”
• PBOT expects the SW 4th Ave protected bike lane to be completed next month. “I believe it’s going to be quite lovely,” she said.
• PBOT has implemented custom traffic signal timing on some bike bus routes to help the larger groups get through intersections together. I’ve asked for details and will share more soon.
• Daylighting intersections (a.k.a. “vision clearance”) is currently happening at nine public schools and they plan to complete nine more by July 2026.
• PBOT and City Councilor Olivia Clark (in her role as chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee) are currently in talks about a new transportation revenue source that would provide “sustainable funding”. Williams said they’re discussing strategy and a plan for moving forward on that right now.
• Williams said PBOT and the Mayor’s Office are now working together to keep streets cleaner. In the past, PBOT couldn’t maintain streets due to encampments, but Williams said there’s now a better understanding with the mayor that if camps are removed, PBOT can take care of right of way maintenance more easily.
• When it comes to the new government structure, Williams said, “We do have to make sure that everything that we’re being asked to do conforms with mayoral expectations and are aligned around the budget and his objectives,” and that, “It’s a carefully curated relationship that we continue to navigate on a daily basis.”
• Portland’s new city administrator is expected to be in place by the end of December.

Asked how the BAC can best support PBOT in reaching the goals outlined in the Bicycle Master Plan for 2030, Williams said she hopes advocates don’t lose perspective on how good Portland already has it. PBOT’s longtime Bicycle Coordinator Roger Geller often reminds us our existing bike network is better than it ever has been, Williams pointed out. “And I believe him. I think it’s rather impressive,” she said. “We are looking to encourage people to use the bike infrastructure that we have while continuing to invest in the system.” Then she encouraged BAC members to partner with PBOT in sharing the narrative that “cycling is a safe, convenient choice.”

What about responding to haters? The final question from the BAC was about how PBOT responds to pushback on bike-centric projects. “We always hear from people who are supportive, but we also hear from those who are not,” Williams responded. At this point she was speaking from her own voice and not reading a pre-written answer. “And it’s our opportunity, to not convince people, but demonstrate to people that you can have a project that serves many, many interests and often recognize…” And then she abruptly said: “I’m gonna stop.”

Williams then added: “We can serve many, many interests. Period.”