Remove traffic diverters in the name of public safety – BikePortland

A City agency with the backing of the Portland Police Bureau has directed the Portland Bureau of Transportation to remove three traffic diverters in northwest Portland because they say the large concrete barricades and one-way streets — installed by PBOT to improve safety and calm traffic — hinder the preferred routes of police patrols. So far, at least one city council member opposes the move.

Skyler Brocker-Knapp is director of Portland Solutions, a city bureau formed in 2024 to address homelessness and related “livability challenges.” In an email today to District 4 city council members and copied to Portland Police Bureau Sgt. Ty Engstrom, Portland Bureau of Transportation Director Millicent Williams, and Deputy City Administrator of Public Works Priya Dhanapal, Brocker-Knapp wrote that diverters on NW 20th and Everett, NW 14th and Johnson, and NW 15th and Johnson must be removed.

“These locations… have been particularly problematic in terms of chronic nuisance behavior (drug dealing, vandalism, etc.),” Brocker-Knapp wrote. Apparently, staffers at the Public Environment Management Office (PEMO) have been working for three years to make this move. All the diverters (also known as “modal filters”) named in the email create one-way streets for auto users, since behind them the street becomes a bike-only lane. They were installed as part of PBOT neighborhood greenway projects and vetted through months of public outreach with a goal to calm traffic and reduce traffic deaths and injuries to the most vulnerable road users.

But if Brocker-Knapp’s email is the final word (I have not confirmed a date for removal) they’ll be torn out and replaced with sharrow markings.

The diverters in the northeast corner of NW 20th and Everett have been the target of neighborhood ire for a while now. An article in the NW Examiner last month asked rhetorically, “Do they make us safer, or just get in the way?” Article author Allan Classen wrote that the barriers, “prevent many neighborhood Fred Meyer shoppers from driving directly home.” Classen explained that drivers headed north or west on 20th from the Fred Meyer parking garage (on NW 20th Pl.) must travel three blocks east to 18th Ave before heading to their destination. 85% of the 156 people who voted in a poll posted on the Examiner’s website said they wanted the diverter removed.

From the PPB perspective, the diverters and one-way streets force them out of their way when traveling between Fred Meyer and Couch Park two blocks north. Couch Park has recently made headlines because local residents have complained that it’s a hive of open drug use and crime. Back in May the PPB conducted a focused enforcement mission around the park that resulted in three arrests, drug and gun seizures, and 12 people being transported to deflection centers. Also in May, District 4 City Councilor Eric Zimmerman made public his intention to have the diverters removed.

According to Brocker-Knapp, restoring the streets to two-way auto traffic will allow police to “better navigate” the area. The plan is for PBOT to replace the diverter with all-way stop sign configuration. (“People biking may also use the Flanders Greenway one block to the north,” the email states.)

Over on NW Johnson, PEMO is directing PBOT to remove diverters and restore two-way traffic at NW 14th and NW 15th to, “allow for easier movement for Portland Police through the area.” A spokesperson for PEMO told me in a phone conversation today that they’ve also had reports from bike riders who fear for their safety while using the underpass.

A request for PBOT comment was redirected to PEMO. In their email, Brocker-Knapp said they’ve already worked with PBOT to, “develop a solution for traffic redirection at these locations,” and staff from all involved agencies have conducted site walks with the city traffic engineer.

District 4 City Councilor Mitch Green opposes the projects. In a reply to Brocker-Knapp’s email, Green wrote, “I don’t support this at all and I’m curious to understand what the justification for this is, what problem it solves, and what consideration has been given to the new problems it creates.”

“At a time when vehicle-based pedestrian fatalities are up, it’s hard for me to see how this improves public safety.”

The PBOT Bicycle Advisory Committee has not been involved with these discussions. I’ve learned that it will be on the agenda of their August 12th meeting and a representative from PEMO and the Mayor’s Office have been invited to attend.

I’ve reached out to PPB Traffic Division Sgt. Ty Engstrom for comment. I’ve also asked PEMO how the PPB’s public safety concerns were weighed against the public safety concerns that resulted in the installation of the diverters to begin with. I’ll update this post as I learn more.