The Friends of Barbur article on bikeportland.org inspired me to get a more complete helmet cam video of SW Barbur Blvd. See http://bikeportland.org/2010/12/10/friends-share-vision-push-for-bike-friendl... .
I had planned to do this on December 16, 2010, since I had the day off. Then, the tragic death of Ms. Angela Burke in a crash on Barbur with an accused drunk driver happened. See http://bikeportland.org/2010/12/16/fatal-crash-on-sw-barbur-last-night-44593 . I thought, "should I not do this video because it is disrespectful to Ms. Burke?" But I then thought that a drunk driver should not have veto power over people trying to improve conditions for bicyclists.
So, I went ahead. It actually took a second day due to a depleted helmet cam battery. I have covered both north and southbound Barbur from Hall and Barbur in Tigard, Oregon, to Barbur and Lane in Portland, Oregon. I split the video up into youtube-sized pieces (15 minutes maximum.) (Note that actually, Barbur west of I-5 is Pacific Highway, at least on Google maps.)
This part is northbound, starting at SW 60th and going to SW Taylors Ferry Roa near the Barbur Transit Center.
0:10: another freeway ramp to negotiate. No one is coming, so I proceed.
0:25: there is a white line that could be the worn out remnants of a bike lane marker. Or, it might just be a fog line marker. The area it delineates looks wide enough to be a bike lane.
0:41: another bicyclist going the opposite direction.
0:53: Westview Terrace Apartments
0:57: I think it is a fog line. And the area which it delineates gets much narrower, quickly. I stop to let some traffic pass. I did not realize it at the time, but after I went over the video frame by frame, the two large-ish yellow trucks that zoom by me had ODOT logos on their doors. I think that ODOT, which owns Barbur, could condemn a few feet of Westview Terrace apartments' landscaping and create the bike lane there. I comment at, 1:25, "I'm not sure that stopping at that pont was strictly necessary, but at the time it felt like it."
The second ODOT truck has what I think is a storm sewer vacuum mounted on it. I wish it would pay a visit to some of the storm drains on Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway.
1:15: 40 MPH speed limit sign
2:40: on-street parking that does NOT have the bike lane in the door zone.
4:43: milepost 7
5:22: watching me going up this hill slowly seems tedious to me. It must be really tedious to you. Feel free to skip ahead.
7:53: 40 MPH speed limit sign
8:03: you can see a sign with a pedestrian graphic. I don't know if that is intended to say that people are walking along the road here, or that there is a pedestrian crossing ahead.
8:06: you hear me point out that I can see tire tracks from other bicycles on the bike lane.
9:12: people waiting for the bus at the bus stop at SW Luradel St. I also think that I have finally crested the hill; my speed is picking up.
9:44: a sign which indicates that the bike lane ends and bicycle will be in the motor vehicle lane.
9:56: bike lane does end. This is before the other intersection with Capitol Highway. Other landmarks: the McDonalds, Ranch Inn Motel, Koji Osakaya.
10:10: a painted(!) and signed crosswalk on ODOT's road without any additional traffic control. This is at the intersection with Huber, and is again before the intersection with Capitol, between the McDonalds and the Starbucks. I did not notice this until I watched the video.
10:14: a bus only lane.
At about 10:23, if you can hear me over the wind, traffic noise, and my squealing disk brakes, I point out that the sign next to the traffic light allows buses and bicycles in the rightmost lane. It says, "RIGHT LANE BICYCLES AND BUSES ONLY ALL HOURS"
10:47: what the bridges to the north SHOULD look like, with a nice wide bicycle lane, a sidewalk, and a high railing/fence. This is a bridge over I-5, just east of the other intersection with Capitol.
11:32: a pedestrian crosses the street at SW Taylors Ferry in front of the Barbur Transit Center. You can also see one of the walking trail signs the the right.
11:38: another bicyclist, turning from SW Taylors Ferry Road onto Barbur northbound, with a green light, and with motor vehicle traffic.
This part was filmed December 16, using a CountourHD helmet cam.
Loading...
7:06
SW Barbur Tour: SW Lane to Milepost 3, Includes Fatality Sceneby pdxcommuter286 views
this is the road I go through to go to PCC.
UncleSam116 2 months ago
This is a great series of videos. In this video, I used to use the bus stop right there at the I-5 offramp and it is horrible to have to run across Barbur there on the way home - there's absolutely no crosswalk anywhere nearby.
I'm quite fortunate I live in Tigard now...when I do ride my bike into downtown I have a much better route (safer, and easier grade) than dealing with Barbur.
spredelectric 1 year ago 2