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Portland transportation leaders want to create a network of protected bike highways, give buses more road lanes and make it easier to walk throughout the city's core.

Those are a few takeaways from the latest glimpse at Portland's Central City in Motion plan. The city has $30 million dedicated to projects in the five-square mile area of Portland's core stretching from Goose Hollow to the South Waterfront on the westside, and from the Lloyd to Central Eastside Industrial District on the eastside.

Collectively, the potential projects would mark the most significant changes to how people get around downtown and the inner eastside in decades.

These changes, while not as costly in terms of infrastructure, will reshape how people get around the city forever. At least that’s the goal.

Dylan Rivera, Portland Bureau of Transportation spokesman, said the objective is to create a “world class” transit and bike system downtown. The projects, he said, could “help us live up to our own aspirations and the community’s expectations.”

The city wants feedback on its latest project ideas. Officials plan to take the full list to city council in September. Construction could begin on some of them next year. Here are some of the biggest potential projects:

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A north/south bikeway

Anyone who has ridden a bike in downtown knows there’s not a lot of great options to go north or south. This project would create a “signature” protected bikeway on 4th Avenue and Broadway.

The left travel lane on 4th would be converted to a protected northbound bike lane. Some street parking could be removed as well. This lane would extend from Interstate 405 to Northwest Flanders Street, but the lane would be protected by street parking on its right.

The Broadway part of the bike couplet would convert one travel lane throughout the area into a bikeway.

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Burnside Bridge

A consistent theme of the project list is that buses get bogged down throughout downtown. Delays ripple throughout the transit system, all the way to Gresham and Hillsboro.

One proposal is to create a permanent eastbound bus lane on the Burnside Bridge, with rush hour bus and right-turn only lanes on each side of the Willamette River to give buses priority.

“The Burnside Bridge is probably our biggest concept,” said Gabe Graff, the Transportation Bureau’s capital projects manager.

The proposal would keep two travel lanes in either direction for vehicles but add the third lane for buses on the aging bridge. The plan also includes a protected bike lane.

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Steel Bridge

Another key bottleneck in downtown occurs when buses snake their way through the transit mall only to sit in traffic on the approach to the Steel Bridge.

At least you can see the exterior of the Lan Su Chinese Garden while you sit.

This proposal would create a bus and right-turn only lane from Broadway to the Steel bridge. The city is also considering a new signal on the bridge ramp to give buses priority during rush hour.

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MLK and Grand

The eastside is not forgotten in the proposed project list.

Planners are considering creating bus and turn lanes on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Grand Avenue, key north/south thoroughfares.

City officials are looking at creating a lane exclusively for streetcar, buses and – potentially -- freight vehicles.

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From downtown to Goose Hollow

The Hawthorne Bridge is a popular bikeway but navigating the downtown street grid can be a drag.

The city is considering removing parking on Jefferson Street to create a protected bus lane and converting one traffic lane to a bus and right-turn lane. The same proposals would be on the table for Columbia Street.

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'Best' Naito

Portland is looking to make its seasonal "Better Naito" bikeway a permanent fixture – in some fashion.

The proposal could mean maintaining a second northbound travel lane for vehicles, removing the lane for some portion of the Naito Parkway stretch up until the Morrison Bridge, or carving into Tom McCall Waterfront Park to create a multimodal path.

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Morrison and Belmont

Planners are considering reconfiguring Southeast Morrison and Southeast Belmont streets to create protected bike lanes from the bridgehead to Southeast 12th Avenue. The plan could also include removing parking in favor of a bus-only lane.

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11th and 12th Avenues

The options for 11th and 12th avenues include lowering the speed limit to 25 miles per hour and repurposing one travel lane to make wider auto and bike lanes and make it safer for freight.

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Courtesy of PBOT

Sullivan’s Crossing

Portland is moving closer to engineering plans for its new pedestrian and bicycling bridge over Interstate 84 at Northeast 7th Avenue. The city wants to have another "signature" bikeway there when the new span is built.

The city envisions this highway serving “thousands of through-commuters and Central Eastside employees and visitors.”

This plan would not remove any travel lanes but would remove on-street parking in some, if not all, areas.

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14th and 16th Avenues

Portland’s growing North Pearl neighborhood could see better bike and pedestrian access if the city project list includes this proposal.

The plan calls for creating a north/south bike route on Norwest 14th and 16th avenues and creating eight improved pedestrian crossings on 14th to improve visibility and make it safer for all road users.

A protected bike lane in this district would bring better access to the Pearl and Northwest neighborhoods.

-- Andrew Theen

atheen@oregonian.com

503-294-4026

@andrewtheen