A summertime experiment that turned a lane of Naito Parkway over to cyclists and pedestrians could be made permanent under Portland Mayor Charlie Hales' proposed budget.

The budget proposal includes $1.5 million for Naito Parkway changes that would include permanently closing the northbound traffic lane to cars, a program tested last year under the name "Better Naito."

It debuted during the 2015 Rose Festival City Fair and returned for the Oregon Brewers Festival, when the right northbound traffic lane was blocked off to cars from Southwest Main Street to Northwest Davis Street.

During those temporary installations, the city measured traffic using sensors and GPS data, and it said travel time for cars passing through the area increased by 45 seconds to a minute during peak travel hours. Most of the delay occurred where the two lanes merged into one.

This year, the project returned for a three-month run that started officially on Monday.

The proposed funding would provide for a permanent barrier in a configuration similar to the pilot program, but the design is still in early stages, transportation bureau spokesman Dylan Rivera said. It could include other tweaks along the street, possibly including new traffic signals intended to improve traffic flow.

Better Naito was developed as a capstone project by a group of Portland State University civil engineering students. They did the work on behalf of Better Block PDX, a group that has temporarily redesigned streets and intersections to make them more inviting to pedestrians and cyclists.

But it was never clear that the project would be made permanent, said Gwen Shaw, one of the students in the capstone class.

"Better Block's goal from the beginning has been to start the conversation," said Shaw, who is now a transportation analyst for Lancaster Engineering of Portland. "Moving it forward was a question mark for us."

The proposal to make the installation permanent comes as part of a budget that may be difficult to pass.

It includes an increased fee on businesses intended to raise an additional $8.7 million, and it comes at a time when the city is already collecting far more in revenue than it expected and as voters weigh a 10-cent-a-gallon gas tax to pay for transportation projects.

-- Elliot Njus

enjus@oregonian.com

503-294-5034

@enjus