To: Rich Newlands

CC: NTNA Board, Land Use, interested parties

Re: Mitigation Measures regarding the spillover traffic from the 53rd and Burnside Diversion
July 29th, 2015
Hello Rich,
This is what we think has happened at 53rd and Burnside.
Background: The 53rd overpass of Sullivan's gulch and the aligned traffic lights at Glisan and Halsey,
have historically been used by locals and those avoiding the congestion of 47th and 60th to connect from
Halsey to Burnside. It has functioned as a local collector.
When the diverter went in at 53rd and East Burnside, the traffic that was in theory meant to move over
to 47th and 60th did not. The data shows over 750 cars moving over to parallel residential streets. The
neighbors have noticed the uptick. Cars are now jogging through the neighborhood to get from
Burnside to 53rd and Glisan as the traffic light allows them to get north to Halsey. This was expected
and I predicted this would happen. What the design of the project did was turn a secondary
neighborhood collector into a bikeway, which when done is always sub-standard. If there is not plan to
handle the diverted traffic, it becomes a game of whack a mole.
Without a complete redesign of the regional traffic flow, those 750 cars moved from 53rd to 52nd and
55th, with some going to 56th and 50th and some ignoring the diverter completely. The local Tabor
Tavern waitstaff has informed me of regular illegal turn-ins from Burnside, which I also see frequently.
This a problem reported from locals using 33rd and Going in NE as well. To solve this, we need a safe
place to locate the traffic spillover.
The new bike lane and intersection line shift at 47th and Everett-Davis has successfully slowed speeding
on 47th somewhat, but places more pressure on the local side streets. The extension of the lead
pedestrians crossing light at 58th and Glisan, though small, also will have a slight slowing and
congestion effect on 60th, placing even more pressure on the local streets in between these two small
needed safety improvements.
Hence, mitigation measures should be taken to enhance the safety around the 53rd diverter as it has had
ramifications to the whole area. Mitigation was approved by city council if the diverter surpassed
unacceptable thresholds, which has happened on both 52nd and 55th.
Possible Solutions:
1) Use the traffic light at 55th and Burnside to make 55th the new neighborhood collector that
handles safely the 1500 ADT, like 53rd did. Long term, neighborhood growth patterns will

require upgrading 55th. The five blocks from 53rd to 58th on the North Side of Glisan has been
designated as the North Tabor Neighborhood Center in the Comprehensive plan and WILL
experience significant growth over the next decades. This will be zoned for construction as
large as allowed, even larger with inclusionairy zoning affordable housing allotments when
passed by the state. When this happens, a new traffic light at 55th and Glisan will have to be
included by the developers. As such, NE 55th is the roadway that long term needs to be
designed to handle higher traffic volumes safely.
2) Discourage cut through traffic on 52nd and 56th.
3) Install a southbound diverter (see more later on the temporary diverter program) south of the
parking lot between Flanders and Glisan. I have argued that the 50's bikeway needs this for
years, and now the data shows that this stretch of bikeway southbound has too high of traffic .
Drivers are using it to drive south from Halsey to Burnside; they need to be pushed on Glisan to
55th if they are local, or 60th / 47th if it is regional traffic. This placement of a southbound
diverter has been unanimously approved by the board, land use committee and general
membership at our July meeting.
On August 18th, when it comes to the 50's bikeway mitigation specifically North Tabor wants to know
what can be done to safely locate the spillover traffic and make 53rd as world class of a bikeway as
possible. Our first suggestions are:
1) Install crosswalk raised speed bumps at the entrances of 52nd and 56th both at Burnside and Glisan to
make it look aggressively calmed.
2) 55th should be designed to safely handle the traffic volumes. This will require removing parking
from the east side of the street. Due to the off-set intersection with Everett and the fire hydrant, this
gives the most visibility for the least parking loss. This may also solve the conflict that is happening on
55th near Burnside due to the narrow roadway next to the Tannery bar.
North Tabor is dedicated to make the 50's bikeway into a world class facility, but to do this mitigation
measures have to be taken to preserve the neighboring street's safety. This is an example of what not to
do in other bikeways. In this case, due to the location of the overpass and the need for a direct route
north-south, it was needed to place the bikeway on the interior neighborhood collector. Which makes
diversion problematic. This is the same situation we have with Lincoln-Harrison on its entire length.
The bikeway has been placed on the interior collector of a neighborhood super block. This is a case
of bikes being used to calm traffic on a collector, not let us find the best route for bikes. The best
route is a local street that is being used as a local street to direct bikeway is located......connecting local
street to local street through a series of diverted cul-de-sacs.
This is what greenways should look like if it really prioritizes people and bikes over automobile
connectivity and convenience. This is how Vancouver B.C designs them, and is what North Tabor
expects from a newly constructed greenway.
Thank you for all your work and we look forward to your official response and suggestions on August
18th,
Terry Dublinski-Milton
NTNA Transportation and Land USE Chair
SE Uplift Board of Directors
503 867-7723