![\"\"](\"https:\/\/bikeportland.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screenshot-2023-03-01-at-4.17.19-PM.jpg\")
<\/a><\/a><\/a>We\u2019ve been tracking how the City of Portland maintains bike lanes during and after winter weather events for many years now. Our recent snowstorm has revealed yet another wrinkle on this issue that deserves a closer look.<\/p>\n
At many locations around the city, we\u2019ve noticed walls of snow placed across protected bike lanes. The shape of the wall and the placement of them caught our eyes. It\u2019s clear that they were left by Portland Bureau of Transportation plow operators who were running plows along the curb, then swung their vehicles out into the street as a plastic post or curb of a protected bike lane approached. As they make that swing, the remaining snow in their plow slides off and is left right at the entrance to the bike lane.<\/p>\n
Given all the bike lane maintenance problems with have in this city, it\u2019s a bummer to see this happening. The good news is that we know what\u2019s causing it and hopefully PBOT plow operators can adjust their technique to prevent it. We are also happy to report that upon sharing these photos on Twitter<\/a> yesterday, PBOT replied to us:<\/p>\n Our crews have begun picking up these types of snow piles as well as gravel in bike lanes by addressing reports as they come it. Please help them out by submitting reports via pdxreporter.org<\/a> with specific locations.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n (You can also call the maintenance dispatch hotline at 503-823-1700<\/a> or pdxroads@portlandoregon.gov to report these issues.)<\/em><\/p>\n It\u2019s nice that PBOT is able to respond to these requests, but we really need to get a more comprehensive and efficient solution. We\u2019ve had protected bike lanes for many years now and it\u2019s unfortunate that PBOT still doesn\u2019t seem to have a protocol for keeping them clean and maintained without relying on conscientious people to report problem spots (not to mention that complain-driven systems like this are inherently inequitable and many people will simply never do it).<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t a new problem and there are solutions to snow removal on protected bike lanes used in other cities that PBOT could adopt and use here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Will you be calling in any locations (or have you already)? How do the bike lanes look in your neck of the woods?<\/p>\n If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, feel free to contact me at @jonathan_maus<\/a> on Twitter, via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone\/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a supporter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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