{"id":18362,"date":"2023-03-08T19:55:31","date_gmt":"2023-03-08T19:55:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/08\/the-gaps-in-portlands-approach-to-speed-bumps\/"},"modified":"2023-03-08T19:55:31","modified_gmt":"2023-03-08T19:55:31","slug":"the-gaps-in-portlands-approach-to-speed-bumps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/08\/the-gaps-in-portlands-approach-to-speed-bumps\/","title":{"rendered":"The gaps in Portland’s approach to speed bumps"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Biking through a speed bump on the North Michigan Ave Greenway. (Photos: Jonathan Maus\/BikePortland)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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An unintended use of these speed bump channels.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Speed bumps on Portland\u2019s neighborhood greenways are a double-edged sword. They\u2019re effective tools for slowing car traffic, making it safer and more comfortable to ride a bike on a street shared with cars. On the other hand, they can be unpleasant for people riding bikes to navigate over, adding some unfortunate nuisance to a bike trip on a greenway.<\/p>\n

Then there are the ones with tire gaps.<\/p>\n

When these types of speed bumps were first installed<\/a> on the Clinton Street Greenway several years ago, they sparked a pretty heated debate<\/a>. Are they for bikes specifically? Isn\u2019t it less safe if drivers swerve to use them? Aren\u2019t they only for emergency vehicles?<\/p>\n

Recently, the issue came up again in the comments section of a BikePortland Instagram post<\/a> about new bike-friendly speed bumps on NE Alameda. The consensus from naysayers seems to be that these gaps tempt drivers to dangerously shoot through them so they can avoid hitting the speed bump.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel these encourage cars to veer from their lane and cause erratic, unpredictable behavior,\u201d one commenter said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI watched no fewer than six people crash in a single Pedalpalooza ride when they haphazardly installed the NE 28th ones,\u201d someone else wrote.
\u201cI have always wondered how these are supposed to work. I have ridden my bike thru the dip but it put me towards the middle of the road and resulted in getting honked and yelled at by a car. Are they supposed to be for bikes to avoid the hump?\u201d<\/p>\n

Lots of questions. And a bit of confusion and concern. So we reached out to PBOT to find out what\u2019s up\u2026<\/p>\n

According to the Portland Bureau of Transportation, there are two different types of speed bump gaps on Portland\u2019s streets. The first were designed in response to complaints from emergency vehicle operators who said these traffic calming measures were slowing down emergency response times. These speed bump channels split the speed bump into multiple \u201ccushions\u201d narrow enough that a fire truck driver can bypass hitting the bump. The second type \u2014 the \u201cbike-friendly gaps\u201d \u2014 were developed later as a variation of the emergency response vehicle speed bump treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fire-friendly speed bumps were created to slow people who speed on local and small collector streets without sacrificing emergency response time,\u201d PBOT Public Information Officer Dylan Rivera said in an email to BikePortland. \u201cHaving received complaints from people biking about the speed bumps, dating back to when we first began installing them, we thought a different design with a channel in a different location could be a desired improvement for neighborhood greenways.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rivera said that so far, PBOT has had \u201cgood results on speed reduction\u201d on the neighborhood greenways where they\u2019ve installed these speed bumps<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir intention is to provide a more convenient trip for cyclists, prioritizing their positioning on the road without sacrificing speed reduction,\u201d Rivera said. \u201cSo these days, Portland has fire-friendly and bike-friendly speed bumps.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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A fire truck using the speed bump gaps. (Photo: PBOT)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

I was personally surprised to discover how controversial these speed bump gaps are. I immediately noticed the treatment upon beginning to bike around Portland, and I always thought it was a nice idea. I invariably groan a bit whenever I have to roll over a speed bump (especially when on an e-bike with its higher speeds), so I\u2019ll always aim for the gap if one is available.<\/p>\n

I agree that too many car drivers swerve to use the gaps even though they aren\u2019t supposed to. After all, speed bumps are installed to force drivers to slow down, and when so many of our streets were built to allow people in cars to go as fast as possible, this can be a hard pill for some people to swallow.<\/p>\n

This is a tricky problem to solve. In my opinion, the solution isn\u2019t to completely get rid of treatments like this. Instead, it needs to be more apparent to people driving that neighborhood greenways are meant to prioritize bicycling. This could be accomplished with more traffic diverters and signage that, hopefully, would change behavior over time and make greenways more comfortable and safer for people biking and using active transportation. Maybe one day, drivers will be so calm that speed bumps are no longer necessary!<\/p>\n

Luckily for everyone who isn\u2019t such a big fan of these \u201cbike-friendly\u201d speed bumps, it doesn\u2019t look like PBOT will be installing them just everywhere yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not yet a standard tool.\u00a0 We are in the process of learning what we can, both about effectiveness and design,\u201d Rivera said.<\/p>\n

So, what do you think about the speed bump gaps? Are they helpful or do you think they just cause more problems?<\/p>\n

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Taylor has been BikePortland\u2019s staff writer since November 2021. She has also written for Street Roots and Eugene Weekly. Contact her at taylorgriggswriter@gmail.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n