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NORTH PORTLAND — Oregon Department of Transportation crews have started work on a $16.5 million project that will reshape how you drive on Lombard Street with the goal of making it safer for everyone.
You’ve probably already seen the construction signs and traffic cones. The project has workers concentrating on the north side of Lombard Street this winter and transitioning to the south side this spring and summer.
The Lombard Multimodal Safety Project is designed to improve safety for people driving, biking, walking, taking transit and using mobility devices, such as wheelchairs, along a 1.2 mile stretch of North Lombard Street between North Fiske Avenue and North Boston Avenue.
Did you catch the word safety in the previous sentence? According to ODOT, Lombard is a high crash corridor. On average, a crash happens along the corridor every 11 days and over 50% of those crashes result in an injury.
According to ODOT, North Lombard is the 11th highest crash corridor in the city of Portland based on the frequency of both fatal and serious, near-fatal crashes for all types of road users.
The project includes reducing four lanes to three lanes. And the middle lane will be a center turn lane. That addition is expected to reduce crashes by up to 29%, according to ODOT.
The project also includes bike lanes, ADA curb ramps at street corners, and median islands and signal crossings used for people crossing at North Emerald Avenue and North Delaware Avenue.
Most of the work will be from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. And Lombard will remain open during construction, although with lane closures. The project is expected to be completed by August 2022.
For more information, you can visit the project website.
Nathan is an award-winning freelance content marketing producer (words, video, audio, strategy). He also is an award-winning newspaper reporter. He has an MBA and a BA in Editorial Journalism. He is a past director of SEMpdx’s digital marketing conference, and past director on the Society of Professional Journalists’ executive committee. He has two great kids, likes to sail, ride his road bike, and make beer.
