Someone didn’t get the memo.
Portland transportation crews started dismantling Better Naito, the temporary north-south cycle path along downtown Portland’s Naito Parkway, hours earlier than originally planned.
So, thousands of cyclists pining for one last weekday commute on the bike route were out of luck. Crews mistakenly removed the barriers at about 5 a.m. Friday morning.
Dylan Rivera, Portland Bureau of Transportation spokesman, issued an apology. He cited a “miscommunication between the project manager and the crews.”
On Sept. 4, the city issued a news release saying the bike path, which dedicates one northbound travel lane on Naito Parkway along Waterfront Park to bikes for several months each summer, would close Sept. 23. That release said work would begin on removing the barriers Sept. 22.
In an email, Rivera said crews were supposed to start removing the bike path Friday night at 10 p.m., saying the public wouldn’t have noticed significant changes until after midnight on Saturday.
Either way, crews got a head start.
But Portland agreed to close the lane earlier than expected at the request of Multnomah County, which is working on a Burnside Bridge maintenance project.
Mike Pullen, Multnomah County’s spokesman, said the closure would allow contractors to do repairs above Naito Parkway “and keep our project on schedule.”
The bridge project is expected to last through November 2019, and Rivera said the city doesn’t expect it to affect Better Naito in 2019.
Pullen said the project will not cause lengthy lane closures on Naito. “Most of the work can be done without closing the lanes,” he said, but some sidewalk closures will force users either into Waterfront Park or to the west side of Naito Parkway. The county did not explain why the maintenance project required closing the bike lane, which occurs in an existing travel lane, but would not necessitate closing vehicle traffic.
City officials say $4 million proposal would make the bike path permanent. It is among projects being considered through the ongoing Central City in Motion proposal, which comes with an estimated $30 million in dedicated funding. The City Council is expected to discuss those projects and how to rank them later this year.
In 2017, Better Naito logged 400,000 trips in one direction, according to the city.
