PBOT: Better Naito to return three months early this year

Surprise! It’s Better Naito!
(Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

The Portland Bureau of Transportation has found a way to bring back Better Naito sooner than anyone expected.

In a statement expected to come out later today, the agency will announce that Naito Parkway will be upgraded with a protected lane for bicycling and walking from February 1st through the end of September. The early opening comes as the ever-opportunistic PBOT jumped on a chance to provide a safer and more comfortable detour for an upcoming closure of the Eastbank Esplanade.

Portland Parks and Recreation will close the Esplanade from about Salmon Street to the Steel Bridge for two months beginning February 1st. The project (yet to be announced publicly) will allow them to perform maintenance and repairs on the popular multi-use path.

PBOT says in working with Parks to come up with viable detour, they decided Better Naito would be the best option.

PBOT spokesperson Hannah Schafer told us this morning that instead of taking the posts and signage down after the Parks closure, they’ll simply keep it up through summer. This is a nod to Better Naito’s popularity and success in several years of a pilot project first sparked by tactical urbanist group Better Block PDX.

It’s also worth noting that PBOT is moving forward on a permanent Better Naito as outlined in the recently adopted Central City in Motion Plan. Schafer said today that design work has started for that project and the public outreach process will start this spring (made much better by having Better Naito in place simultaneously!). PBOT still needs to find $1 million to build the CCIM project, but Schafer says they’re confident it will come through.

Parks will announce all the details of their closure later today.

Sorry there are no links in this post, but I need to ride down to Milwaukie to meet Mayor Mark Gamba. I’ll update this story as I can. Expect a clean and neat version with all the details by Saturday morning.

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org

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The post PBOT: Better Naito to return three months early this year appeared first on BikePortland.org.

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