The City of Portland is halfway through a planning process for a future streetcar network, and is holding 
neighborhood workshops to assess local interest in, and concerns about, future streetcar lines.
Aside from the more general reasons that you might want to talk to someone about streetcars in your neighborhood – they encourage denser, more walkable development; they are slower than buses; they are nicer to ride and quieter than buses; they sometimes take a dedicated travel lane or parking lane off a street – you should also think about how the expansion of the Streetcar network in general, and with regard to specific potential routes, will affect biking conditions in Portland.
A comprehensive streetcar network could improve conditions for bicycling around the city by slowing and reducing car traffic or by giving people another travel option that lets them bike sometimes and ride transit sometimes.
But since last week’s Oregonian story on the Streetcar System Plan, some people have expressed concern about the number of possible future streetcar corridors (in green on the map below) that are currently important bike routes, and have asked whether or not Streetcar and bikes can be safely accommodated in the same roadway. Streets that show promise for future streetcar lines include N Vancouver and Williams; SE Woodstock; SE Stark and Washington by I-205; SE Belmont; NW Vaughn; and others.
While streetcars and their tracks do seem to “calm” traffic on streets, which has a benefit for pedestrians and bicyclists, the tracks are also a hazard, particularly to new and timid bicyclists.
The city has tried some innovative approaches to getting streetcars and bikes to share a road safely in the past, with better and worse outcomes. The design on NW Lovejoy,
in which the bike lane is between the tracks and parked cars in the road, and then runs up onto the sidewalk at the Streetcar stop (see left), causes some grumbling. A similar but improved design on SW Moody, at the OHSU stop, seems better appreciated by bicyclists.
Streetcar tracks on NW 10th and 11th run in the right-hand lane, which causes many people (who don’t know they can use the left-hand lane on a one-way street) to try and ride between them. 
Those who bike in the left-hand lane to avoid the tracks still have to move over to turn right. Left-running streetcar tracks may be one of the factors that makes SW Moody work better for bicyclists (shown in this photo).
The BTA has been involved in this planning process, with a delegate on the committee (that delegate is me). I’ve asked the city planners, Portland Streetcar Inc. and PDOT to come up with better designs and protocols for integrating Streetcar with the existing and planned bicycle network.
If this all seems far away, it isn’t. The next streetcar line will be on the eastside, running on MLK and Grand. Construction could start within the year, and the plan includes tracks on NE 7th Ave next to the bike lane. If all the parties come together just right, NE 7th could be the design model for how to add Streetcar to a bike route without degrading the level of service for bicyclists.
I will be at the Southeast Workshop (that’s my neighborhood) tomorrow night; if any BTA members want to check in with me about these issues, please stop by!
Southeast District Workshop
Thursday, April 3
7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Cleveland High School Library
3400 SE 26th Ave.
Northeast District Workshop
Tuesday, April 8
7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Grant High School Choir Room
2245 NE 36th Ave.
North Portland District Workshop
Wednesday, April 9
7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
St. Johns Community Center Auditorium
8427 N. Central St.
Northwest and Southwest District Workshop
Monday, April 14
7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Lincoln High School, Room #169
1600 SW Salmon St.
Outer East Portland District Workshop
Tuesday, April 15
7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
East Portland Community Center, Classroom #1
740 SE 106th Ave.
Photos above by Brian Ellin, Jessica Roberts and Dougall5505.
