The Streetcar is going on vacation!
From Sept 13th to 26th, while we build the connection between the existing streetcar tracks in the Pearl to the new tracks coming over the Broadway Bridge, the streetcar will not operate.
The problem is there is nowhere to turn around at the north end of the alignment. This project will actually fix that, it will become possible to go north on 10th, turn around on Northrup and return south on 11th without going to NW 23rd when necessary.
Meanwhile, shuttle buses will serve the streetcar alignment during the shutdown (with a few temporarily re-located stops near the construction zone itself).
ZZZZZZZZZ…..
56 responses to “Streetcar to Hibernate”
This seems like a great opportunity for a ridership study. Granted, a handful of stops are moved, but from what I understand the service frequencies will be about the same. (Although two weeks may not be nearly enough time to see how ridership is affected, if at all, by streetcars being replaced by buses on fundamentally the same route.)
I was just thinking the same thing.
Are you gonna repaint the busses bright red and blue, or will it be standard TriMet livery?
(No fair running the line with 1900s to taint the results… :)
by any chance will the shuttle buses be available for real time arrival?
my guess is the shuttle buses will be much faster and yet will carry a fraction of the ridership.
I am not aware of any planned measurements of ridership during the construction period – the emphasis will be on making sure we can provide good service.
During past periods when we have used the shuttles, real time arrival info was not available. That coupled with general confusion is likely to suppress ridership as Poncho suggests.
Chris –
Quick question. I was looking at the project map on the streetcar website earlier today, and I was having trouble distinguishing just what route the streetcars are going to use to get from 10th/11th to the Lovejoy ramp. Can you clarify?
Why would measurement of ridership be contrary to providing good service?
When the full loop is in operation, Streetcars would travel north on 10th, turn right onto Lovejoy and over the Broadway Bridge.
On the return journey, they come down the ramp on Lovejoy, turn RIGHT onto 10th, left on Northrup and left on 11th to head downtown.
When the eastside opens, the service will initially turn around in the Pearl, rather than continue downtown. In that configuration the cars will turn right onto 10th, left onto Northrup, left on 11th and left again back onto Lovejoy eastbound.
One other important item of note: according to the announcement on TriMet’s site, the bus shuttle will be FREE along the entire route.
Am I the only person who sees the magnitude of this as greater than the bus/max Steel Bridge shutdown during Green Line construction?
Why would measurement of ridership be contrary to providing good service?
Probably due to the (IMO incorrect) assumption that mode creates a perceived level of service. I hope that many will use this time to realize that, besides the vehicle, nothing is different. It gets you from point A to point B. Look, there’s everyone you normally see riding the Streetcar riding the bus shuttle instead. It is not a social mark against you for riding a bus to the library/museum/wherever. In fact, once you ride a bus once, you’ll realize the bus can take you many more places than the streetcar and MAX can.
(No fair running the line with 1900s to taint the results… :)
Would it be a wild guess for anyone to ask… contingency fleet?! That would definitely skew results downwards. But then, if by some surprise agreement the buses used are surplus newer buses from another agency (I can dream, can’t I?), if successful accusations would probably fly that the results were skewed upwards!
When the eastside opens, the service will initially turn around in the Pearl, rather than continue downtown. In that configuration the cars will turn right onto 10th, left onto Northrup, left on 11th and left again back onto Lovejoy eastbound.
The plan really is to just make it serve Lovejoy/Northrup for anyone in the NW? That will make it completely useless to me and a lot of my neighbors. Wow.
At least it will be open in October… Im happy to hear about that.
Looking forward to checking out some of the construction going on for the eastside loop as well.
The plan really is to just make it serve Lovejoy/Northrup for anyone in the NW?
The plan has NEVER been for eastside cars to go to NW 23rd. The concept for the line is a ‘loop’ that goes downtown, to PSU and eventually back across the river. But the initial funding will not support getting downtown, so the trains will go from OMSI to the Pearl (where you can transfer to either NW or downtown) and then turn around.
Once the loop is complete, and I’m getting onto a streetcar going north from PSU, how will I know if I’m doing NW 23rd or the Eastside? Is it going to be like on a MAX station with multiple lines? Are people going to have to skip cars that aren’t going the place they want?
Will streetcars be coming twice as often to make up for it?
Is it going to be like on a MAX station with multiple lines?
Yes
Will streetcars be coming twice as often to make up for it?
On the portion of the line that overlaps between the current alignment and the loop, frequency will be roughly double what it is today.
Will streetcars be coming twice as often to make up for it?
The idea is that in the central downtown, both streetcar lines will overlap, providing approx. double the current service, between Lovejoy and PSU (approx.)
The outer portions of the current line (South Waterfront and NW 23rd), and eastside portion of the new line (Rose Quarter, Lloyd District to OMSI and eventually the north side of South Waterfront), will run at approximately today’s frequency.
It’s the overlap of the two that provides a doubling of service (halving of headways).
Beyond what Chris has said, CAC members at the most recent CAC meeting were asked to ponder (for future meetings?) just how many cars should be allocated to the new loop and how many should continue to be allocated to the original alignment.
If one or two cars are removed from the original alignment and assigned to the new loop, the overlapping area frequency would remain the same, but the loop might be able to reach PSU (rather than just the Pearl), but this would possibly reduce service below current levels to NW 23rd and SW Lowell.
Is it going to be like on a MAX station with multiple lines?
The two streetcar routes will have some kind of designation to differentiate the routes.
The type of designation (color, letter, number, some combination or something completely different) are currently being discussed. I have some ideas on this, and officials with Portland Streetcar Inc. have ideas, and hopefully something unifying, sensible, and appropriate will come of that. :-)
Personally, I’d go with letter designations. Numbers for buses, colors for light rail, letters for the streetcar.
The Trimet cutbacks are creating some really really bad situations, for passengers and drivers. There is no money available for the low class bus service, maybe we can get streetcars on these overcrowded routes that are getting whacked?
Douglas K. Says: Personally, I’d go with letter designations. Numbers for buses, colors for light rail, letters for the streetcar.
It’s a shame we don’t have beautiful street names to use, like Desire. “A Streetcar Named Stark” just doesn’t have the same ring.
Whoa, double the frequency in the area I use the streetcar the most is going to be awesome!
Any idea on how the LED matrix signs are going to handle multiple lines? It’d be really awesome if they could get ones with a couple rows instead of having to multiplex. They already seem too crammed now whenever there’s some sort of service message on them.
It’s a shame we don’t have beautiful street names to use, like Desire. “A Streetcar Named Stark” just doesn’t have the same ring.
Also doesnt work when it runs on a couplet or loop with many different streets… “A Streetcar Named 10th/11th/Lovejoy/Northrup”.
Will any repairs be made to the existing track during this shut down?
That route in the Pearl District coming from the bridge is crazy with its out of way travel. I know it all has to do with the Lovejoy-Northrup couplet which seems to be happening completely under the radar, I understand the word is the couplet opens in early November. Everyone is making a big deal about the Burnside-Couch couplet while Lovejoy-Northrup sneaks in.
Will any repairs be made to the existing track during this shut down?
Not that I’m aware of, but there could be minor maintenance that I wouldn’t know about.
Everyone is making a big deal about the Burnside-Couch couplet while Lovejoy-Northrup sneaks in.
The two are not really comparable. The Burnside/Couch couplet would extend 16 blocks and is designed to transform both transportation and land use, while the one on Lovejoy/Northrup is locally limited to the Pearl and runs only 6 blocks (10th to 16th). It is designed to address some very real circulation issues and will generally make things work better for cars, Streetcars and bikes.
Hi Chris, I notice in this post from a couple years ago there is a passing mention of “future service from NW 23rd to the east side”. What’s that in reference to?
That actually refers to the debate that resulted in the creation of the ‘Northrup Loop’ design that is being constructed as we speak (the small detour north that streetcars coming west over the Broadway Bridge will take before going south to downtown).
Part of the advantage of the configuration is that it allows for a future line to be defined that could go from NW 23rd across the Broadway Bridge to somewhere on the east side (I’m partial to Hollywood, but there are lots of options, as the system plan work affirmed).
In the alternative design that was on the table, to get between 23rd and the Broadway Bridge in either direction would have required an out-of-direction movement down 11th to a turnaround at Hoyt, coming back up 10th. UGLY!
I want to put together a full post about ideas for streetcar designations, and my own ideas currently differ slightly from those being tossed around by folks at Portland Streetcar Inc., but Rick knows I’m putting something together for him to review in the near future so I hope it will have some impact.
Here’s a summary:
Letter designations for streetcars _seem_ like a good idea initially. After all, San Francisco uses them. But San Francisco also uses them for their light rail system, and does not use colors. (BART uses city destinations and not letters or colors, IIRC.)
*But*, I’ve been told by more than once source, but I’m looking for the actual legal cite for this, that the Americans with Disabilities Act frowns on using colors, like we do for MAX. The issue is one of color blindness.
As MAX expands to more lines (presumably) with more colors, this will increasingly become a problem. I happen to have a close friend who lives outside of Portland but utilized PDX for a recent trip to California. We told him to take the Red Line to/from the house and the airport. Turns out he had a very difficult time making out the distinctions on the TriMet map and vehicles. I can go into detail on this but I’ll just leave it there.
So, I have the feeling that the issue of color designations _may_ present a future problem for TriMet. If so, what to do to add further clarification?
Well, we’re in luck because letters could be used in conjunction with color. Every color so far, Blue, Red, Yellow, Green, can be represented by a single letter that doesn’t conflict with anything. (B, R, Y, G). Future colors could be O – Orange, P – Purple, probably some others available. “Wes” may eventually be a “W” line, who knows?
So I’d like to leave most letters available for regional service lines like MAX and Wes.
If you’re with me so far, then what to do about streetcars?
Well, for the most part (Lake Oswego being a possible exception), streetcars provide a local service. Future lines identified by the Streetcar System Concept Plan may overlap/replace/augment local bus service in those corridors.
So it seems to me that numbers might be more appropriate, just like buses.
But streetcars also represent a different quality of service (at least they’re supposed to), of vehicle type, a level of investment in a corridor. Something which also would appeal to tourists trying to get around with a transit map, etc. For this reason, we need some way to make streetcars stand out just a little bit.
Well, it just so happens that for buses which offer a particular type of service, Express, we do use a special designation, by following the number with the letter X.
So what I propose is that for streetcar lines, we _prefix_ the number with the letter “S”. And the streetcar’s number should NOT be the same as one already used by an active bus line. However, in the (possible) case where a streetcar completely replaces a local bus (suppose a Hawthorne line from downtown to Lents), the streetcar could adopt the old number.
So, using the example of that hypothetical Hawthorne line, you’d have an S14. An express bus operating on the same route but with fewer stops might be the “14X”. A service replacement bus (such as during a streetcar track maintenance outage) could call itself the “S14” or just the “14”.
Using numbers allows the existing digital signs on the current streetcars (which aren’t cheap to replace/upgrade) to show a number and show a destination.
So there’s my summary. I want to put this together with some lovely illustrations and examples of practices from other cities that have multiple transit service & vehicle types.
(I’m genuinely concerned about this color blindness/ADA issue. I used to do user-interface design and ran into issues regarding visual impairment from time to time. Audio announcements aren’t enough because it doesn’t help someone trying to read a map or figure out which colored circle on a sign post is their stop.)
“A Streetcar Named Stark” just doesn’t have the same ring.
I wonder how many tourists might board a “Couch Streetcar” thinking they might find a comfy sofa.
Wait! I’ve got it… let’s name streetcars after Simpsons characters. Flanders, Lovejoy, Quimby… dang…
Using both color and letter designations seems redundant to me. It also limits colors — if G is used for Green, you can’t have a Gold line. B for Blue precludes Brown and Black lines. Not that I think we’ll need that many.
The color blindness issue could be dealt with in part by spelling out the names of the colors at the platform: Blue dot next to “Blue Line to Gresham” for example. Or simply using the real-time arrival screens to spell out the destination, along with recorded “Yellow line to downtown arriving” announcements such as already exist at some stations.
And there probably are ways to add a second level of identification to color-coded routes to distinguish between the various lines. For example, Blue line could be be dark solid, Yellow line would be light solid, Red line would be dark with light diagonal hashmarks, and Green line might be checkerboard-toned.
So, I’m still partial to letter codes for the streetcar lines. My major concern would be avoiding sound-alike letters; we shouldn’t have both a line B and a line P, for instance.
My major concern would be avoiding sound-alike letters; we shouldn’t have both a line B and a line P, for instance.
That’s a good point. And if something like my idea of an “S” prefix for streetcar lines gets adopted, that would preclude a “S” – “Silver” MAX line because the same letter would be used.
Forgive my many questions, I just moved to Portland so I don’t know much about the expansion project.
Will more cars need to be built in order to accommodate the eastside loop?
Will the existing yard facility need to be expanded or will a yard on the eastside be built?
How many cars are there currently? Are they all in service?
When the new service starts, how will trains get the lineup needed to either loop back to the east or continue towards nw 23rd ave?
We currently have a 10 car fleet, peak operation of the current line requires 7 vehicles.
The objective is to expand the fleet to 16 cars for the start of east side operation. That will accommodate getting from OMSI to the Pearl and turning around, it would NOT support operation to Market Street or RiverPlace, that will require additional vehicles. Operating the full loop will require something like 20 or 21 cars (I’m quoting that from memory and could be off by a couple).
The maintenance facility is in the process of being expanded right now and once expanded will have sufficient capacity to handle a full-loop sized fleet.
I’m not sure I understand the question about vehicle routing. Cars dispatched from the maintenance facility would travel east on Lovejoy and either turn right on 11th for the current alignment or continue straight to go across the Broadway Bridge for eastside service.
Sorry for the bad wording on my question.
How would a streetcar operator travel either east or straight at the junction on 11th and lovejoy? Would each train need to contact dispatch and state their destination?
When will initial service on the loop begin? Full loop service? When are new cars expected to arrive on the property?
Is the car built by Oregon Iron Works in service or was it just a prototype?
I honestly don’t know how the switch at 11th and Lovejoy will be controlled. It would seem to make sense that it could be controlled from the vehicle.
The same issue will exist at several points in the Pearl (10th and Lovejoy, Northrup and 11th).
Operations from OMSI to the Pearl is expected to commence in late 2012. Full loop service is not yet scheduled. The Portland to Milwaukie Light Rail project needs to be completed to provide the bridge for the bottom of the loop.
The six vehicles for the east side have been ordered from Oregon Iron Works. Their arrival in 2012 will likely be the controlling schedule issue on when service starts. These are in addition to the prototype.
Thanks for all your info.
As a train buff and conductor I love the streetcar and the expansion is exciting. The construction on Lovejoy has been going so fast, great to see.
Bob R: *But*, I’ve been told by more than once source, but I’m looking for the actual legal cite for this, that the Americans with Disabilities Act frowns on using colors, like we do for MAX. The issue is one of color blindness.
I’ve never run across this in ADA documents, but there are a lot of them. In the case of MAX, I suspect that the colors are grandfathered in. It also has precedent elsewhere; I was in Chicago in April, where the L routes have long been color-coded (they even have a pink line!).
I can say with some certainty that there will never be a Silver MAX line, btw.
This is no way represents an official TriMet comment and is purely my own opinion.
Using color-codes on MAX works fine, because the destination sign is what really matters. As far as I can see, a color-blind person can easily tell which train is what by reading just the destination sign. It appears that the problem is with the maps (MAX map is okay since you can just follow the lines, but the system map is not as clear.)
Someone said that BART doesn’t use colors — Actually, they may not announce colors, but check out their system map, it’s got colors.
Other light rail systems use symbols. Take San Diego for example, they have the green tree, the orange sun, and the blue wave. In Portland, we can have the volcano route, sewage-y river route, tree stump route, etc. ;)
because the destination sign is what really matters
That would be true if there are no exceptions.
But how is a stranger, who has been told by friends to catch a train to “Hillsboro” or “Beaverton TC” supposed to deal with a sign that says “City Center”, “Ruby Junction”, or “Elmonica”, as can sometimes happen. (This also presents a problem for color, letter, number, or any other designation where the final stop is not the usual end-of-line station.)
Everyone’s feedback so far reveals the many challenges to what at first seems like a simple task of designation. Please keep them coming, and keep them in the back of your mind in case I do a formal post about this, so we can incorporate it all at that time.
PS… There are two concepts at play here… one is that we need a designation that says “This is the route this vehicle operates on”, (such as MAX’s colors), and “this is as far as this vehicle goes”, which would be the named destination such as “Gresham” or “Ruby”.
(God help us if there’s ever a “Ruby” color train. :-) )
Regarding intermediate destinations such as “City Center” vs end-of-the-line destinations such as “Hillsboro” or “Gresham”, one way to deal with those is to alternate between both destinations. This is a problem, admittedly, for older trains without digital readerboards (can these be upgraded–assuming money is available–or type 1 trains stuck with hand-cranked signage?), but one way to deal with multiple important destinations en route.
Regarding Ruby and Elmonica–perhaps we ought to simply refer to these destinations as “Aloha” and “Rockwood”, or some name that is more meaningful to the general public than the names of TriMet maintenance yards. (I know, there are stops called “Ruby” and “Elmonica”, so the use of these as end-of-line designations isn’t entirely inappropriate…)
Can we look forward to the day when MAX gets extended to Boring?
How would a streetcar operator travel either east or straight at the junction on 11th and lovejoy? Would each train need to contact dispatch and state their destination?
MAX and streetcar operators punch in a “route code” before they leave that designates how their vehicles will be traveling along the tracks. When they pull up to a sensor in the ground, they push a button in the cab to “call” the signal. This transmits their route code to the sensor and the tracks automatically align themselves for the proper route.
It’s a pretty cool system when you start looking around for the various sensors and switches.
The alternating signage idea is a good solution; for the older MAX car signs, they could swap out the labels to add the color – “Blue/Elmonica” or “Red/City Center”. I wouldn’t do this for all the trains, just the special trains.
Using a letter designation would be a stronger brand, in my opinion, of the streetcar as a premium service. Of course, I’d also like to see more effort made to make the streetcar a true premium service, but that’s a separate topic.
What makes a service a “premium service”?
Quicker trip times?
Greater reliability?
Greater frequency (less waiting)?
More comfortable ride?
Greater level of on-board amenities?
Smaller likelihood of encountering “riffraff” (for however one defines the term)?
Steel wheels?
Many people will answer these questions differently.
MAX and streetcar operators punch in a “route code” before they leave that designates how their vehicles will be traveling along the tracks. When they pull up to a sensor in the ground, they push a button in the cab to “call” the signal. This transmits their route code to the sensor and the tracks automatically align themselves for the proper route.
It’s a pretty cool system when you start looking around for the various sensors and switches.
that’s a really cool system. i was a conductor in the nyc subway and before my time they had transponder rings that would indicate express or local. the train would go by a sensor or some sort that would read the trains designation and give them the proper lineup at the switch. but there were some kinks with the system so it eventually fell to the wayside.
now at certain junctions where there is no tower theres a punch for the various possible routes. for instance northbound at 47th-50th rockefeller center on the 6th avenue line a train can punch for northbound to 59th/columbus circle or to the 63rd street tunnel to queens.
i live right by the yard and have seen the signal right before the yard giving the train a proceed or a diverging into the yard. i assume they would push the button at the 18th and lovejoy stop after fumigating the train? what do the sensors look like, i’ll go look for them later today.
Can we look forward to the day when MAX gets extended to Boring?
There could probably stand to be a lot more ridership on the 84-Kelso/Boring well before even thinking about that.
Well, yeah, but you got to love the destination sign.
The solution is to just show the destination and get people to learn how to read the map. Then just tell riders the station they need to get to.
Also “Aloha” is pretty vague and the specific station destinations that TriMet uses are much better.
Not to mention the “Boring Limited”, “Boring Express”, and “Boring Special”. :-)
I agree with Jason. Make sure every MAX station has a completely distinctive name so there’s never any confusion about which station you’re trying to reach (I’ve never had any problem with “Beaverton Transit Center” and “Beaverton Central” but I imagine some people might), and then rely on people to read the (very simple) maps for themselves.
If we’re trying to simplify things for riders, make it easier to figure out your fare and pay for it — and maybe develop a more rational fare system in the process. Two dollars and a NICKEL??? Forcing your riders to dig for a nickel is preposterous. Sunset TC to Forest Grove = $2.05, but one stop from Sunset TC to Washington Park = $2.35? Bizarre.
As a proponent of the “letter designation” system, I agree that it creates a stronger brand for the streetcar. Also, since the Streetcar is a City of Portland system rather than Tri-Met, it should have distinctive identification.
First of all, I should add that the lines which serve a station can change.
As for fares, it’s been said that a nickel increase is better than a bigger jump. And pass and ticket (including TVM) users don’t have to have nickels. In addition, the All-Zone fare was already requiring nickels. Lastly, Sunset TC-Washington Park makes use of the tunnel and is non-stop.
But what I would like to see considered is replacing the time and zones with one-use transfers and $2 fares. See http://www.rosecitytransit.org/mystuff/other/faresystem/
And as for Boring, there are already road signs out there. And the rail line to it has been taken out for the Springwater Corridor.
Here’s a temporary photo collection of streetcar work in the Pearl District tonight. And some older photos of constrction in the Lloyd District.
what do the sensors look like?
The sensors are a 2 foot by 6 foot loop embedded in the roadway in downtown, underneath a gray plastic plate elsewhere. These are used for calling signals (and receiving route info).
In the non-downtown corridor, you’ll see little yellow sensors next to every signal (about 8 inches by 4 inches), downtown they’re embedded as well. These are used to stop the train if it passes a red signal or if it is proceeding overspeed.
There’s some good info on those and other MAX things at the MAX FAQs blog.
This is the problem with the streetcar as it’s currently designed; anytime a segment of track becomes impassable the entire system shuts down. If the only obstruction is at Lovejoy, then why can’t streetcars continue to operate elsewhere, like South Waterfront and PSU? The problem is there are no turn back loops or crossovers like the MAX uses, so there is no way to maintain service.
This is particularly acute on the eastside loop, where there are no turn back tracks anywhere between OMSI and the Pearl. So what happens if in the middle of the service day a truck overturns and blocks MLK for hours, or heaven forbid a ship strikes the Broadway bridge or it’s damaged in an earthquake and out of service for a year? Or a truck with a tall crane tries to go under the Hawthorne overpass over MLK and causes the overpass to collapse, the debris and subsequent reconstruction blocking the track for who knows how long? The MAX uses it’s crossovers to continue service on either side of the affected area, but without turn back tracks the streetcar can only sit there blocking traffic for however many hours, days, or even months it may take to restore service.
There are a number of logical places for these turnarounds, like where the streetcar tracks cross at Oregon and Grand, or Grand and Weidler, or where Broadway and Weidler come together at Wheeler in advance of the bridge. The Morrison MOS would have included a turn back loop, but that didn’t happen. The streetcar is less expensive to build than MAX, partly because it does not have these very basic redundancies, but those savings have their own costs on reliability. Bad things can and do happen, and to pretend otherwise to save a few bucks is rarely a good idea.
There also isn’t much forethought for future system expansion. It’s expected that a streetcar extension would cross the loop alignment at Burnside/Couch, so it would seem obvious and less costly to install the diamond crossing now, so that service doesn’t have to be shut down in the future. Turnouts for extensions down Broadway/Weidler would also produce savings in the long run, and could be used for temporary vehicle storage in the short term. All it takes is a little planning, something the planning bureau should be good at. Just think, if they had installed turnouts leading to the Lovejoy ramp when they built it ten years ago, they wouldn’t have to shut it down now.
I agree with CB that shutdowns should never affect local street transit routes so adversely that it completely shuts it down indefinitely.
Highways and grade-separated rail are different imo. They are carrying far more people on a fixed line. Obviously a major shut down on a highway or MAX line is going to adversely impact the entire system to some degree — that’s just the nature of how they operate.
But we’re talking about a friggin’ local transit loop here! It shouldn’t be that complicated — but it is for some reason.
For those who are interested, the couple streetcar buses I’ve seen tonight and before have been newer low-floor ones. In addition, there were some workers out there in the rain.
Also, it looks like the turn from Lovejoy to 10th is too tight.
The turn from Lovejoy onto 10th is an interesting piece of engineering. To make the radius work, we actually have to cross over the existing track, then curve back before merging.
The alternative was basically to drive over the sidewalk :-)
Yep, and it appears that there’s not going to be a clear, non-track path for bikes.
But on the opposite corner, they are cutting back the sidewalk. Though the building has a slanted corner so there is kind of room.
Yep, and it appears that there’s not going to be a clear, non-track path for bikes.
9th to Marshall will be the designated bikeway connections around this (a solution extensively discussed with both the neighborhood and the City Bicycle Advisory Committee). 10th is already pretty unfriendly because you hit the curve at Northrup.
When I bike through the area I use 9th, 12th or 13th (and 14th for through trips northbound). East/west designated boulevards are Johnson, Marshall and Overton.
The bike boulevard on Marshall is much safer and more comfortable than the lanes on Lovejoy it is intended to replace.
I’m pretty confident that the area is much more net bike-friendly after the project than before it, even if a few individual streets get worse.