A few days ago I shared a photo of a local shopping street served by trams here in Amsterdam. I’ve compiled a set of photos of trams running on different types of streets and the variety of design treatments used. Different solutions seem to work well for different needs.
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A few days ago I shared a photo of a local shopping street served by trams here in Amsterdam. I’ve compiled a set of photos of trams running on different types of streets and the variety of design treatments used. Different solutions seem to work well for different needs.
Local Shopping Street
– Peds own the outside of the street, but there are no curbs
– Bikes, cars, trams share the center
Interestingly, trams run a single track, breaking out to two tracks at the platforms (I’ve seen up to four trams – two in each direction – in the platform area!).
Minor Traffic Street
– Cars and trams share the center
– Bikes get a striped lane on the outside
This is similar to the arrangement being suggested in Portland if the Streetcar crosses the Broadway Bridge to run on Broadway and Weidler. Perhaps 10th and 11th should have been designed this way.
Major Traffic Street
– Dedicated right-of-way in center of street
– Bikes and peds share the split-level sidewalk with bikes on the inside (in the picture, one of the peds is actually walking in the bike lane).
This might be an interesting approach to MLK/Grand if we could get agreement to remove auto lanes (I’m not sure the East Side – or ODOT – is ready for that discussion).
As a bonus, I’ve included a picture (click on the Flickr link) of a grass track where the tram runs outside of the street right-of-way. We’ve seen this in Prague as well and have been teasing the Streetcar staff about looking for opportunities to do this in Portland.