Interstate and Multnomah

After a few close encounters of the steel kind, I figured out the bike lane at the intersection of Multnomah and Interstate (on Multnomah west bound) is always best taken in the traffic lanes.

There are two common routes here. The first is to make the left turn to get onto the Esplanade and go on the bottom of the steel bridge, and the second is to simply take the upper deck of the bridge. I do the latter since it puts me on Third Street and I do not need to contend with pedestrians on the Esplanade. (See the well done YouTube video below.)

  1. Left hand turns to get onto Interstate for access to the Esplanade. Get into the center of the left hand turn lane.
  2. Going straight onto the Steel Bridge. Get into the center of the right lane allowing room for that dark blue Audi (or a dump truck) to make the free right.
  3. Right hand turns use the bike lane, remembering that the vehicles turning right are looking left for other cars and not at you.
  4. Lastly, if you are headed to the Max (Yellow Line), which is to the right in the center of Interstate, get on the sidewalk and use the crosswalk.

I am sure this video never had the intention of showing the issues with commuting on the Esplanade, but I think it does as boxes in the other pedestrians and cyclists on a nice day in Portland. Hats off to OED for a nicely done video.