Improving Line 33 connections

to other eastside lines at SE Grand and Madison

How adding a new stop could improve the transfer from inbound Line 33 (from Milwaukie) to Lines 4, 6, 10 and 14.

BACKGROUND

Line 33 comes in from Milwaukie on SE Grand and turns left towards the Hawthorne Bridge at SE Madison. Line 6 comes across the Hawthorne Bridge, turns north on Grand and heads to NE Portland. In addition, Lines 4, 10 and 14 come over the bridge and head east.

PROBLEM

In order to move over to the left lane and turn towards the bridge, the Line 33 bus stop has to be 4 blocks back, at Mill. A stop just after the left turn would be on a steep incline to a viaduct and would conflict with a very well used bike lane. In addition, one there also might cause confusion with the Line 4/10/14 stop that's before the intersection.

Because of these issues, people wishing to go from Milwaukie to destinations on the east side of the river must either:

walk 4-5 blocks up busy Grand Avenue
climb down and up stairs or use a long, steep path between two stops on viaducts
ride all the way across the bridge and back OR
go through downtown and transfer to bus across a different bridge

SOLUTION

Create a stop at Grand and Madison by implementing a special traffic signal that allows buses to turn left from the right side of the street. It would be like what the Portland Streetcar does at SW Market & 5th and could be activated by either using the Traffic Signal Priority devices and/or (if buses turned from a pullout created by removing parking) loop detectors in the pavement.

This would result in short, easy 1-2 block walks to the Line 6 and 4/10 stops, as well as direct service to the Multnomah County building located at the intersection. It could save riders up to 15 minutes if they are able to catch an earlier bus because of not having to walk as far or travel out of the way. It would add a minute or two to the route to make the sharper turn and serve the stop, however it would be very beneficial.

In addition, this intersection has a red light camera, which should discourage people from proceeding when the bus does and possibly crashing into it.

NOTE: Map is copyrighted because the official Fareless Square map was used as a base