Fixing Our Streets funding to improve neighborhood greenways, support bike buses at four elementary schools
Take the survey to tell PBOT where your greenway needs improvement
The Abernethy bike buses ride around Ladd's Circle Park on the way to school.
Bike and walk buses are groups of parents and kids who ride or walk together to school. There are more than 20 schools in Portland—mostly elementary schools—with a bike or walk bus. The routes they use may vary year to year, but they typically use neighborhood greenways for all or part of the trip. Greenways are low-traffic streets with slower speeds that are prioritized for pedestrians and people biking.
Now, PBOT is working to identify and implement improvements to increase safety and comfort on neighborhood greenways being used by children biking and walking to school.
As part of this two-year project, PBOT will work with the communities around four elementary schools to identify how to improve the greenways they use. In the second year of the project, PBOT will build an initial set of improvements.
PBOT will focus on the following four elementary schools. These schools were selected based on defined evaluation criteria, with one school from each of the four council districts:
- District 1: Lent Elementary
- District 2: James John Elementary
- District 3: Abernethy Elementary
- District 4: Maplewood Elementary
Sign up for project updates via email, or visit the project website: Portland.gov/BetterGreenways
 The Maplewood bike bus prepares to begin their bike ride to school.
Safety and comfort
A key part of Portland’s approach to increasing bicycling is to build bikeways that are attractive, safe, and comfortable. The focus of this project is to do just that, by improving greenways and access to them. This project is a response to neighbors, advocates, bike bus leaders, and participants telling PBOT that they (and their children) do not always feel safe and comfortable on the neighborhood greenways they use.
A common concern is how people drive on the greenways, including concerns about the volume of cars on a given street as well as their speed. Others have shared concerns about a particular intersection.
 The Lent bike bus prepares to depart on their bike ride to school.
We want to hear from you
Whether you walk, bike, scoot, roll, or drive on neighborhood greenways, take the online survey to tell us where you’d like to see improvements. Each of the school bike bus routes and greenways are shown on an interactive map—just drop a pin (or multiple pins) to share your feedback.
The survey will be open through Sunday, Nov 30, 2025.
 The James John bike bus rides down N. Charletson Street.
Next steps
This winter, PBOT planners will analyze the feedback and propose projects based on the issues raised. Come spring 2026, we’ll be working with each community to refine and prioritize those projects.
Over the course of fiscal year 2026-27 (starting July 1, 2026), PBOT will implement the prioritized projects, with a budget of about $100,000 for improvements around each school.
The city’s third round of funding of Fixing Our Streets is providing $500,000 for this project. Fixing Our Streets is a voter-approved 10-cent local gas tax and council-approved heavy vehicle use tax, first passed in 2016 and renewed in 2020 and 2024.
|
