This week, the City of Portland will change the rules of the road at 14 intersections.

So-called bike boxes will give bikes a space to get ahead of cars at intersections.

The city will draw a bright green box on the road. Bikes will line up inside the box with cars cueing up about 15 feet back.

The change is designed to help bikes and cars co-exist safely after a series of tragic collisions where cars turning right smashed into oncoming cyclists.

“When the light turns green cyclists get to go first,” explains Roger Geller, the city’s bicycle coordinator.

The change is so substantial the city has begun an ad campaign explaining how the boxes work.

Billboards are part of an overall $200,000 dollar budget for the new bike box program.

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“Make cyclists more visible, make motorists more aware,” said Geller.

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Cyclist Bill Kremers thinks bike boxes will be a useful tool for those cyclists who are currently too afraid to ride among cars.

“It's a good idea to help cars and bicyclists get along,” he said.

But one driver named Jai is frustrated by the idea of waiting behind a group of bikes, especially if he shows up first at an intersection.

“I wouldn't like them to be obstructing the flow of traffic,” he said. “Since when are bikes taking over?”

The city says bikes will clear out of the bike box as soon as the light turns green.

“And they'll just all merge into the bike lane,” explained Geller, adding that downtown intersections are timed at 14 miles per hour so there’s already no rush to reach the next red light.

Bike lanes leading to and from bikes boxes will also get the bright green treatment. it's the city's investment in making sure cars and bikes co-mingle without casualties.

City road crews hope to start applying the colorful adhesives as early as Friday depending on weather. They need two days of dry pavement to get a box completed.

The city hopes to finish all 14 boxes by May.