PORTLAND, Ore. — The ole left hook from the center lane … all day every day. I’m talking about the intersection at SW 14th & Burnside.
It’s a tough intersection. Fourteenth Ave is a one-way northbound. There’s a bike lane on the right, and you’ve also got two turn lanes funneling onto 14th Ave from SW Washington – that turn from Washington St is very tough to do in heavy traffic -if you’re lucky, someone MIGHT let you in.
Northbound fourteenth comes into Burnside at a slight angle, so the signs might be easy to confuse. But let’s clear it up.
The left lane is for the hard left turn onto West Burnside. The middle lane is designated as the straight through ONLY lane, as in, continue across Burnside. Most people do, and they continue on to I-405 northbound. PBOT traffic counts reflect this. As of 2017, that ramp to I-405 N handles about 10,000 vehicles per day.
The right lane can either take a hard right (Note the NO RIGHT TURN on RED sign that people also ignore) or, go straight.
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I do the Driving Me Crazy series as a generally light-hearted, but not always, look at things that drive people nuts on area roadways.
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