Okay, inner Portland. God knows your pothole-ridden streets crammed full of halfwit tall-bikers more or less suck to use if you’re in an automobile. That said, and to Portlanders’ credit, we generally figure out how to drive and bike on them—even if it’s accompanied by a whole lot of inept flailing and glaring at each other passive aggressively.
HOWEVER. As far as I can tell, no one in the whole goddamn city knows what to do at the intersection of E Burnside and NE 14th, where that weird, crappy little island splits Burnside—letting some of Burnside’s eastbound traffic continue on Burnside, and letting some of Burnside’s eastbound traffic turn north, onto Sandy Boulevard. Click this to make the battleground bigger:
Panic seems to set in for drivers on Burnside who, at 14th, want to turn north and head up onto Sandy. It should be noted that east of NE 14th, Burnside functions as a one-way, four-lane, eastbound street; west of NE 14th, Burnside functions as a two-way street, with both eastbound and westbound traffic having two lanes.
In order for Burnside’s eastbound drivers to turn left onto NE 14th, and thus onto Sandy, they need to merge with Burnside’s westbound traffic (and vice versa). To facilitate this merging, drivers turning onto NE 14th are greeted with an arrow traffic signal. Which does absolutely no one any good at all because whenever there’s a red arrow, everybody at this fucking intersection seems to kick into fight or flight mode and do whatever it is that first occurs to them. Some people sit at the red arrow, patiently waiting for god knows how long, even when there’s no oncoming traffic that would prevent them from turning onto 14th. Some people blast right through it, regardless of anything. Some people ease out into the intersection, swiveling their heads like lost toddlers in a supermarket—then stop, then ease a bit forward some more, until eventually the light just turns green and they decide they can go. People honk a lot! And my fellow Portlanders, I share your confusion: I generally stop at the red arrow on NE 14th, see if there’s oncoming traffic coming, and if there isn’t, I’ll turn—but is that the right thing to do? Fuck if I know!
So let’s figure this shit out. Can we turn onto NE 14th when there’s a red arrow? Let’s break this down… § 811.260 style.
At first it seems pretty clear: Hell no you can’t, son! Or so the “law” would seem to say.
Except as provided in ORS 811.265… a driver is in violation of ORS 811.265 (Driver failure to obey traffic control device) if the driver makes a response to traffic control devices that is not permitted under the following…
Steady red arrow signal. A driver facing a steady red arrow signal, alone or in combination with other signal indications, may not enter the intersection to make the movement indicated by the red arrow signal. Unless entering the intersection to make some other movement which is permitted by another signal, a driver facing a steady red arrow signal shall stop at a clearly marked stop line, but if none, before entering the marked crosswalk on the near side of the intersection, or if there is no marked crosswalk, then before entering the intersection. The vehicle shall remain stopped until a green light is shown except when the driver is permitted to make a turn under ORS 811.360 (When vehicle turn permitted at stop light). (Via.)
So red arrow means stop your filthy car and be patient for once in your life, right? Okay, cool, so—wait, what’s this “ORS 811.360” shit? Oh, right. Because Oregon has weirdness about turning on reds. Alright. Let’s break this down… § 811.360 style.
The driver of a vehicle… who is intending to turn at an intersection where there is a traffic control device showing a steady circular red signal, a steady red bicycle signal or a steady red arrow signal may do any of the following without violating ORS 811.260 (Appropriate driver responses to traffic control devices) and 811.265 (Driver failure to obey traffic control device):
(a) Make a right turn into a two-way street.
(b) Make a right or left turn into a one-way street in the direction of traffic upon the one-way street. (Via.)
So—if I’m interpreting that right, and I don’t doubt you jerks will tell me if I’m not—you can turn at NE 14th on a red arrow, so long as you stop first to make sure there aren’t any cars coming. This is because just before NE 14th, on both sides of the intersection, E Burnside splits—making the parts of Burnside that concern us, for all intents and purposes, one-way streets. Since the parts of Burnside that flank the signal at NE 14th are both one-way, that means you should be able to left on a red arrow, so long as you’ve stopped and made sure there’s no oncoming traffic.
Here’s why I’m guessing everyone’s confused and 100 percent unpredictable at this spot: (1) Oregon’s confusing, goofy-ass left-turn-on-red laws are bewildering to everyone who didn’t learn how to drive here (which, in inner Portland, is just about everyone), and (2) it’s weird for Burnside’s eastbound drivers to think of the part of Burnside that’s immediately east of the NE 14th signal is “one-way,” considering they can see the two-way part of the street right fucking there, just beyond the part that matters to them. It can be tricky right there to say whether or not Burnside is a one-way or a two-way street, because it’s kind of both. For our concerns, though, and if I’m reading these §s right, if you’re at the intersection on NE 14th, you can treat the lanes of Burnside you’re merging into as a one-way.
So that settles it, right? We can start doing the same thing now? Turning on that red arrow at NE 14th, so long as we’ve stopped and there isn’t any oncoming traffic? Because jesus, people. We’re like lemmings trying to have an orgy at that goddamn light.
And now, because this was possibly the most boring blog post ever written, and because I love Smokey and the Bandit, and because typing “eastbound” about 400 times put it in my head:
I basically never, ever have to take that particular turn, but I do take the one going the opposite direction — where westbound Burnside traffic has to decide whether to continue west on Couch or head back east on Sandy — and I’m often confused, although maybe not in the same way. In that case, you have two lanes going left onto a one-way and one going right onto Sandy. Obviously, Sandy drivers can take the right against the red if it’s clear — but the left on red gets complicated for me if there are TWO turn lanes. In the one farthest left, I feel comfortable turning against the red light… but in the middle lane, I tend to wait (maybe because I cannot be sure if the douche in the left-most lane is going to swerve right into the right-most lane on Couch when making his own dubious turn).
Anyway, long story short, I think you CAN turn on red light, but you are not obligated to. If you feel safer waiting to turn until the green light, it is within your right. I imagine they would have just made them blinking yellow lights, but then i’d be more dangerous for pedestrians at the same intersection.
Your ultimate conclusion is correct, but the rationale is a bit off, I think.
The exception allows you to “Make a right or left turn into a one-way street in the direction of traffic upon the one-way street.”
Thus, I don’t think it matters whether Burnside is one way, rather, the key is whether 14th is one way. If there is a red arrow at the intersection, you can go if it is clear because you are making a left turn INTO 14th in the direction of traffic upon 14th.
Correct conclusion, but the rationale is reversed. You can turn left (north) on red onto 14th because 14th is at that point a one way street, not because Burnside is a one way. If Burnside were full two way at that point, it would still be permissible to turn left on red.
I’ve always turned, after stopping, on the red arrow there. Turning left onto a one-way street from a one-way street is a pretty universal driving trick. This one’s a little bit weird, though, because Burnside’s a one-way street that turns into a two-way street—meaning this intersection transcends most one-way-left-turn situations by adding right-turners off Burnside. That’s given me pause, but I’d always justified it by figuring everyone had a marked lane to turn into. Having grown up in Illinois, I really miss “first available lane” laws. They add sanity and predictability, and, thus, efficiency.
Yeah, Denis, it’s the predictability thing that gets me. If I could trust that everyone would turn into their marked lane, then it’d be fine to turn left on that red. But if oncoming traffic going west on Burnside turns wide, then I’m going to get sideswiped.
It’s fun to watch S&TB and try to catch all the screw-ups. Good movie, though. Best one of the 3, IMO.
You sir are no Joseph Rose.
This article is an amazing example of the phenomenon known as “projection”. What Erik believes to be a universal experience is clearly just the fact that he doesn’t know how to drive his car.
Yeah, Joseph Rose did this article back in April, and he actually interpreted the rule correctly.
http://www.oregonlive.com/commuting/index.…
I walk through this intersection (the sandy/14th side anyway) twice a day. Cars nearly clipping me in the crosswalk while I have the right-of-way is a weekly occurrence. So personally, I”m more concerned about people 1) ignoring the red entirely and 2) not even checking whether there’s a pedestrian in the cross-walk when the “walk” light is lit, both of which happen frequently. It will not kill you to stop at the red arrow, check for 1) cars, 2) pedestrians and THEN go. And 3), bicyclists should they be insane enough to try to navigate that intersection with cars.
CARS!!!!!
I’ll turn on red and brandish both birds in the air in utter defiance. I steer with my teeth clamped securely on the wheel, btw.
“It should be noted that east of NE 14th, Burnside functions as a one-way, four-lane, eastbound street; west of NE 14th, Burnside functions as a two-way street, with both eastbound and westbound traffic having two lanes.”
Or vice versa, actually.
“It should be noted that east of NE 14th, Burnside functions as a one-way, four-lane, eastbound street; west of NE 14th, Burnside functions as a two-way street, with both eastbound and westbound traffic having two lanes.”
Wrong.
Portland drivers are growing to be the worst, even worse than fucking New Mexicans, which previously held the title. Between the PA bullshit on the freeways (you CAN’T BE FASTER THAN ME!!!) to the rampant passivity (you go, no YOU go, NO YOU GO!), it’s a wonder anyone makes it anywhere.
All that is to say stop at the red light, then go if it’s clear. Or if there is a sign prohibiting turns on red. Period.
And that’s why I ride my bike.
Straight to Blabby’s house.
When I worked over there we contacted PDOT and the city about the cluster fuck that is the wrong way up Burnside. Long story short, no1curred.