As part of ongoing efforts to improve the safety of bus operations, TriMet is changing the way the Line 6-Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. bus comes off the Hawthorne Bridge onto Southeast Grand Avenue, as well as making changes to all courtesy stop/night stop procedures.
Currently, vehicles traveling eastbound over the Hawthorne Bridge use a slip lane to veer left onto Grand before the signalized intersection at Grand. Line 6 buses used the slip lane and then merged to the right over four lanes in a space of just under 400 feet.
TriMet requested that the city of Portland change striping at the signalized intersection at Grand. This change means that buses will no longer use the slip lane and instead turn left at the intersection and turn directly into the far right travel lane. This eliminates multiple lane changes in that busy area.
The mass-transit agency is also making changes to its procedures for courtesy stop/Night Stop, where a rider asks the bus driver to make an unscheduled stop.
TriMet will no longer allow non-designated stops in blocks in which a bus makes a left hand turn. In areas without standard city blocks, a minimum of 100 feet between the stop and the intersection is required for each lane change proceeding the left turn.
The changes are in addition to a comprehensive safety review that was ordered after a TriMet bus turning left hit five pedestrians at a downtown intersection, killing two people.
