I spent some time on Northeast 105 on Sunday. I wanted to better understand what could lead to this. fatal collision Incident involving a cyclist on October 21. And as I share My time in NE Glisan For the same reason, visiting these places is also important for those who want to gain a deeper perspective and/or write and talk about these tragedies.

This section of NE 105th street, where it intersects with NE Marx, is where a 32-year-old named Damon (police have not yet released his full name) was hit and killed by a motorist while riding his bike to work around 9:00 that morning. I. According to people who knew him (and reached out to BikePortland), Damon was a well-liked co-worker who worked at a nearby warehouse.

As I mentioned earlier, police said Damon was heading north on 105th Street and a driver was heading south. As Damon was crossing NE Marx, for some reason a driver turned left (to go east) and they collided with each other.

The area adjacent to the road is zoned industrial (although there are some homes on it) and is just north of Sandy Blvd and east of the I-205 bike path. NE 105th’s speed limit is 35 mph. There are no dedicated bike lanes or sidewalks. There are two 12-foot lanes (one in each direction) and a shoulder that varies in width from two to four feet. While sight lines should have been good, police said the driver was behind other vehicle users, which may have affected their vision to some degree depending on how far behind they were. Damon’s vision may also have been affected by the driver in front of him. I’m not sure of the details yet, so I won’t speculate further.

Another notable factor is that the cyclist is going downhill. There is about a 2% grade from a railroad crossing near Sandy Blvd to Marx. On the city’s official bicycle map, this section of Route 105 is marked as a “difficult connection.”

I’m still hoping to get more information from the police about how this happened. If anyone has information, please reach out. For another perspective on this location, Read this BikePortland review by Ted Buehler.

If you would like to attend Damon’s memorial service, Families for Bicycle Sound and Safe Streets will meet at NE 105 and Marx at 11:30 for a silent vigil.