Ainsworth can be a very tight fit.
(Photo: Peter Welte)

This week's question comes from reader Kinya Hanada. Kinya touches on a question I've wondered myself for several years now. She loves riding on NE Ainsworth because it's a "nice, direct route," but wonders if there are any plans to make it more pleasant to bike on (emphasis mine).

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Burley's Travoy brings home
the gold (and the groceries).

Burley Design, a Eugene-based company known for its bicycle trailers, has won big at the Eurobike trade show that kicked off today in Friedrichshafen, Germany today. Eurobike announced today that Burley has won a 2010 Eurobike Gold Award for their new Travoy cargo trailer.

The Travoy was awarded in the Accessories category and design credit was given to Aaron Beese, Joel Wilson, Gwen Spencer, and Chris Casler. The expert jury that doled out the award said the Travoy is "an impressive contribution to bicycle mobility" and that it's, "A good idea that has also been well implemented.”

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Wider, smoother shoulders would be nice.
(Photo © J. Maus)

On Monday, the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) -- an influential group of state DOT directors -- announced a report calling on Congress to prioritize funding for expanded rural highway capacity in the forthcoming re-write of the transportation bill. Spending hundreds of billions on highway projects and adding 30,000 new lane miles is sure to raise eyebrows in active transportation circles, but could AASHTO's plan help improve biking conditions on highways across America?

Maybe.

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Sounds reasonable to me.

Streetfilms has a new video on 20's Plenty for us, a campaign in the U.K. working to make 20 mph the standard speed limit in residential areas. The campaign is catching on quickly, with more and more U.K. cities adopting the policy all the time. Given that PBOT might be considering a legislative fix to wrest greater control of speed limits from ODOT, and the fact that Mayor Sam Adams has already shown an interest in reducing speed limits and has made safety his number one transportation priority, this could be an idea that catches on here in Portland.

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Super D!

After several months of jam-packed event calenders this Weekend's light schedule will give you a chance to go on that ride you've been thinking about, revisit your favorite regular events, and for those who have already given up on summer altogether, go shopping for rain gear.

Friday, September 3rd

6:30pm: Vegan Dinner Bike Ride
Meet your fellow deep-rooted vegan enthusiasts and branch out to try new and exciting cuisine. Ride meets at on the Colonel Summers Park greens and heads to a different vegan-friendly restaurant or food cart, followed by a chance to talk chop at an area watering hole.

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The "Clinton to the River" multi-use
path is part of the $10 million request.
- Larger version here -

A month ago I shared details of the big project TriMet planned to apply for (in close collaboration with Metro and other partners) in hopes of garnering a piece of the $600 million available from the Obama Administration's TIGER II grant program.

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So fresh and so smooth. A portion of the Springwater near SE Luther Street this morning.
(Photos by reader Jonathan Ragsdale)

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Go carfree on the day that
corresponds to your car color
(mine would be Tuesday).

Here's a interesting new campaign that would feel right at home in Portland. This Saturday, the City of Boulder Colorado will launch Driven to Drive Less, a new program to get people to go one day a week without their car. What's refreshing is that they're going about it in a creative way, by asking people to consider going carfree on a certain day of the week depending on the color of their vehicle. Here's a snip from the campaign website:

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Graphic showing location of vehicles just prior to collision.
(Graphic: BikePortland)

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I noticed a flyer on NE 37th yesterday advertising yet another bike-related business that has cropped up in Portland recently...

Flyer spotted on NE 37th.

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Temporary bike parking at PGE Park was a hit during a Timbers game last weekend.
(Photo: Jeff Castro/Bikeracker)

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Richard Krebs' bike rests under the
wheel of a TriMet bus after the
collision on August 12th.
(Photo: Bill Jackson)

TriMet has released an update on the investigation of a collision involving a bus and a bike in downtown Portland on August 12th.

TriMet Communications Director Mary Fetsch says that following a review by the Portland Police Bureau Traffic Division, the man operating the bicycle, Richard Krebs, was given a citation for "failure to obey a traffic control device" (ORS 811.265). The bus operator was not cited, but was "provided retraining" according to Fetsch.

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Many people in the community are outraged at the light sentence given to prominent local business man and owner of Mt. Hood Ski Bowl Kirk Hanna for the drunken, 80 mph, hit-and-run he pleaded guilty to last week.

Like any high-profile case like this, there are a lot of moving parts at work; the District Attorney's office, the judge, the defense attorneys, the victim, the police, the defendant, and so on. I'll be looking into the story a bit more in the coming days, but one thing I wanted to share now is the role that the Portland Police Bureau Traffic Division played (the Traffic Division handles all our city's hit-and-run cases).

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South sidewalk will reopen Saturday.
(Photo © J. Maus)

If you've been missing using the the Broadway Bridge (I sure have) to get in and out of Northwest Portland, you're going to be very happy with this news. According to Kay Dannen with streetcar project contractor Shiels Obletz Johnsen, the bridge is set to reopen to biking and walking traffic this Saturday, September 4th.

On Saturday, all traffic (biking, walking, and motor vehicle) will be routed onto the south side of the bridge (similar to when the bridge first closed). Dannen says they expect the north sidewalk to reopen on Friday, September 17th.

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[Longtime BikePortland reader John Beaston recently completed a bike tour with some friends along the Oregon Coast. I asked him to share a few photos and a brief recap about what they did along the way. Please note: Since this ride combined bicycling and beer drinking, I asked Beaston to explain how they made sure there was no pedaling under the influence. He said they had a designated support van the entire way and all brewery stops were scheduled at dinner, so no riding was done after imbibing.]

The group at Seaside.
John Beaston is second from right.

Back in 2002, a friend and I did the Oregon Coast Bike Route. After we got home we told all of our beer buddies about what a great experience it was; a pitcher later and we had concocted the 2010 Oregon Coast Brewery to Brewery Bike Tour -- a 7-day, van-supported jaunt from Astoria to Brookings taking in the scenery and stopping at all seven coastal breweries.

We just returned and here's a combo beer and road report...

Breweries (see full list below)
The good: Those seven breweries are creating some fantastic beers. Ft George Brewing in Astoria and Wakonda Brewing in Florence were our favorites places. Wakonda's Imperial Pilsner was our standout beer.

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Opens tomorrow.

As a follow-up to a story we reported last March, the facility that houses Bikestation Hillsboro will have its grand opening tomorrow. The new Bikestation -- the first of its kind in the Portland metro region -- is set to open in a few weeks. It will offer over 1,200 square feet of secure bike parking accessible by members through electronic card access 24 hours a day. The new Bikestation is located on the ground floor of the five-story, 20,000 square foot Hillsboro Intermodal Transit Facility (ITF) that will have a grand opening event tomorrow. In addition to bike parking, the ITF will house motor vehicle parking, street-level retail shops, and EV charging stations.

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The First Family on a bike ride!

Welcome back to Monday everyone. Here are the news items and other interesting tidbits that caught our eye last week...

- President Obama and his family enjoyed a bike ride on their recent trip to Martha's Vineyard. This news video (below) of the Obama bike path sighting is priceless (note the part where the witness says a secret service car followed them on the path... that's not allowed!):

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Bike traffic on N. Interstate Ave.
(Photo © J. Maus)

The weekend is upon us. Pull up our excellent and jam-packed Weekend Event Guide and plan out your bike fun.

I've been in Lake Tahoe, California for the past few days (last-minute family thing, I've been writing stories late at night and early morning!), so I won't be participating in all the great events going on... So, as per usual, share your plans and adventures in the comments below.

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Rep. Earl Blumenauer

U.S. Congressman Earl Blumenauer will kick off Interbike in Las Vegas next month. His presence will put advocacy front and center at North America's largest bike trade show. Blumenauer will be joined by Interbike Show Director Andy Tompkins and Bikes Belong Coalition President Tim Blumenthal at a press conference to open the show on September 22nd.

Here's an excerpt from a statement by Interbike:

"The purpose of the press conference is to welcome the industry to Interbike 2010, share information about the industry’s show and its future direction, and hear from Blumenauer and Blumenthal on the state of cycling legislation and future government activity on behalf of bicycling.

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This week's featured job opening could have you walking the talk (or biking or carpooling the talk) as the Westside Transportation Alliance's Programs representative to Tigard and Tualatin in Washington County. If you want to spread the good word and help create healthier cities and lifestyles through transportation planning, follow the link to learn more and apply.

• Program Manager -- Westside Transportation Alliance

This is a paid listing, so when you apply, please remember to tell them you saw the ad on BikePortland... and good luck to all applicants!

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