Southwest trails group continues bike boulevard effort

Leader of SWTrails, Don Baack.
(File photo)

The serpentine, hilly, and narrow roads that make up most of southwest Portland are a far cry from the idyllic bike boulevards of inner southeast Portland.

But that hasn’t stopped a year-long effort by citizen activists and a group called SWTrails from working to create similar bike-friendly streets in their neighborhoods.

Led by veteran trail advocates and southwest Portland residents Don Baack, Keith Liden, and Sharon Fekety, SWTrails has worked closely with PDOT and area residents to garner feedback and recommendations for a potential network of low-traffic, bike-friendly routes.

SWTrails has organized an educational ride in southeast Portland and they have been asking residents which routes they prefer to ride on.

To continue that information gathering effort, they have announced a series of rides to explore possible bike boulevards. Their goal is to have their final recommendations and ideas officially included into the Bicycle Master Plan Update which is expected to be completed next summer.

Here is a list of the ride locations and dates:

• South Burlingame, Collins View, Marshal Park and Arnold Creek (July 15)
• SW Hills Residential League, Bridlemile and Healy Heights (July 19)
• Hayhurst, Maplewood, Ashcreek and Crestwood (July 22)
• South Portland and Homestead (August 4)
• Hillsdale and South Burlingame (August 16)
• Multnomah, Markham, West Portland Park and Far Southwest (August 19)

For full details on these rides, download a PDF announcement from SWTrails.