🚨 Please note: BikePortland is currently on hiatus and only publishing guest articles. Learn more here. Thank you. - Jonathan 🙏
“This project would cost a little more but would deliver huge returns.”
–from a BTA blog post
In the wake of Mayor Potter’s memo and with a looming City Council vote that could kill the plan to bring the Sauvie Island Bridge span to Northwest Portland, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance is sounding the alarm to its 5,000+ members.
I’ve finally obtained the memo from Mayor Potter that I referred to in my story about the Sauvie Island Bridge re-use plan I published earlier today.
The memo outlines Potter’s concerns about the plan and was sent to all four Commissioners and the City Auditor. Potter’s seeming lack of support for the project has set up an important City Council vote and has irked both Commissioner Adam’s office and the Bicycle Transportation Alliance.
One passage in particular shows that Potter does not fully grasp the opportunity this bridge presents for a safe and adequate bike and pedestrian-only crossing of I-405:
The City of Portland has installed two more green bike boxes and painted bike lanes; including the first one on the west side of the river.
Today, crews finished a bike box and new painted bike lane at SE 11th and Hawthorne, just a few blocks east of the first bike box they installed last week.
Southeast Portland based bicycle and pedestrian planning firm, Alta Planning + Design, will be the subject of an upcoming episode of Big Ideas for a Small Planet, a documentary series which airs on The Sundance Channel.
The show is part of Sundance Channel’s new “programming destination dedicated entirely to the environment,” known as The Green.
According to The Green’s press statement, the Big Ideas series presents, “forward-thinking designers, products and processes that are at the forefront of a new green world. Each episode revolves around a different green themes as it spotlights three specific innovators or innovations that have the potential to transform our everyday lives.”
The Portland-based Willamette Pedestrian Coalition has hired Lynn Lindgren-Schreuder as its first Executive Director. According to a press release issued by the WPC, the new hire, “marks a milestone” for the formerly all-volunteer organization.
The WPC was founded 16 years ago and works to advocate for pedestrians and ensure the development of safe and walkable neighborhoods.
With a new Executive Director, the WPC says they, “aim to do for walking what the Bicycle Transportation Alliance has done for biking: make pedestrian friendly development and transportation corridors key benchmarks for sustainable urban living.”
These workshops will comprehensively consider all the issues associated with streetcar development–including potential conflicts with bicycling.
If you’re concerned about bicycle operation in conjunction with streetcar, or are simply interested in the opportunities streetcar offers for Portland, don’t miss these meetings!
East Portland
Tuesday, April 15
7:00-9:00 p.m.
East Portland Community Center, Classroom #1
740 SE 106th Ave.
Read this story for more background.
Northwest and Southwest
Monday, April 14
7:00-9:00 p.m.
Lincoln High School, Room 169
1600 SW Salmon St.
Read this story for more background.
North
Wednesday, April 9
7:00-9:00 p.m.
St. John’s Community Center Auditorium
8427 N. Central St.
Northeast
Read this story for more background.
Tuesday, April 8
7:00-9:00 p.m.
Grant High School Choir Room
2245 NE 36th Ave.
Streetcar System Plan
Streetcar System Plan District Workshops
Southeast
Read this story for background.
Cleveland High School Library
3400 SE 26th Ave.
Tomorrow, Portland City Council will decide whether or not the City will re-use the Sauvie Island Bridge span for a bicycle and pedestrian-only crossing of I-405 at Northwest Flanders street.
The owner of the span, Kuney Construction, is currently under contract with ODOT to demolish the bridge. Therefore, if PDOT wants to continue their effort to relocate the bridge to Northwest Portland, they must enter into a contract with Kuney immediately. Due to these time constraints, Commissioner Sam Adams has put forth an emergency declaration which must have the support of four out of five Commissioners in order to pass (usually only three votes are required).