Exclusive: Adams’ budget will include “Bicycle Infrastructure Improvement Fund”

PSU Pres. Wim Wievel's first day-7.jpg

Adams has dedicated $500,000
for bikes in his budget.
(Photos © J. Maus)

In his forthcoming budget proposal (due out tomorrow), Mayor Sam Adams will include a dedicated funding source devoted to bicycle programs and projects that he calls the “Bicycle Infrastructure Improvement Fund”.

In a phone call this afternoon, Mayor Adams told me the money will come from a portion of utility license fees. Last year Adams requested, and City Council approved, that a portion of those fees go toward the Bureau of Transportation (since PBOT is responsible for maintaining the right-of-way utility companies use to work on their wires, pipes, etc…).

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Condo developer rolls out the green lane for bikes

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[Welcome to the first article in our new Bike Home section. Marion Rice, our family biking columnist, will be sharing her finds and tips about all things related to bike-friendly living spaces. She’ll be on the hunt for the best backyard bike sheds, bike-friendly homes for sale, bike yard art, and other fun stuff. If you have tips or suggestions for Marion, get in touch at marion[at]bikeportland[dot]org. — Jonathan]


New resident Steve Gitchell and
developer Ted Watson.
(Photo: Dan Liu)

When Northwest Portland real estate developer Ted Watson embarked on a remodel of the Gallery Condominiums at NW 21st and Johnson, he knew bike amenities were a must.

“I know my market and I wanted to satisfy my market. I wanted to make it easy for my owners to get around,” he said. According to Ted, it was a “no-brainer” to make sure the plans included bike storage and other bike-friendly features.

Watson himself lives in West Linn. He drives most of the way into the city, but he prefers to bike between his various downtown projects to avoid the hassle of finding parking.

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Portland is primed for a low-car diet

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More trains, more bikes, fewer cars.
(Photos © J. Maus)

Portland’s transportation future is set to change drastically in the coming years. The stars are aligning for a city — and especially the downtown core — where public transit, feet, and bicycles are the vehicles of choice for most people.

Don’t believe me? Just look around at recent headlines and community and political trends for evidence.

Today we heard two announcements of projects that will have a major impact on the volume of car traffic in the urban core. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood called local officials to announce that Portland has secured $75 million to take its streetcar line across the river. The new line will go from Northwest Portland, across the Broadway Bridge, and then south to OMSI.

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Oregon Manifest unveils ’09 show details: Builders will be put to the challenge

The 2009 Oregon Manifest (10/2 – 11/8) can hardly be called a bike show. After the success of their first show last year, organizers have signed a presenting sponsorship deal with Chris King Precision Components and transformed the event into five “concentrated weeks” of art, workshops, and unique events designed to showcase the nation’s best handmade bicycles.

The highlight of this year’s Manifest is the Constructor’s Design Challenge and the Constructor’s Race. Builders from around the country will design and build a transportation-oriented bicycle that will then be raced on a 77-mile epic ride and judged by a panel of experts.

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Eric Davidson Fundraiser Moving Sale

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What: Come grab some hot deals and help raise money for Eric and Ana-Carin at their giant moving sale. Tons of stuff goes!

(Ed. – Eric was struck in a hit-and-run May, 2008.)

Newer modern furniture incl. gorgeous leather L sofa, power and manual tools, décor, climbing wall holds, kitchen stuff, sports equipment, new/newish Nike wear/shoes, clothing, rugs, electronics, garden supplies, nice house plants all kinds of household stuff is going. Who knows what else? (Cash only)

When: Sat. May 2nd – 9AM-3PM

Where: 3406 NE 44th Ave (1/2 block south of Fremont)

Priorities and promises: How will bikes fare in the Mayor’s budget?

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Will he deliver a Platinum budget?
(Photos © J. Maus)

Right now in City Hall, Mayor Adams and his staff are getting set to release their transportation budget.

When the Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) released their budget back in February, it was embarrassingly bad for bikes. There was no dedicated revenue for bike projects, one-time funding for the Transportation Options Division (which funds Safe Routes to Schools among other things) was reduced 40%, and there was no guarantee to fund new bike boulevards (eventually, PBOT Director Sue Keil found $178,000 for the boulevards).

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Heels on Wheels with Clever Cycles

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What: Celebrate with us, strawberries and wine. Wear your cutest bike outfit, your highest bike heels and check out what Ibex, Sheila Moon
and Suzabelle would like to see you in this Spring. If you fall in love with any of these items, you can take it home for 10% off during the event. We will then head up to the Sapphire Hotel.

When: Thursday April 30th, 6-8pm

Where: Clever Cycles. 908 SE Hawthorne Boulevard

New link in Westside Trail opens this week

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The Tualitin Hills Parks and Recreation District has announced the completion of a new, 2-mile segment of their Westside Trail.

Here’s more from their website:

The new trail marks an important link in THPRD’s efforts to establish a continuous north-south trail backbone through its district. Combined with other existing segments and additional trail projects to be funded by the district’s 2008 bond measure, the backbone will eventually stretch 10 miles from PCC’s Rock Creek Campus to Barrows Road.

The trail is now open for public use and a grand opening to celebrate the new trail segment will be held on Saturday May 9th at the Tualatin Hills Nature Park (15655 SW Millikan Way, Beaverton).

More details on that event at the THPRD website.

Bike Boulevard Boogie with the Easy Riders

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What: We’ve asked Greg Raisman to lead us on a tour of North / NE Portland’s future bike boulevards. Greg works for PBOT so he knows the what’s, the where’s and the how’s and he’s agreed to show us some of the routes that are being discussed as potential bike boulevards. Along the way Greg will share some his knowledge of how a simple street becomes a bike boulevard, some of the hurdles that must be overcome and how to get involved if you live in the neighborhood. If you don’t care about any of this stuff? Come along anyway, it’s not like there will be a test after and you’ll get to spend the afternoon cruising around on your bike.

The ride will be low traffic, mostly flat and slow paced so feel free to bring the kids along.

Where:
Meet: The Waypost‎ – 3120 N. Williams
Route: http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Bike-Boulevard-Boogie
This map is an approximation. Greg might improvise and alter the route slightly during the ride.
Distance: 13.5 mile loop
Elevation: Pretty flat
Rain Check: It’s Spring! Aren’t we past that?
Dinner and Booze: Probably 5th quadrant, maybe Amnesia – we’ll take a vote or something.

When: Saturday, May 2, 2009. Start gathering around 10:30am, we’ll ride at 11:00am.
Return: 3:00pm – 4:00pm

What happened to Cary Bernick? On the scene of a fatal collision

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Flowers placed as a memorial
near the location where
Bernick was hit.
(Photos © Dan Liu)

Last night, BikePortland news intern Dan Liu and I visited the scene of the collision that killed Cary Bernick on Monday evening.

We timed our arrival to match that of the crash itself, shortly after 5pm. There wasn’t a ton of traffic. Biking up and down the Halsey/Weidler couplet (that’s wonk-speak for two, one-way streets) doesn’t feel exactly safe — you have to look sharp — but it also isn’t the terrifying freeway on-off ramp I expected.

Dan and I stood for a while looking at the crash scene. It had rained heavily all day and dried out several hours beforehand. Someone had tied a bouquet of flowers to a nearby street sign with a yellow ribbon, and another bouquet was laid carefully on the sidewalk. We later learned that the flowers were placed by Bernick’s wife, brother, and his brother’s girlfriend. Shortly after we left, a ghost bike was chained to the same spot.

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