Portland’s Bike Master Plan update readies for the spotlight

“The road to Portland’s future will include many, many bicycles. They will help Portland build a stronger economy. They will help Portland become a healthier place to live, work, and play. Bicycles will make the roads safer and give more Portlanders the freedom of personal mobility. They will do all this and cost the people of Portland less than the cost of one latte apiece each month.”
— From draft of Part One of the City of Portland’s Bicycle Master Plan for 2030

It’s been two and-a-half years since we first reported about the City of Portland’s efforts to update their existing Bicycle Master Plan. Since then, the effort has had many ups and downs, but now the new master plan is in the home stretch.

Tomorrow, the bike master plan is set for a briefing in front of the Portland Planning Commission and it will get a full hearing on August 25th.

Bike Master Plan update meeting-21

The Bicycle Master Plan Steering
Committee has been meeting regularly
since December 2008.
(Photo © J. Maus)

The master plan is a wide-reaching document that will set bike-related city policies, help guide the continued build-out of Portland’s bikeway network and much, much more. In short, the goal of the plan is to make the case for a more bicycle-centric city, and then provide a road map on how to get there.

The full plan is expected to be available to the public next week, but I’ve been reading through the internal rough draft and it’s very impressive. I’m learning a lot and I’m also grateful for all the work being done to make this the best, most comprehensive, and thoughtful bike master plan in America.

Starting tomorrow, and continuing until the full plan is released to the public, I’ll offer teasers of each part the draft plan.

To learn more, check out the Portland Bicycle Master Plan for 2030 page on the Bureau of Transportation’s website. Or, for background on what’s been going on with the plan over the past two and-a-half years, browse through the 34 articles we’ve published about it so far.

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car owner and driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, feel free to contact me at @jonathan_maus on Twitter, via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a supporter.

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esther
esther
14 years ago

Thanks, Jonathan. Will you let us know about the types of public input that will still be accepted? I went to the north portland open house and gave lots of input, including big thumbs up on some proposals. I’m very excited about new bike lanes and boulevards on the peninsula. I hope people aren’t missing these opportunities.

Pasture Ted
Pasture Ted
14 years ago

I sure hope they put some improvements in the I-5 corridor between Lombard and Hayden Island. There were no significant improvements in the plans released at the Open Houses this spring.

They need a first rate, low-stress route through there that doesn’t involve Highways 99E or W, and makes is so Kenton residents don’t need to drive their trucks to go shopping at Jantzen Beach

My $0.02

Pasture Ted

Pasture Ted
Pasture Ted
14 years ago

Does this link work?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11599639@N03/3811308728/in/set-72157622008597404/

I see that they’ve added two of my suggestions from the open house — labeling N Union Ct. and Delta Park Road as Bike Blvds.

But this still doesn’t address the issue of creating new routes that don’t involve riding on Highway 99E (MLK) or 99W (Interstate).

I’ve shown the corridors that need upgrades in orange arrows on the map.

I’ve also added my original upgrade request, submitted in May at the Open Houses. You can see that I requested 6 routes upgraded, and they only added the two.
Ted Buehler

pancho
pancho
14 years ago

“2030” I think that there was a miss print? Shouldnt it be more like 2013>>>
Silly humans,, do you really think that there will be any people left on this planet by the time 2030 comes around?

Brad
Brad
14 years ago

2030?! By then I’ll be shuttling to doctor appointments and bingo halls in my fusion powered SUV, yelling at slow bike riders, and telling kids to get the hell off my lawn.

q`Tzal
q`Tzal
14 years ago

2030!? I’ll be laughing at all you land based mortals as I fly free overhead on my personal jet pack.