29 October 2009 Archives

PBOT issues first ever ‘Bicycle Traffic Advisory’

Some of the “bicycling public” on Clinton.
(Photo © J. Maus)

The City of Portland Bureau of Transportation has just issued an advisory to warn “the bicycling public” (that has a much better ring to it than “bicyclists”) of a construction project that will close a popular bicycle boulevard.

According to spokesperson Cheryl Kuck, this is the City’s first ever bicycle-specific traffic advisory. “I’m sending out a regular traffic advisory, too, but we thought we’d get the word out specifically to our bike media to alert bicyclists to the closure.”

I love it.

Here’s the advisory:

“The people riding and making decisions about bicycles is a white, middle class group.”
— Alison Hill Graves, Community Cycling Center

The staff at Community Cycling Center, a 15 year old Portland-based nonprofit that aims to increase access to bicycling, has been doing some soul searching in the last few years.

In the process, community and programs director Alison Hill Graves says they started looking around the area they serve (a five-mile radius around their NE 17th and Alberta retail shop). “We saw a big divide in terms of who’s riding bikes and who isn’t.”

Or, to put it more plainly, “The people riding and making decisions about bicycles is a white, middle class group.”

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Copenhagen, 1937
– Watch videos below –

In light of Portland’s ongoing love-affair with Copenhagen, and the fact that Mr. Bicycle Copenhagen is in town at this very moment (prepping for the big event tonight), I thought it’d be fun to take a look at the transportation legacy of our respective cities.

Bike parking at Director Park.

The City of Portland opened up a new downtown park earlier this week. Director Park, a former parking lot (that’s now underground), occupies a full city block (bordered by SW Park and 9th to the east and west, and Taylor and Yamhill to the south and north). It’s a new public space that the City refers to as “a piazza in the heart of downtown.”

Here’s a bit of history from our friends at Neighborhood Notes:

“Nearly ten years ago Mayor Vera Katz launched a vision for Portland’s Downtown District, one that would extend the city’s public spaces in corridors that run both east and west—and north and south—intersecting in a very special park in the center of it all. Director Park is that place.”

A question we get a lot here at BikePortland is “Where do you get all your story ideas?”.

Most of our sources are top secret and will stay that way (just kidding, sort of), but here’s a rundown of a few of the places I go to gather tips for our weekly Monday Roundup post and to generally stay in the loop on transportation news and culture.

It’s going to rain, it’s going to be cold, and it’s going to be Halloween. There are plenty of opportunities to get into the spirit, costumed or otherwise. Want to ride into the dawn in celebration of bike fun? Move an antique bedroom set on your bike? Ride competitively through a muddy field? Or stay warm and dry while debating the merits of Copenhagen-style bike culture, or ogling handbuilt bike frames? As always, there’s something for everyone.

Thursday, October 29th

6:30pm – 10:30pm: Oregon Manifest: Bicycle Culture from Copenhagen to Portland
A panel discussion with unofficial Danish cycling ambassador Mikael Colville-Andersen, Portland Mayor Sam Adams, and reporter and bike author Jeff Mapes. $10 gets you food, beer, and lively debate over how we can make the best bicycling city. Also serves as the grand opening of the Dreams on Wheels exhibit (of which Colville-Andersen is the photographer). 539 NW Hoyt.

PBOT issues first ever ‘Bicycle Traffic Advisory’

A look at Copenhagen and Portland traffic, circa the 1930s

New downtown park gets parking right

Behind the Monday Roundup: Where we get our transpo news

Weekend Event Guide

Thursday, October 29th

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