Portland was ranked #2 in 2010, which was the last time the rankings came out. Prior to that Portland had earned the top spot every year since 1995. Our defeat to Minneapolis at the hands of Bicycling Magazine's editors stung a bit; but it was clear that the decision was made more because of how our lead had begun to shrink, not that we were actually #2 (and I'm sure the attention and PR generated by making us #2 figured into the decision as well).
Minneapolis drops to the second spot this time around, with Boulder, Washington D.C., and Chicago rounding out the top five. Here's the full top ten list (with 2010 rankings in parentheses):
With the death of Kathryn Rickson still fresh on the minds of many (the community will gather at the intersection tonight at 5:30 pm), there is already a strong chorus calling for safety measures to make it less likely this will ever happen again. Citizen activists and the Bicycle Transportation Alliance are calling on the City of Portland to take action.
It's important to remember that these reactions are coming swiftly, not just because of what happened to Kathryn Rickson. Right-hook collisions are in the headlines here on BikePortland far too often it seems. And while most of the ones we report on do not result in fatalities, many of us remember ones that did. Tracey Sparling died from a right turning large truck. So did Brett Jarolimek. Those two fatal collisions happened less than two weeks apart back in October 2007 and their impact is still felt today.
One of Brett's friends co-workers, Kris Schamp, wrote about that in an email to me today. Schamp shared his feelings and his concerns about the road design at SW 3rd and Madison:
Castelli will donate $60 dollars to OBRA for every one of these jerseys they sell (price is $100).
The Oregon Bicycle Racing Association (OBRA) is just about $5,000 short of meeting their goal for the first phase of a fundraising effort to replace the pock-marked and cracking concrete surfaces on the venerable Alpenrose Velodrome in Portland's southwest hills.
The renovation of the straightaways began back in March and has now been completed. "The new portions are amazingly smooth," says Velodrome manager Mike Murray. The total cost was just over $51,000.
Phase two of the project — the paved infield portion of the track (a.k.a. the apron) — will be equally as expensive. Once all the work is done, Murray says the project will, "Make almost a new velodrome and will keep Alpenrose running for the next 20-30 plus years."
Adams' office has posted the statement on his blog, under the headline: Statement from Mayor Sam Adams on Bicycle Accident at SW 3rd and Madison. Here it is:
Last night, a terrible tragedy occurred downtown: a bicyclist was struck by a motor vehicle and killed. My condolences go out to this young woman’s family and friends; I am deeply sorry for the anguish they are going through. This incident hit me particularly hard given my commitment as mayor to making our city’s streets safer for all users. While we’ve made great strides, losing even one life is too many. This incident is still under investigation and the Portland Police Bureau will work with the District Attorney’s Office to determine appropriate action.
Tuesday night's elections were full of good news for Portland's re-energized Bike Walk Vote political action committee.
After being founded in 2004, then lying dormant for several years following the 2008 elections, Bike Walk Vote came roaring back last winter. Boasting some seriously smart and plugged-in new leaders (Evan Manvel, Peter Welte, Mike O' Leary just to name a few), they threw a highly successful launch party in December. When the likes of U.S. Congressman Earl Blumenauer and a packed crowd showed up, it was a clear sign that Portland's huge population of low-car advocates were just waiting to organize and make their voices heard.
With the votes counted from the May 15th primary, candidates supported by Bike Walk Vote did extremely well. In fact, five of the seven candidates they endorsed won outright and the remaining two — Jefferson Smith for mayor and Mary Nolan for City Council — finished very close seconds and will sail into runoffs in November.
As we shared back in March, after 13 months of public process, a citizen committee finally made a decision last month about how to make the street safer. The open house will be the public's first opportunity to see detailed maps and drawings of what we can expect to see once PBOT implements the changes.
Participants in the program pose in front of Human Services Council in Vancouver. (Photos: Human Services Council))
[This story was written by Madeleine von Laue.]
A Vancouver woman has a new job and a new bicycle to get there, thanks in part to a new program that helps job seekers and low-income adults in SW Washington access bicycles for transportation.
Vancouver and Clark County have had programs to help school children get bicycles and ride safely, but nothing for adults. That changed last year when the Human Services Council received a grant from the Washington State Department of Transportation for an innovative 'Bike to Work' Program.
"This was definitely a life changer," said Shari Brown, who moved to Vancouver a year ago from Texas. "It really opened up doors for me. Now I can feel confident and positive that I'll be where I need to be, like at my new job."
Tomorrow night the community will gather at the corner of SW 3rd and Madison in downtown Portland to remember Kathyrn Rickson. Kathryn is the 28-year-old Southeast Portland resident who died late last night from injuries sustained in a collision with a truck while bicycling through that intersection.
Every time someone dies while riding a bike, it hits all of us very hard. When it happens on a section of bike lane that many of us here in Portland have ridden on hundreds of times, we feel it even more deeply.
Let's come together as a community tomorrow night and remember this tragedy. Let's show Portland that there are many people who care deeply about traffic safety and that every life lost on our roads is one too many.
The BTA and Swanson Thomas, Coon & Newton will host sign-making from 3:00 to 5:00 at their offices on SW 2nd (820 SW 2nd Ave, just a few blocks away). We will assemble between 5:15 and 5:30 pm at 3rd and Madison. Please consider being there. Thank you.
UPDATE: Mayor Sam Adams says he plans to attend this event.
NOTE: I have closed comments on this post because I didn't like the back-and-forth that was happening. This is a sensitive time and a sensitive post. Thanks for understanding. — JM
The Portland Police Bureau have just released information about a very serious collision that happened downtown less than one hour ago.
It occurred at the intersection of SW 3rd and Madison at around 8:30 pm tonight. Police say it appears that the woman — now identified as 28-year-old Kathryn Leah Rickson — was riding her bike eastbound on Madison and the truck was attempting to make a right-hand turn from Madison onto SW 3rd. There is a green colored bike box and a bike lane at this location (as seen in the photo at right). It might also be worth noting that this intersection is just one block from City Hall and Madison is on a slight decline at this location.
The police say the woman's injuries "may be life threatening" have confirmed that the woman died last night.
Last night the City of Portland and representatives from the Lloyd Transportation Management Association hosted an open house for their NE Multnomah Street Transportation Pilot Project. It was the first time the public was shown the proposals for this project.
If you recall, back in October a citizen committee ended a 10 month public process with a 12-1 vote in favor of moving forward in making NE Holladay the main east-west spine for safe and convenient bicycling through the Lloyd District. That lone dissenting vote was held by the most powerful man in the room (or perhaps just the most feared) — Wade Lange of commercial real estate firm Ashforth Pacific. Lange — who was also representing a San Diego real estate firm that had just purchased $92 million worth of Ashforth property (the majority of which is on Multnomah Street) — never made it clear exactly why he opposed the project on Holladay; but despite being outvoted 12-1, he convinced the City of Portland to turn their attention away from Holladay and toward Multnomah instead.
How did we get here? New slides from PBOT tell an even more detailed and interesting story of how Portland's bike network has evolved. See the full animation below.
It's been a very long and winding road for the federal transportation bill. And while it looks like the end is finally in sight, there is still some nail-biting ahead.
The law that dictates how the federal government funds transportation expired over 900 days ago and has survived on extensions ever since. With the Highway Trust Fund facing bankruptcy by fall of 2013, and with idle construction workers waiting to build projects, the House and the Senate finally got their acts together and in over the past few months, both chambers have worked on their own versions of a new bill.
The bill that Republicans attempted to pass out of the House — but failed in doing so — was extremely bad. It scrapped decades of programs and funding for bicycling and walking and it included provisions to pay for new highways with domestic oil drilling. It was even too extreme for some Republicans. Fortunately, the Senate's bill, which they passed, turned out to be much more palatable. While it wasn't a slam dunk for biking, most prominent advocates considered it worth fighting for.
Portland resident Chris Chapman has launched a new cycling apparel brand called, "It's in my Heart". The business is just getting off the ground; but Chapman, a former brand manager at Castelli/Sportful, says he's already got orders flowing in from all of Portland's major bike shops as well as the Made in Oregon store and REI.
Chapman has licensed the well-known heart artwork from Portlander Chris Bucci. Bucci is the man who became something of a local celebrity for his ubiquitous stickers and hats with a simple green heart inside an outline of the state of Oregon.
Chapman plans to take that design and use it to create jerseys, hats, socks and other cycling apparel items for all 50 states. He's starting locally; but he'll make a national launch at the Interbike trade show this fall.
Portland's paltry network of bike-specific infrastructure, circa 1980. See how it has evolved below.
Portland's bike network was not built overnight. Most of our bike-specific infrastructure was built in the mid to late 1990s, but it really started in the early '80s. About seven years ago (before many of you even knew about BikePortland), I stitched together an animation showing how Portland's bike network has evolved.
Yesterday, something on Twitter sparked my memory of the animation, so I shared it again. Given how it has spread overnight, I figured many folks might be interested in seeing it again (or for the first time). The animation shows the spread of bike-specific infrastructure in Portland from 1980 through 2005 (and then into the future) in five year increments. Check it out:
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