Is this a cycle track?
Not quite.
(Photos: Will Vanlue)

You may not think the city of Tigard (about 10 miles southwest of Portland) has anything in common with Amsterdam or Copenhagen.

The latter two cities are world-renowned for their bicycle facilities while Tigard is known mostly for its freeways and shopping malls.

But there is one thing Tigard has in common with Amsterdam and Copehnahgen: a paved, grade-separated path next to a sidewalk, which you might even call a "cycle track".

If you’ve ridden your bicycle along Durham Road between SW 85th and 92nd Avenues you may have seen a double sidewalk, of sorts, in front of Tigard High School. One half is cement, the other half is asphalt.
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A woman enjoys the newly designated bike-only
space on E Burnside over I-205.
(Photo © J. Maus)

The City of Portland has installed new bike lanes on the East Burnside overpass of I-205. The bike lanes had previously dropped on either side of the overpass (at NE 94th and 97th).

The new lanes take advantage of a wide shoulder and PBOT has even a striped a buffered section in the center of the overpass. These new bike lanes have added importance because this is where the I-205 multi-use path jogs from one side of the interstate to the other. (more...)

After three years, North Portland residents finally look poised to get much-needed access improvements to N. Rosa Parks Way.
(Photo © J. Maus)

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Just finished watching My Commuted Commute, a video that I think everyone should spend five minutes to check out. A woman from New York City, Rachel Brown, shot helmet cam footage and offers commentary about what it's like to ride in one of the new, green-painted, curbside bike lanes. For all the positive buzz NYC is getting lately, this video shows that it takes much more than paint to create a truly functional lane for bike traffic.

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A small, but important fix.
(Photos © J. Maus)

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If Phil Goff had his way, his "Greenway Esplanade" concept would have transformed the Morrison Bridge into a biking and walking oasis. It didn't quite turn out that way.
(Concept drawing by Phil Goff)

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There's a constant chorus -- sometimes soft, sometimes overpoweringly loud -- in every conversation about bike infrastructure in America. Its refrain: You're safer without any bike lanes, separated lanes, cycle tracks, bike boulevards, off-road paths. Just take the lane, follow the rules, wear your helmet, and you'll be fine.

A group of scholars at the University of British Columbia have found otherwise. They conducted a literature review, looking at all available studies linking bicycle safety with infrastructure. Their conclusions will be counterintuitive for some. (more...)

(Photo by Ktesh from the BikePortland Photographers group on Flickr.)

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The buffered bike lane, westbound on SW Oak.
(Photos © Elly Blue)

It was a perfect Portland morning, alternating between gray and sunny. We've been getting tips all weekend about the new buffered bike lanes being installed downtown, and I decided to ride the full length of the new lanes and see how they work.

The buffered bike lanes dedicate one out of four lanes on SW Stark and SW Oak to bikes alone. One additional lane on these one-way streets is dedicated to through traffic, and a the outer lanes are for parking cars or (sometimes) making right turns. (more...)

The Morrison Bridge will soon be a connection for walking and biking, rather than a barrier. (Photo © Elly Blue)

The long-planned bicycle and pedestrian facility on the Morrison Bridge has progressed tangibly in the last two weeks. Multnomah County has announced that the new path is expected to be completed by December. (more...)

The new bike lane up the hill on Mississippi was installed this morning. (Photo courtesy of PBOT)

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A living example of an under-deck bike path in Roseburg, Oregon, at dusk. (Photo by Stephanie Noll)

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PBOT's initial drawing for proposed cycletrack on SW Broadway.
(Photos © J. Maus)

Mayor Sam Adams' office has just announced that the new cycletrack on SW Broadway will open this Monday, August 31st, in a 2:00pm ceremony on the Portland State University campus. (more...)

PBOT's drawing for proposed cycletrack on SW Broadway.
(Photos © J. Maus)

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Reflecting on Obama's address to congress last week (in which he said that America "cannot walk away from" the automobile), columnist Christopher Caldwell penned a rebuttal in the Financial Times against the President's plans for massive government spending -- on the nation's highways.

Caldwell, a senior editor for conservative news publication The Weekly Standard, spends the bulk of the column casting President Eisenhower's Federal Highway Act in an unfavorable light (the Highway Act passed with strong support in 1956 and created our interstate highway system). (more...)

A sharrow in action on
NW 9th in Portland.
(Photos © J. Maus)

The City of Portland Bureau of Transportation and TriMet are discussing the idea of installing shared lane markings (a.k.a. sharrows) on the entire length of the new downtown transit mall.

Sharrows are a type of pavement marking that are placed on streets with relatively heavy and/or high motor vehicle speeds, where there is not sufficient space to put a bike lane, and where bikes and cars share the same travel lane (for more on sharrows, see this fact sheet published by PBOT).
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