Sherifa Roach, inside an old school bus,
which is home to her new bike repair shop.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

There's a new bike repair shop that's open for business just a half-block off the busy N Williams Avenue bike corridor. Sherifa Roach, a nearby resident, recent United Bicycle Institute graduate and veteran volunteer at local bike shops, has opened Black Bird Bicycle Repair at 104 N. Failing Street (between Williams and Vancouver).

I'd heard from a few sources that someone was operating a bike shop out of an old school bus, so I swung by yesterday for a closer look. Sure enough, there was Sherifa, giving away bags of popcorn as part of the RAD event, and smiling in her apron in front of a big purple bus parked in the alleyway behind her. She was proud to give me a tour of the inside (which I found surprisingly roomy).

Sherifa pointed out how her partner had completely remodeled the inside of the bus. He wired it up with new electrical outlets, built wooden work benches, installed new lighting, added some security bars for the windows, and built a ramp off the rear door so people can roll their bikes right on up.
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Scott Stephenson says he suffered facial wounds
after a woman intentionally ran into him
while he biked on N Williams Avenue.
(Photo: Scott Stephenson)

North Portland resident Scott Stephenson is still shaken up after being involved in a road rage altercation on North Williams Avenue last Saturday. Stephenson, 31, says he and a woman driving a car got into a shouting match and that the woman escalated the situation by intentionally swerving her vehicle into him, knocking him to the ground, and then fleeing the scene.

After hearing about Stephenson's story, I contacted him directly to hear his side of the story. Here's how he remembers it...

Stephenson was stopped in the bike lane, waiting at the red light at N. Fremont at about 1:00 pm. As his light turned green, a woman was getting into her car just outside the Williams St. Market. She left her driver's side door open, and Stephenson says his arm "grazed her door." "It was no big deal," he recalled, "So I just kept on going." (more...)

Rendering of plans. New parking
garage is in upper left, N.
Killingsworth St. is in lower right.

Portland Community College has approved plans for a new parking garage at their Cascade campus in North Portland — and it won't be the four-story, $9 million structure that many people (including myself) were concerned about due to its potential impacts on the future Michigan Ave bike boulevard.

Instead, PCC announced today that a proposal for an underground parking facility on N. Jessup between N. Albina and Mississippi was approved in late December and they're "going forward with it."
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The new bike lane and bike parking in front of Cesar Chavez School on N. Willis Blvd.
(Photo: Gabe Graff/City of Portland)

Biking continues to improve for residents of North Portland. The City just unwrapped a small but important improvement that will improve bike safety during pick-up and drop-off on the main road outside Cesar Chavez School on N. Willis Blvd. (more...)

The new median on NE 15th at Going.
(Photos: Charles Powne)

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Thanks to the Community Cycling Center, this vacant lot in the New Columbia mixed-income housing neighborhood will soon be home to a bike skills park, pump track and repair center!
(Photo © J. Maus)

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PCC has determined that the
corner of Michigan and Killingsworth
would be the best location for a
multi-story parking garage.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Portland Community College's Cascade campus is considering the construction of a four-story parking garage on the northeast corner of N Michigan and Killingsworth. The project is part of district-wide expansion plans funded by a $374 million bond measure passed by voters in 2008.

While some neighborhood residents are alarmed at the potential impacts of a parking garage — especially its alignment along the bicycle boulevard planned for Michigan Ave — PCC officials say that the structure is not a done deal and they still might not have build it. (more...)

Bike parking at The Alibi on N. Interstate. The racks were designed and fabricated by Matt Cartwright of Cartwright Design.
(Photos © J. Maus)

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The Peninsula Crossing Trail awaits six-year old Danica Maus en route to Smith and Bybee Lakes.
(Photos © J. Maus)

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PBOT map of Bryant-Holman Connector project.

The Portland Bureau of Transportation continues their expansion of low-stress bike streets in North Portland with a neighborhood meeting for the Bryant-Holman Connector project tonight. (more...)