This should do the trick.
(Photo: Bob Kofstad/Washington DOT)

Last month, a woman driving a medium-sized sedan somehow managed to travel nearly two miles on the I-205 bike path before she panicked and a passerby on a bike called 911.

And it turns out this was the second such incident in the past few months. That's what I heard today from Washington Department of Transportation spokeswoman Abbi Russell. I contacted WSDOT a few weeks ago after a reader told me that bollards had gone up at the entry to the path on SE 23rd Street. I was finally able to confirm that today with the man who put them there.
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MacArthur Blvd south of Mill Plain Blvd with MacMcLoughlin Middle School in the background.

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10 of these bikes, as well as six others, remain missing.
(Photo: Bike Clark County)

The Vancouver Police Department announced this morning that they have arrested two men for stealing bicycles that were used by non-profit Bike Clark County (BCC) in their kids programs.

From the VPD media release:

... they arrested Matthew Robert Smith, 27 and Jory John Aultman, 19. They were booked for Burglary II and Trafficking Stolen Property... One bicycle was recovered and other bicycles are believed to still be in the neighborhood. Anyone with information on these bicycles, or the burglary, is asked to call Vancouver Police Det. Adam Millard at (360) 487-7449. The investigation is continuing.

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The stolen bikes.
(Photo: Vancouver PD)

Yesterday afternoon, Vancouver Police responded to a burglary and theft call at the Hough Pool/Recreation Center and discovered 29 bicycles had been stolen. The bikes were used by the non-profit Bike Clark County to teach kids bike safety and were being stored in the rec center prior to the theft.

Now the Vancouver PD — and the entire community — is on the lookout for the bikes. According to the VPD, the bikes were mostly silver in color with only a few solid blue bicycles. The brand of bikes is "MTX" and the words 'two twenty five' is part of the logo. Anyone with information on this burglary and theft is asked to contact the Vancouver Police Department West Neighborhood Response Team Detective Adam Millard at (360) 487-7449.

Below are a few more detail shots of the bikes (images courtesy of VPD): (more...)

Sign at the entrance to Fort Vancouver.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

To keep the bicycling momentum going strong in Vancouver, the Bicycle Alliance of Washington and Bike Clark County are hosting a half-day workshop tomorrow (6/21, sorry for the late notice!) called, Hub and Spoke: Growing Bicycling in Vancouver.

Here's more about what's in store for the event:

"In this interactive workshop, attendees will examine models from around the state and nationally, discuss opportunities to promote safety and economic development locally, and develop tools for engaging with local and state governments to make riding a bike easier in their community. We’ll also take a short bike tour, so be sure to bring your bike!

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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." (more...)

Cover of the plan.

While Vancouver isn’t the same cycling utopia as Portland; bit by bit, the area is striving to embrace two-wheeled transportation. Those efforts just got a head nod from the Active Living Research (ALR), an organization that promotes walking and biking as means to fight childhood obesity.

In a press release, Clark County Public Health announced it received ALR’s 2012 Translating Research to Policy Award for its Health Impact Assessment (PDF) of the Clark County Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan. The annual award, given to one organization each year, recognizes exceptional use of research in making policies affecting youth physical activity levels, according to ALR Research Coordinator Chad Spoon. (more...)

Maria Schur
(Self portrait)

In many ways, Portland resident Maria Schur epitomizes the die-hard Portland bike lover. She averages 120 miles a week in the saddle, commutes by bike to her job at BikeTiresDirect, spent two years as a bike messenger in San Francisco, participated in the first ever Critical Mass ride in 1992, operates a bike-centric blog and has a grandfather who traded his car for a bike in 1942.

What makes the 45-year old Schur stand out from her Rose City peers is her position as president of the 500-member Vancouver Bike Club (VBC), Clark County’s oldest and most active cycling organization.
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View of I-5 bridge bike path
looking south from Vancouver.
(Photo: Doug Merritt)

A concrete barricade in the shoulder of the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 on the Columbia River bridge is partially blocking the bike path. Doug Merritt shared a photo of the situation with us this morning and we've found out that it's the result of a motor vehicle collision that occurred over the weekend.

The Washington State Department of Transportation says crews will fix the obstruction, "as soon as they can stop chasing storm drains."
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Vancouver hopes to see more
of this downtown.
(Photo © J. Maus)

The City of Vancouver has awarded a $70,000 contract to Alta Planning and Design to promote biking, walking, ride-sharing and transit into downtown Vancouver. The project is set to officially roll out in January.

According to Vancouver Senior Planner Jennifer Campos, the purpose of the pilot project, which was paid for through a combination of two federal grants, is to garner support for creating a Business Improvement District (BID) to fund a proposed Transportation Management Association (TMA). The pilot project would attempt to demonstrate that outreach programs can be successful in reducing single occupancy automobile trips in downtown Vancouver, according to Campos. (more...)