Susan Peithman with the
Bicycle Transportation Alliance
was one of the presenters.
(Photos and story by Will Vanlue)

The most interesting (in my opinion) and well-attended session I sat in on at the Oregon Active Transportation Summit focused on the work being done just over the hill from Portland in Washington County.

The session covered a few topics including an overview of two recent road projects and a change in the county’s policy on mid-block crossings (a key policy given the presence of many multi-use paths and suburban/rural arterials).

It also dove into Washington County’s highly anticipated Bicycle Facility Design Toolkit, an official document to help planners and engineers select the appropriate facility for bicycle traffic. (more...)

Drawing of project in Hillsboro that will come with a cycle track.

I tell a lot of people there are exciting things happening in Washington County and two examples have popped up recently in Hillsboro.

First, the City of Hillsboro is forming a new citizen subcommittee to advise the City on issues pertaining to biking and walking for transportation. And second, Hillsboro is unveiling significant roadway improvements — including a separated cycle track — leading to the Fair Complex MAX station on April 20th.

The new citizen subcommittee, dubbed the Active Transportation Subcommittee, is actually one of two new groups to advise their Transportation Committee. The second group will focus on motor vehicles and public transit. Hillsboro Transportation Planner Brad Choi explained how the two subcommittees will work: (more...)

Christopher Williams
(Photo: Beaverton PD)

Yesterday evening Beaverton Police arrested a man who drove his car into someone on a bike, attempted to flee, and then aggressively confronted the rider. The altercation happened in the parking lot of Cedar Hills Crossing Mall on SW Hall Blvd.

According to a Beaverton PD statement, 22-year old Portland resident Derrik Fleming was in the mall parking lot and maneuvered his bike around a stopped car to make a left turn. When he did that, Christopher Williams, a 30-year-old resident of Beaverton, sped up from behind, came around the stopped car in the opposite lane and then slammed on his brakes right in front of Fleming.

"This action caused Fleming to crash," reads the statement, "into the right rear of Williams's vehicle. This crash caused Fleming to go over his handle bars and onto the asphalt of the parking lot."
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Schouten at our Get Together event in Tigard in 2010.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

Incumbent Washington County Commissioner Dick Schouten has earned the endorsement of political action committee Bike Walk Vote. The announcement was made today and the organization is expected to make endorsements for Portland City Council and Metro races later this evening.

Schouten represents District 1, which includes nearly all of Beaverton as well as parts of Aloha, Cooper Mountain and Reedville. For those in transportation advocacy circles in the Portland region, this endorsement comes as no surprise. Schouten has been an outspoken advocate for bicycling, walking, and sensible transportation planning on the West Side for many years. His support of bicycling goes back over a decade: He was given an Alice Award by the Bicycle Transportation Alliance in 2001. (more...)

The owners of Salem-based bike shop, Santiam Bicycle, are set to open a new store off SW Hall Blvd in Tigard near the Washington Square Mall (about 10 miles southwest of downtown Portland). The large, high-profile store (it's in the same shopping center as Target) will not only be a great place to shop for bikes and gear, it could also help spur visibility of bicycling in Washington County.

It's worth noting that the crew at Santiam were integral to the creation of the Black Rock Mountain Bike Area (about 30 miles west of Salem).

To learn more about the new store, I sent a few questions to Santiam Bicycle President Troy Munsell... (more...)

Knowing where to focus your energy in Washington County can be as tough as navigating the county's roads on a bicycle.
(Photos: Will Vanlue/BikePortland)

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Washington County residents
write thank-you notes
at Billy's Bar in November.
(Photo: Will Vanlue/BikePortland)

On March 29th, the Westside Transportation Alliance (WTA) will gather representatives from all over Washington County for a networking night at Billy's Bar in Beaverton.

The event is an effort by the WTA to connect active transportation groups around the westside. In recent months, the WTA has produced videos highlighting cross-county trails and they hosted a thank-you note writing campaign last November.

The informal happy hour in March will give members of Washington County's various bicycle and pedestrian advisory committees and advocacy organizations a chance to speak with each other, county staff, and the public about what they're working on. (more...)

THPRD showed four options for the crossing
at an open house last September.
(Photos: Will Vanlue/BikePortland)

On Thursday, the Tualatin Hills Park and Recreation District (THPRD) will host another open house to discuss improvements to the intersection of the Fanno Creek Trail and Hall Boulevard. As this project has evolved, the two current options being considered are a tunnel or a bridge.

Anyone who uses the Fanno Creek Trail knows how much of a hassle it is to cross at Hall. The intersection is one of the last gaps in a trail system running for about 10 miles between Tigard, Beaverton, and Portland.
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Detail of Broadway St. bike parking concept.
(Sketches by Bob Foster/
Robert Foster Architects)

As we've mentioned before, the City of Beaverton is working to make SW Broadway Street safer and more pleasant for people on foot and on bikes. They held an open house in early February and last week Mayor Denny Doyle was available for questions about the project at a neighborhood meeting.

Engineers are refining design elements and the city has a series of concept drawings showing what the new Broadway could look like. There's an open house planned for March 5th and planners say they're specifically looking for feedback on how bike parking should be set up.

(more...)

The bicycle involved in one of two
collisions on SW 185th Street in Aloha yesterday.
(Photos: Wash. Co. Sheriff's Office)

"On Monday, February 20, 2012, Sheriff's deputies were very busy dealing with crashes involving vehicles vs. pedestrians and bicycles." That's the opening line of a Washington County Sheriff's Office statement sent to the media yesterday. It came after there were three collisions involving vulnerable road users in Washington County that happened within a two-hour time span.

Since I've covered this beat, I don't recall ever seeing a police press statement with three separate incidents so close to each other.
(more...)

Bike access seems to have been an
afterthought on this bridge over the
Tualatin River on 99W.
(Photos: Jim "K'tesh" Parsons)

Back in December, amid smiles and celebrations at the groundbreaking for the Sellwood Bridge project, our roving West Side correspondent Jim Parsons reflected at the poor state bridge access on many Washington County roads.

With design drawings of the enviable biking and walking lanes slated for the Sellwood Bridge fresh in his mind, he fired off one of his trademark emails to his usual coterie of advocates, bureaucrats, and policymakers. The subject line read: "Bridge Improvements needed in Washington County." (more...)

Come ask Mayor Denny Doyle
about bike access in Beaverton.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

If you missed seeing the city of Beaverton's plans for the redesign of SW Broadway you have another chance to talk about the project with a powerful city official.

Beaverton's Mayor Denny Doyle is coming to Neighborhood Association Committee (NAC) meetings in February and March to give an update on the city and answer questions from citizens.

It will be interesting to see what questions are asked of Doyle now that Beaverton is closer to solidifying a plan to revitalize it's downtown.
(more...)

SW Broadway in downtown Beaverton might soon look like this.
(Conceptual rendering by the City of Beaverton)

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Map of the SW Corridor.
(Full map in a PDF)

Metro is holding a public forum tonight at the Tigard Public Library to collect input on the Southwest Corridor Plan.

The plan incorporates local and regional land use planning efforts along Barbur Boulevard and Highway 99 between downtown Portland and Sherwood. It includes improvements to walking, transit, and bicycle access in and around SW Portland, Sherwood, Tigard, Tualatin, Beaverton, Durham, King City, and Lake Oswego.

(more...)

Epic's logo

Hoping to get in front of a growing interest in triathlons in the Portland area, the venerable Bike Gallery has opened Epic Tri Shop, a new store located in the upper level of their existing Beaverton location.

Although Epic Tri is in the same building as the Beaverton Bike Gallery, it will have its own bike mechanic service, separate from the main store. The new shop carries a variety of running, swimming, and bicycling gear. This past Wednesday was the store's grand opening party.

Store manager Gordie Cumming says he named the shop Epic because, "It sums up what I think many people feel when they step up to the starting line." It's also an acronym, Cumming explains: "Endurance, Persistence, Intensity, Camaraderie."
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Proposed alignment of the new trail from a City of Tigard leaflet

The City of Tigard (COT) has announced plans to close a gap in the Fanno Creek Trail located about 10 miles south of downtown Portland along Highway 99.

(more...)

At a public hearing on Tuesday, Sherwood police and city councilors clarified the purpose of a proposed city ordinance that prohibited the use of bicycles and other "wheeled activities" within 30 feet of a public space. According to officials, the ordinance is not aimed directly at bicycles nor will it apply to all areas of the town. (more...)

Time for a change?
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

City and county officials throughout Washington County are in the process of reviewing a $140 million list of transportation projects that will fund improvements throughout the county over the next five years. The money comes from the county's Major Streets Transportation Improvement Program, known as MSTIP. The program has doled out $555 million in projects since 1986.

While MSTIP has traditionally favored adding lanes, widening roads, and other auto-centric projects, the attitudes of voters in Washington County have changed considerably since 1995, which was the last time the project list went to voters. A 2008 survey proves that Washington County residents now demand roads that are more pleasant to walk and bike on.

I take a look at the survey and go deeper into MSTIP below the jump...
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Bob Oxford proudly displays his personal ride
(Photos: Will Vanlue)

What do bicycles and wastewater treatment have in common? Well, plenty, if you work at CleanWater Services in Tigard.

My morning routine usually includes riding past CleanWater's Durham Facility and every time I go by I see employees using bicycles to get around the sprawling, 20-acre facility. Last week I stopped in to learn more.
(more...)

Sherwood wants to keep bikes away
from their new Cannery Square plaza.

The City of Sherwood (about 17 miles southwest of Portland) is holding a public hearing during their City Council meeting tonight on a new ordinance that would ban "wheeled activities" — including bicycles — near public spaces.

A reader tipped us off to this issue via coverage on OregonLive.com.

Sherwood Police Chief Jeff Groth is spearheading the new ordinance. Here's how he lays out the issue on page 52 of tonight's City Council Meeting Packet (PDF here): (more...)