PDOT’s Transportation Options Division specializes in individualized marketing programs that help make it easy for Portlanders to choose to walk, bike, or take transit.
Each year, they take one section of the city and do an outreach and education blitz that includes free gifts, workshops, events, incentives, and more. They’re currently focusing on southeast Portland with their SmartTrips Southeast program. Usually their work stays within Portland borders, but this time they’re expanding their reach.
Thanks to a grant from Metro, PDOT’s SmartTrips Southeast target area also includes 3400 households in the city of Milwaukie. As part of the program, they’ve completed their first-ever bike map of Milwaukie.
Click for full version (PDF 695 KB).
Portland is connected to Milwaukie by not only by the Springwater Corridor Trail (bolstered recently by three new bike/ped bridges), but by the scores of cyclists who commute between the two cities each day.
at Breakfast on the Bridges.
File photo: 2/13/07
One of them is Matt Picio. Matt is a regular at many local bike events and is an active volunteer in the community. As a Milwaukie resident he has been highly involved with the bike and pedestrian planning portion of their Transportation System Plan Update.
Matt has been posting detailed reports and photos from City of Milwaukie planning meetings and he has even led rides to illustrate the highs and lows of Milwaukie’s bike network.
This new map, the completion of the Three Bridges Project, and the energy from people like Matt are exciting developments in making our region a better place to ride.
We’ll all have a chance to bask in the the Portland-Milwaukie bike love on May 19th at the Three Bridges Opening celebration!
Thanks for reading.
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Go Matt, Go!
Thanks for the map! I’ve been bike commuting from Eastmoreland to Milwaukie one nite each week for the past 2 months and it is scary!
I’ve tried 17th (blue line signifying bike lanes) but the section from Milwaukie to (almost) Tacoma is so poorly lit that no cyclist should use it without purchasing life insurance first.
I have also used McLoughlin once or twice but only in the day time (green line signifying ‘lower traffic street’). ‘Lower traffic’!!!??? McLoughlin/99E!!!??? What were they smokin?
The green line on this map isn’t 99E – it’s Main street, which is about 50′ east of 99E on the other side of a concrete divider. Main *is* a low traffic street, though you sometimes have to watch out for the occasional Tri-Met bus, and it becomes “moderate” traffic during some parts of rush hour, especially in the morning.
17th north of Waverly to Ochoco is really bad at night. The street lights are too far apart, and oncoming headlights make one too night-blind to see any holes or debris in the bike lane. The trees lining the edge of the country club property block what streetlight there is, making deep pools of shadow. You need to have a really bright front light and keep your speed down to see things before you hit them. When I used to commute that stretch, that was my least favorite part.
The easiest way (traffic-wise) from Eastmoreland to Milwaukie is to make your way to SE 37th, which links with the Springwater Trail. Take that west and get off at the ramp down to McLoughlin just before the second of 3 bridges. That ramp is pretty scary itself, and an issue that I’ve brought up with Milwaukie’s planning people. Two of them rode it with me this last weekend, and they agree that it’s pretty hairy. The ramp leads down to the sidewalk, which you can take a couple blocks south to Ochoco. Turn left on Ochoco and then right on Main. The sidewalk part is the worst portion – bikes don’t belong on the sidewalk, and especially on the wrong-way sidewalk (that’s how that cyclist on Swan Island got hit last year). It is, however, frequently safer than riding the bike lane down SE 17th.
Bottom line – there is no totally safe route to Milwaukie. Ride safe, and do what you need to do to not get hit.
Some of us are angling towards a bike advisory committee for Milwaukie (it was brought up at the last TSP bike/ped meeting).
Oh, and thanks for the mention, Jonathan! I wasn’t expecting to see my face when I checked the site. 🙂
Matt – Thanks for pointing out my mistake.
McLoughlin and Main are two different kinds of streets entirely. The map is clear; I just read it wrong. I’ll have to go there in the day time though to sort through the connection issues between Main and the Springwater.