On-street bike parking a reality on Belmont

Back in February I shared the news about an effort to bring two new on-street bike parking “corrals” to SE Belmont.

This morning, PDOT crews began the installation! Here are a few photos sent to me by Bill Stites, who has been instrumental in making this happen:

Looking west from SE 34th St. (in front of Stumptown Coffee).

Looking south, just west of SE 34th St.

Looking east from SE 33rd St.

Thanks to Bill for the photos and to Reuben for the tip!

(Stay tuned for more photos and a report once the staple racks have been installed.)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car owner and driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, feel free to contact me at @jonathan_maus on Twitter, via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a supporter.

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Logan 5
Logan 5
16 years ago

Oooo, that\’s the Stumptown with the cupping room. I would make a trip there just for that, and get parking right in front too!

BTW Jonathan, your stolen listings are showing up in the regular RSS feed. Any way to get news only?

SnarkyPants
16 years ago

Those are SWEET and much needed! I can\’t wait to see all the pretty, pretty ponies tied up there soon. That Stumptown is a freaking magnet for beautiful sleds a la Carey Miller\’s Vanilla. Yum.

Michelle
Michelle
16 years ago

Nice work Bill!!! You and the Sunnyside neighbors and businesses did a killer job on this. I hope it leads the way for other neighborhoods to do the same – anyone near Clinton, the downtown Stumptown, Vendetta on N Williams reading this, and wants to clear sidewalks, add bike parking and improve pedestrian safety? Think about talking to Bill Stites about how to do it.

Tbird
Tbird
16 years ago

YeeeHaaaaaw!
I love this city. It\’s gets better all the time

sherry
sherry
16 years ago

yesssssssssssssssss!

Phil Hanson (a.k.a. Pedalphile)

I\’d like to see one of these every three or four blocks in every business district in the metro area. They offer even more incentive for people to take up bike riding.

T
T
16 years ago

Sweet, if they leave it like that (which they won\’t), my kickstand will come in handy too. Thanks PDOT.

Joe
Joe
16 years ago

That\’s great! I counted 20 bikes parked on that side of the street facing stumptown once.. basically every sign pole and pipe sticking out a building had bikes chained to them. This is sorely needed there.

Jeff
Jeff
16 years ago

I heard it was reserved for custom built fixies only.

Bill Stites
16 years ago

Thanks Michelle. I recently met with Neil Armstrong [astronaut? no, no] from the Community Cycling Center. He is working on getting some OnStreet Bike Parking in front of CCC on Alberta. I\’m happy to share notes with anyone who is interested.
Big thanks to the folks who did Mississippi in the first place – especially Greg Raisman of PDOT. Breaking the ice is always the biggest challenge. They have made the process 5X easier for us on Belmont; we\’ll make it 5X easier for the next group … that\’s now 25X easier. ;-))

jeff
jeff
16 years ago

A super big thanks to everyone involved! I love the statement that these spaces make, and the increased visibility they provide around intersections. I too would like to see these every few blocks – CCC is a great spot, but there\’s room for many more on Alberta.

maxadders
maxadders
16 years ago

The area outside the CCC, despite what you\’d think, is rarely strapped for bike parking…probably because many people are bringing their bikes inside for maintenance / repair. There are also some racks in the back parking lot.

Also, there\’s not too much activity on that block after the shop is closed. I\’d like to see one in front of The Nest on Alberta. The bus stop rails are usually saturated every night…stop by tonight\’s Last Thursday and see for yourself.

freddy
freddy
16 years ago

Hooray, hooray, hooray! I never bother to ride my bike to 34/Belmont because I live so close, but I\’m going to make a point of it just to enjoy this luxurious VIP bike parking!!

Jessica Roberts
Jessica Roberts
16 years ago

If you go into Laughing Planet, be sure to thank them for their strong support (including financial support) for this project. Bill, what other businesses should we be making a point to thank?

Greg Raisman
Greg Raisman
16 years ago

Jessica:

A group of us are going to get together for lunch at Laughing Planet this Sunday to put together a \”Bike to Belmont\” event to celebrate the new parking.

As our good friend Jonathan would say … STAY TUNED.

Greg

Steve Hoyt
16 years ago

Great job Bill!

Steve

Aaron
Aaron
16 years ago

BIG THANKS TO BILL!
Great job.

Todd B
Todd B
16 years ago

Congrats to all (Bill, etc.) on spreading better bike parking to more areas of Portland.

But to the City (Sam\’s Office etc.)…is it not time to step one step further and formalize this type of good tier 1 type parking in a standard detail? So that developers would install it or the parking department (when they remove meters for paystations)…This would be a long term design with a concrete curb extension, racks, a tree, and catch basin relocation. Much as Berkely, Olympia, Paris (Fr), and San Franciscio have done.

I know the Bike Oasis…are coming on line for Hawthorne…but can we not regularize these facilities now?!

(Greg and staff are doing a great job with zero funds…and that is why these installations are very simple and do not address adding a curb extension.)

Martha S.
Martha S.
16 years ago

This is awesome. I think I\’ll go that direction for lunch tomorrow just so I can see it. ^_^

Mr. Viddy
16 years ago

Good deal for cyclists, Mr. Viddy like on-street parking for bikes even though Mr. Viddy live in Beaverhell which is not so bike friendly.

joy
16 years ago

Awesome job, Bill & all involved!

peejay
peejay
16 years ago

Frankly, I much prefer the on-street facility just installed on Belmont over the covered bike stations recently put in at Hawthorne.

First, they are much cheaper to build, so we could have more bike parking for the same money allocated. A couple of plastic curbs and staples is cheaper than those same staples under an over-designed roof structure, that has to be placed on an expensive sidewalk extension.

That\’s the second reason: location. You can\’t put the covered stations anywhere unless you also want to put in those sidewalk extensions, and it\’s not appropriate for every street. Someone mentioned it makes it harder to ride on those streets, because you\’re forced to squeeze into a choke point.

There\’s the symbolic element that bikes park just like cars, but of course many can fit in the space where one car could. They are on the street, where they belong, not tucked away on the sidewalk and given all these \”special amenities.\” I believe that we must push the message that bikes are serious vehicles like cars, and the Belmont design reinforces this, while the Hawthorne design looks like a bus stop.

IanO
IanO
16 years ago

Another advantage: by placing the corral on the corner, you prevent a van or SUV from parking there, greatly improving visibility and safety for those travelling eastbound on Belmont.

Greg Raisman
Greg Raisman
16 years ago

Took these two photos with my camera phone yesterday. 7 racks in as of yesterday. 15 more to go.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/84977575@N00/719153497/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/84977575@N00/719153023/

Alex
Alex
16 years ago

Wow, those are ugly. Great idea, hopefully PDOT will work on the aesthetics….