Southwest Portland residents say they “want to be Platinum too”

Advocacy group SWTrails wants to create conditions
like this in Southwest Portland.
(Photos © J. Maus)

Proclaiming that, “Southwest Portland wants to be Platinum too,” SWTrails has released their latest list of “immediate actions” and recommendations for bikeway improvements in their part of the city.

SWTrails has worked with Southwest Portland residents and the City of Portland Office of Transportation for well over a year (we last heard from them back in November) to identify and map out a comprehensive list of improvements that they say will bring SW Portland up to par with other areas of Portland’s highly touted bike network.

Keith Liden, a citizen volunteer who is spearheading the effort (he is also a member of the Portland Bicycle Advisory Committee) says that, “While SW benefits from many of the city’s bicycle promotion programs, the facilities in SW are generally not on a par with most other areas in the city.”

Keith Liden — speaking here at a
city budget hearing last year, is
an ardent advocate for better biking
conditions in SW Portland.

The main focus of the SWTrails effort is to identify a connected system of low-traffic bicycle boulevards streets that they say will provide people with “a pleasant and safe bicycling environment – something that is certainly lacking in SW Portland today.”

Liden and the SWTrails group have developed two maps, a spreadsheet, and a memo describing their draft recommendations, which they plan to submit later this summer to PDOT for official adoption into the Portland Bicycle Master Plan update.

The first map (download below) shows a list of “Immediate Actions”. Liden, says “We feel these projects are the most important ones for the city to consider completing as soon as possible. They generally are bike boulevards, although some important links, such as Terwilliger near Sheridan, would require more elaborate improvements, such as uphill shoulders or bike lanes.”

Here’s a detail from the map:

Detail from SWTrails maps of “Immediate Actions”.
Download PDF here (2MB)

SWTrails has also mapped out a complete inventory of their dream bikeway network. Here’s a detail from that map:

Detail of SWTrails’ “Recommended Bike Network” map.
Download PDF here (2MB)

Liden and other members of SWTrails plan to share more information about this effort and seek public input at an open house later this month.

Southwest Portland Bicycle Boulevard Project Open House
Multnomah Arts Center (7688 SW Capitol Hwy)
June 18th from 5:30 to 8 pm