panniers and help out.
(Photo © J. Maus)
Portland Parks and Recreation is looking for help in clearing overgrown trees from bike lanes and sidewalks. A few mornings ago, I rolled by a flyer for an upcoming event they’re hosting called, “Prune by Bike”.
With a plea to “Help keep the bike lane clear” the flyer promises a morning full of free tree pruning tips along with the fringe benefit of nicer biking conditions.
Parks staffer Karl Dawson says the event is meant to educate community members (and property owners, who are responsible for the trees) about proper tree care, build community, have fun, and “understand the importance of a healthy urban forest”.
(Photo © J. Maus)
I think this is a fun and creative way to approach a problem that I’m sure many of you are familiar with.
On narrow streets with bike lanes (and MAX) like Interstate Avenue, protruding trees can make an already sketchy situation even worse. Just this morning, while heading south on Interstate north of the first Broadway Bridge overpass, a branch jutted out just as a massive City of Portland sweeper truck rumbled past inches from my forearms. And a few nights ago, a low-hanging branch on N. Michigan nearly tore off my helmet.
These incidents make me think, “What would K’Tesh do?”.
For the uninitiated, K’Tesh is Beaverton resident and biking crusader/rabble-rouser Jim Parsons. The man deserves his own profile (which I’ll leave to a separate story), but one of his specialties is clipping back brush and trees that grow dangerously into bikeways.
He’s got a thread in the Forums titled, What have you done today??? where he chronicles (with before and after photos) all good biking deeds he carries out and encourages other to do the same.
Here’s one of those before-after photos that just happens to be at a location on N. Interstate Ave. a few blocks south of where I saw the Prune by Bike flyer.
If you see branches or bushes growing into the bikeway and don’t have clippers on hand, here’s the official way to go about taking care of it:
UPDATE, 1:16pm: Mr. Dawson says Portland Parks does not want anyone to trim trees or bushes without proper permits from the property owner. He has this advice:
“If you see street trees growing into the bikeway, sidewalk or road, you can call Portland Parks & Recreation City Nature at 503-823-4489, who will send out a tree inspector to inspect the street tree and post the property owner to prune their trees. For other types of vegetation call the Portland Code/Nuisance Enforcement Hotline at (503) 823-7306. To get involved in caring for Portland’s trees become a Parks Tree Steward. For more information call 503-823-1650.”
Here’s the info for the event:
- Interstate Avenue Street Tree Pruning Workshop
Saturday, 9/20 – 9:30am ~ 12:00pm
Krakow Coffeehouse (3990 N. Interstate Ave)
Thanks for reading.
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Hey, that guy looks just like me 😉
This is awesome!
Also, a bigger problem I see on my commute in every morning, is cars parking in the bikelane, blocking entire thing, and forcing me out into rush hour traffic. Not nice!
I also see a LOT of people parking their cars in front of their houses… blocking the entire sidewalk. How rude! Kind of like this – http://www.flickr.com/photos/loewenherz/2528492254/
Luckily, there is something you can do as an upright citizen!
Call the City\’s parking enforcement hotline, give them the details, and they will send an officer out to ticket the offending vehicle\’s owner pronto!
Parking Enforcement – 503-823-5195
Put it in your cell phone, stat!
Why would you ride your bike on a sidewalk? I could see how this would affect mothers with strollers a bit though.
This is a great initiative. While I\’m 100% behind it, I do find it frustrating that the bike infrastructure requires volunteerism to keep it safe and workable while I\’ve not yet seen a tall branch removal volunteer initiative for trucks and cars. Maybe I just need to dig deeper…
http://www.CarPortland.org – To Conform and Despair
This was all the prodding I needed. That annoying bush on Burnside that pushes me out in traffic near I-205 will be history.
@Stripes: \”a bigger problem I see on my commute in every morning, is cars parking in the bike lane\” With a big enough pair of clippers, you could … but I digress.
I nominate SW Canyon Ct., that frontage road from the Sunset Hwy bike path to the Zoo. The whole side of that is Weed Central. Which is a shame, because it means baffing over speed bumps (ooh, I hate them!) instead of zipping around them.
While I offer my 100% support to this in regard to bike and multi-user trails operated by the parks department, this effort seems entirely inappropriate to me in regard to the city\’s bike lanes which are a part of the city\’s road structure.
Problems with bike LANES are more appropriately addressed to the city\’s \”Transportation Safety & Neighborhood Livability Hot Line
823-SAFE
(823-7233)
The city\’s web site states: \”To help guide the public to real solutions to traffic safety problems, we created a Transportation Safety and Neighborhood Livability Hot Line (823-SAFE). Requests are phoned in or emailed safe@pdxtrans.org. Calls are generally answered within one working day, Monday through Friday. Emails are generally responded to within one week.
\”The Safety and Livability Hot Line helps us respond to the following transportation safety issues:
\”Examples of Service Requests
\”Intersection Safety
Pavement Markings / Signals / STOP Signs
Pedestrian Safety
Crosswalks / Curb Ramps / Signals / Visibility / Enforcement
School Safety
Safe Routes / School Drop-Off and Pick-Up Operations / Crosswalks / Bus Zone / Education
Speeding
Enforcement / Speed Zones / Residential Speed Bump Purchase Projects
Visibility
Lighting / Pruning / Signage
Bicycle Safety
Bike Lanes / Parking / Signals / Visibility
Parking
Limited On-Street Parking / No Parking
Capital Project Requests *
Sidewalks / Bike Lanes / Signals / Intersection Improvements
* Initial requests for Capital Projects should also be forwarded to the Transportation Safety and Livability Hot Line. These requests are recorded, and the information is forwarded to the appropriate staff person.
For 24-Hour Maintenance & Repair
of Traffic Signs, Signals & Equipment, Pavement Markings and Condition, or Sidewalk Repair call: (503) 823-1700
To Report Potholes Call: (503) 823-BUMP (2867)
Makes me wonder if I can strap a Sickle to my Cycle 🙂
Pruning \”nippers\” fit nicely on my stem with a bungee…
\”If you see branches or bushes growing into the bikeway … you should call the Portland Code/Nuisance Enforcement Hotline at (503) 823-7306.\”
Is there a similar hotline number for Beaverton/Washington County?
JDL you might try Beaverton Code Services:
(503) 526 2270
hey folks,
it appears my story was a bit confusing. Mr. Dawson from Portland Parks wants everyone to know that the City does not want you pruning trees/bushes without proper permits and permission from property owners.
I\’ve edited the story above with more information.
thanks.
How are you going to haul away all those branches on a bicycle? You arn\’t going to just leave them are you?
Jim K-
I suggest one of those really bright halogen lights so you can see the branches or anything else at night. As far as coming within inches of a sweeper truck- I don\’t know man- your on your own there
This is one of my pet peeves.
(Enter rant mode….)
In my opinion, in a real Platinum Bicycle Friendly Community (PlBFC) there wouldn\’t be a need to make the phone call. The city would come by and trim back the brush, and charge the adjacent property owner, automatically. The property owner would not be given the additional notification, and then prune it themselves sometime in the following 6 months. The property owner already had an opportunity to observe his/her property and keep their brush out of the public right of way.
In a real PlBFC where the city didn\’t cut the brush back automatically, there would be no problem with members of the public removing an obstruction from the public right of way.
In a real PlBFC where the city didn\’t cut back the brush automatically, and they didn\’t want us doing it, calling and just describing the general location would be sufficient.
What really happens in Portland is that you make the phone call, the clueless person on the other end wants the address of the property. Easy, right? Wrong. When the property backs up to, say Barbur, I have no idea what its address is. \”Barbur south of Whitaker, northbound\” isn\’t good enough. Also, when the property is city owned, or there are no nearby addresses, its also difficult or impossible to give an address. For example, the city doesn\’t put up an address on the triangular piece of property it owns at the intersection of Beaverton-Hillsdale, Capitol and Bertha, in Hillsdale, near the Baskin Robbins, where the blackberry vines grow out into the bike lane. I always need to remember to be careful to LOOK carefully before wandering into the adjacent lane, even though I hear no traffic. That\’s because the adjacent lane is bus-only, and bus\’s motor is in its back, and the bus is moving slowly. So by the time I hear the motor, the front of the bus is already passing me.
So far Andy Clarke of the League of American Bicyclists disagrees with my assessment that because of this, and other problems (Ladd\’s Addition stings, fixie ticketing, etc.,) the LAB should reduce Portland\’s Platinum status back to Gold or even Silver.
(OK, end of rant.)
I sometimes will bust a small branch if it is blocking a stop sign.
Catch me if you can.
Took some pics while I was there… I also did some solo pruning near Greeley afterwards…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ufobike/sets/72157607399996784/