This article was written by our Family Biking columnist Marion Rice. For previous articles in this series, and for links to other articles and photos on family biking, check out the Family Biking Page.
It’s that time of year again when Metro seeks your comments on how they should spend millions of dollars in federal funds through their regional flexible funding program (also known as MTIP, the Metropolitian Transportation Improvement Program).
A key part of that process is gathering public comment so decision makers at Metro can make the most informed choices on how to spend $21.6 million. Sounds like a lot of money right? Well, the rub is that Metro has received applications for projects totaling $57.8 million — so that means they need your help to whittle down the list (JPACT, a Metro advisory committee has thankfully set a minimum of $7.2 million that must be spent on bike/ped projects).
The Bureau of Planning has canceled a community workshop that would have began a discussion about a preferred strategy to tackle a re-design of the 7 Corners intersection (where SE Division, Ladd, 20th, and 21st streets converge).
The Portland United Mountain Pedalers have just announced their annual Bike Swap Meet event. Details and flyer are below…
The Hollywood Bike Gallery store will host a preview party to welcome the newest addition to Portland’s growing cargo and utility-bike family — the Madsen Cycles Urban Utility Bicycle.
ODOT maintenance crews have begun excavation work in preparation of the Brett Jarolimek memorial that will be installed at N. Interstate and Greeley.
Crews are installing paving stones and doing a general clean-up. ODOT wants everyone to be aware that their trucks will be in the vicinity as the work continues through this week.
The bike lane remains open, but please use caution when coming down that hill.
What a difference a few months makes.
Back in April, high gas prices were on everyone’s mind — especially those in the bike business. The rising cost of gas was having an impact on people’s transportation habits like no advocacy effort of policy change ever could.
“It’s fun putting together advertising directed at more of the general public. I just try to put myself in their place and think of a message that might crack through.
River City Bicycles owner Dave Guettler
If you watch local network television, you might be surprised to see a commercial for River City Bicycles. It’s not typical for a local bike shop to produce a TV ad, but River City’s Dave Guettler, is not a typical bike shop owner.
Guettler is known for his creative ad campaigns. Back in March, BikePortland contributor Carl Larson wrote that his ads go “beyond the ordinary”.
This morning at just before 9:00 am, a man driving a Ford F150 XL pickup and a woman riding a 1980s Peugeot ten-speed style bicycle collided in the intersection of SE Stark and SE Grand Ave in Portland’s Central Eastside.
According to medical personnel on the scene, the woman on the bike (who looked to be between 20-25 years of age) sustained facial and head trauma and was taken to OHSU for further evaluation. She was coherent and was able to make a statement to officers before being taken away on a stretcher.*
“We know this route network will not materialize overnight. But then again, neither did the Interstate Highway System.”
— Adventure Cycling’s Ginny Sullivan
Calling it a “very big milestone”, backers of the U.S. Bicycle Route System (USBRS) are celebrating a key decision that sets a course for creating the largest official bicycle route network in the world.
The system’s National Corridor Plan has just been approved by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). The corridor plan is a 50,000 mile network of 50-mile wide swaths that criss-cross the country and link key destinations (map below).