Month: January 2009

Press Release: Sellwood Bridge task force decision coming Monday

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

This just in from Multnomah County:

Sellwood Bridge task force meeting on January 19

The Community Task Force for the Sellwood Bridge Project will meet on Monday, January 19 from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm at OMSI, 1945 SE Water Avenue. At the meeting, the task force is expected to recommend a preferred alternative to provide a long-term solution for the bridge. The preferred alternative will specify the alignment and cross-section of the bridge, how it connects with roads on the east and west sides of the river, and whether it will include a new bridge or a rehabilitation of the existing bridge.

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Eco-friendly cleaning business goes by bike

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward
Cleaning service goes by cargo bike-6

Off to another “greening”.
(Photos © J. Maus)

Local cleaning business, Q19 Greening, is looking to buy a fleet of Dutch cargo bikes to make good on their eco-friendly mission. I met up with their first bike-enabled employee the other day to see how things were going.

Greg Davis calls himself a Q19 “greener” (instead of cleaner, get it?) and he’s the company’s first employee to get to roll around with a customized Dutch “bakfiets” cargo bike. Davis’ territory is lower Northeast and parts of Southeast.

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ODOT’s federal funding request focuses on highways and “providing jobs immediately”

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward
The (Epic) Sushi Ride

ODOT wants $2 million to improve
illumination on I-205 bike path.
(Photo © J. Maus)

The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) has released their official list of projects to be included in the federal economic stimulus bill that is expected to come together in mid-February

The list includes 46 projects throughout the state and a total stimulus funding request of just over $179 million. ODOT has separated the list into several project types, one of which is bicycle/pedestrian (others are modernization, preservation, and so on)

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Product idea: Light up your own bike lane with “LightLane”

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

[Via Dustbowl]

Design duo Alex Tee and Evan Gant from Massachusetts based product design firm Altitude Inc., are making waves around the web for their new “LightLane” concept.

Here’s how they describe it:

Our system projects a crisply defined virtual bike lane onto pavement, using a laser, providing the driver with a familiar boundary to avoid. With a wider margin of safety, bikers will regain their confidence to ride at night, making the bike a more viable commuting alternative.

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Press release: Regional leaders unite to send strong message on federal transportation priorities

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Below is a press release sent out yesterday by Metro. I have just received the actual resolution and list of projects and I might do another story about it on the Front Page soon.

For now…

Regional leaders unite to send strong message on federal transportation priorities

The Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation (JPACT) is set to approve tomorrow Metro Resolution 09-4016 – sending a list of policies and projects for federal funding to the Metro Council for final approval. The resolution sets funding and policy priorities for the next Federal Transportation Administration (FTA) six-year transportation investment program.

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More from the BTA on Idaho-style stop law

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

If you’re looking for more information from the BTA on why they’ve decided to push the Oregon legislature to pass a law that would make it legal for people on bicycles to roll through stop signs (a.k.a. an “Idaho-style” stop sign law), read the statement just published by their lobbyist Karl Rohde.

Here are some excerpts:

Coming to a complete stop at all stop signs, rather than yielding at safe operating speeds, substantially reduces the efficiency of riding a bicycle and can create unsafe conditions.

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Portland’s bike lane characters; a proud tradition continues (Slideshow)

One of Portland’s customized
bike lane markings.
-Slideshow below-
(Photo: City of Portland)

2009 marks the 10th anniversary of a proud Portland tradition: our creatively modified bike lane pavement markings or what I like to call, “bike lane guys”.

The “unlikely cycling hero” who started the tradition in 1999 — according to Portlander Jim Waigand, who has documented the phenomenon since 2003 — is former City employee Todd Roberts. In an article published in VeloVision Magazine in September 2003, Waigand uncovered the fascinating story behind the practice. (I’ve uploaded that article as a PDF with permission from the publisher. You can download it here.)

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Latest Headlines

Why did Oregon lower the legal age for e-bike riding?

Jobs of the Week: Mokwheel, eLock, Go By Bike, Velofix, Northwest Hub

Robotaxis will need to jump through these hoops before operating on Portland streets

Here’s the new ‘complete street’ coming to Cully Blvd

From the Archives

With six kids and no car, this mom does it all by bike