during the Anti-CRC ride Saturday.
– Slideshow below/More photos –
(Photos © J. Maus)
Over 80 people met on Saturday to ride in protest against the Columbia River Crossing project. The event was put together by Rising Tide Cascadia to coincide with Pedalpalooza and raise awareness of the negative impacts of a new, 12-lane I-5 bridge.
Riders met at Peninsula Park to coordinate the day’s actions and to make signs. In addition to “12 Lanes, insane!”, other signs read, “The King and Queen of Greenwashing” (featuring Commissioner Leonard and Mayor Adams), “1 Less Bridge”, and simply “CRC WTF?”.
Volunteers would stop to chat with bystanders.
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The route took the protest into residential neighborhoods just south of the Columbia Slough (a wildlife area, ride organizers pointed out, that would be impacted by construction of the new bridge). As riders pedaled by, chants of “12 lane CRC, it’s not good for you and me!” rang out and volunteers stopped to talk and pass out fact sheets on the project to bystanders.
south bank of Columbia River.
After somehow getting 80-plus people safely through the indignity that is the Jantzen Beach bike route, we ended up in a quite mobile home park on Hayden Island. A narrow, paved pathway led us right to the bank of the Columbia River, with the I-5 bridge out in the distance to the east.
At this point, ride leaders and other volunteers took the opportunity to provide background on the project and to update folks on their efforts to stop it. Brian Sloan with Rising Tide spoke up and said that if the project is to be stopped, his organization will need many people to step up and help.
on N. Mississippi Ave.
After the brief rally on the riverbanks, we rolled back to North Portland (via Kenton, and there was some thought to ride by Mayor Adams’ home but no one knew his exact address).
There was talk of a “surprise direct action” at the end of the ride. My hunch told me it would be an anti-CRC banner drop on an I-5 freeway overpass. But, as it out, the banner was placed on a new condo being built on N. Mississippi Street.
It read, “More lanes = More cars= More climate change.”
For more photos, browse the gallery or watch the slideshow below: