(Photos © J. Maus)
On January 27th, we’re heading to Tigard (about 10 miles southwest of Portland in Washington County) for our next Get Together event. Why Tigard? Why not?!
Tigard is a sweet little town of about 46,000 people with a lot going for it bike-wise (hear me out). I first learned of its charms during my tour of the West Side back in May. Jim Parsons (our correspondent in that neck of the woods) and I rolled along and came to downtown Tigard’s Main Street. Then, before us was a brew pub with bike parking right out front (cars have to park in the back and walk) just a few feet away from the awesome Fanno Creek Trail.
So when time came to find a location for our January Get Together, Max’s Fanno Creek Brew Pub was the obvious choice (it’s an all-ages venue… bring the whole family!). We’ll be there from 6:00 to 8:00 pm on January 27th to meet new people and talk about Tigard bike conditions, issues, and aspirations.
over Fanno Creek and signal
to cross SW Hall.
So, what else is going on in Tigard? I was at the Tigard Public Library on Sunday and noticed a major improvement coming to the Fanno Creek Trail. They’re constructing a new bridge, boardwalk and (most importantly) a human-activated signal to get across busy SW Hall Street.
Checking our “Tigard” story tag, I notice several recent stories. Just since this past summer, Tigard has voted to support a new rail trail project, participated in their first-ever trail user count, and have decided to form an official Bicycle Advisory Committee that reports to the City.
But not all is rosy in Tigard. In July, their City Council voted through code amendments that made it O.K. for city planners to opt out of a previous requirement to put bike lanes on certain downtown streets. When we looked into that story, the City of Tigard planning manager, Dick Bewersdorff, told us “You can’t build streets that have parking, bike lanes, trees, are pedestrian friendly, etc… you don’t have much space. It’s a balancing act.”
If you live, ride, work, or are just curious about riding bikes in and around Tigard and the West Side in general… join us! We’ll invite a few policy makers and local bike experts to help us get the discussion going. The event is free-form, but expect to meet new people, hear the latest news and project updates, talk about bikes, and get your questions answered.
- BikePortland Get Together – Tigard
Weds., January 27th
6:00 – 8:00 pm
Max’s Fanno Creek Brew Pub* (12562 SW Main St – map)
*This is a an all-ages venue — it’s actually a great place for families!
Thanks for reading.
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Great idea. I think Tigard has LOADS of potential to become a walkable, bikeable town.
“the City of Tigard planning manager, Dick Bewersdorff, told us “You can’t build streets that have parking, bike lanes, trees, are pedestrian friendly, etc… you don’t have much space. It’s a balancing act.””
Wow. How do these people get into these positions?
Anyhoo, sounds like a fun time, and sounds like overall Tigard is on the move towards being a pretty bike/ped-friendly city.
Utilizing neighborhood collectors (as well as the Fanno Creek Trail), you can get into Tigard’s surprisingly small, walkable downtown without daring the pure chaos of 99W. Don’t let the circus at SW 72nd and 99W fool you. Now if we could get a MAX line out there and regulate a few thousand cars off the road, we’d really be onto something.
Great! I saw the initial post on the Forums, but since they are kaput this is a good way to get the word out.
I’ll be there
I don’t visit Tigard much, but seeing that I have nothing to do (unemployment sucks), I might show up!
Hey, don’t forget Beaverton, Tualatin, Washington County, ODOT, the BTA, WashCo BTC, THPRD, METRO and other Westside agencies have been invited too.
This is a Westside meeting… Now, if anybody wants to invite other Westside entities, PLEASE DO!
I’ll be there for a little while, but I have to leave early for another meeting.
Tigard is a great town for getting around by bike– and the City is moving in the right direction to make it even better!
Ooooh! If we get both ODOT and Tigard officals there, maybe we can figure out who is responsible for paving over (several years ago) and never re-striping the bike lane at the I5 Carmen Drive overpass (up the overpass hill eastbound).
I volunterred for the Tigard Bike Map Committee after I saw the posting here last summer. The map is almost complete and should be available this spring/summer.
The City is going to start a formal Bike Advisory Committee where you apply to be on it, meet regulary etc, like other cities have.
Jonathan –
Have you seen this???
http://www.oregonlive.com/tigard/index.ssf/2010/01/tigard_getting_love_from_bikeportlandorg.html
Snarky!
Jackattak (#10): Where do you get “snarky”?
There’s nothing snarky about the article you link to. It’s very positive, upbeat and pro-bike.