Remember Tigard? It’s a great little town about 10 miles southwest of Portland. Back in January we held a great Get Together event at a pub right alongside the Fanno Creek Trail. The room was packed with advocates, city staffers, and even a few politicians.
Today, I’m happy to share a few news items that show how Tigard continues to move in the right direction for bikes.
First is an exciting event happening this Saturday to kick off the completion of the first phase of Tigard’s downtown bike parking program. The non-profit Westside Transportation Alliance worked with the City on this project and they’ve installed 25 staple-style bike racks outside downtown businesses. The racks are bright yellow, which I think is a brilliant way to raise visibility (both of the parking and of biking in general).
This Saturday (7/10) at 10:00 am, Tigard Mayor Craig Dirksen will join advocates for a ribbon cutting ceremony out front of Tigardville Station (12370 SW Main St). There will be free coffee and donuts and a ride to several other new bike racks will follow.
In other Tigard bike news, the City is currently recruiting volunteers to serve on the Pedestrian and Bicyclist Subcommittee of the Tigard Transportation Advisory Committee (TTAC). This subcommittee advises the TTAC on biking and walking projects and provides feedback on project design, planning, and other issues.
With its small main street, growing advocacy scene, and access via the Fanno Creek Trail, Tigard is positioned to be a much better town for biking in the years to come. If you live in the area, consider getting involved. For more information, visit the City’s Bike Tigard website.
Thanks for reading.
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Also, they recently striped two short, but useful, bike lanes in the uphill direction on 72nd and on Bonita (over the highway). Now if there was a better way than Barbur to get back and forth between Tigard and Portland, that would be great 🙂
As well as installed a sidewalk (south of the library), and a crosswalk just north of the library) on SW Hall. Helping to keep bikes, peds and cars out of each other’s ways on the busy street.
Tigard and Sherwood are great examples of rapid growth with less-than-ideal planning. Their efforts to address transportation problems are worth supporting.
Thanks for this coverage, Jonathan. They’re also revamping the intersections of Hall and Greenburg along 99W to include complete bike lanes in all directions, which has until now been lacking.
This town has a lot of potential. I work out of Tigard. My boss is helping with the transportation planning. I’ve seen the downtown 50 yr plan. Its a return to high density grid type street pattern. Unfortunately right now getting around Tigard by bike is very difficult with all of the construction. Hopefully they Finnish before the weather gets bad in the fall.
I stayed in Tigard during weeknights for over a year and saw some challenges with the bike infrastructure, but for the most part it was quite easy to get around. The Fanno Creek Trail I tended to stay off of (I ride fast so I prefer streets), but it is a definite asset to the area – especially after I discovered Max’s Fanno Creek Pub at the downtown end of things, love that place! All of the new development I saw had infrastructure in place, and it seemed like the city took active transportation seriously.
I’ve recently started working with the BAC in my current city (Santa Clara, CA) and see how much work and participation it takes to help planners and engineers implement useful change. I suggest to anyone to take advantage of openings on these committees – it’s quite an education and you really can make a difference (with the right allies in place).
Jonathan, found your blog very interesting. We are moving our practice onto Main St. and Pacific in Tigard. I know some of this is old news, but I am looking forward to more posts about Tigard. Check our blog out if you get a chance. http://www.tendercaredental.net/category/blog/. Thanks and take care.