One thing you might have missed amid the huge crowds at Sunday Parkways earlier this month was PBOT’s launch of a marketing campaign for the Going Street Neighborhood Greenway.
As bike boulevards go, the City sees Going as the top of the heap; the marquee bike boulevard in Portland’s impressive (and always growing) network. But what good is a low-stress, family-friendly street that prioritizes bicycling, if no one knows it’s there? That’s the question motivating a new push by PBOT to further promote Going and make it stand out among its paved peers.
PBOT is using part of the $2.1 million federal grant they received for the Going to the River project to do an outreach campaign focused on the Going Street Neighborhood Greenway. The campaign includes mailings to nearby residents, a series of events, new marketing materials, and new signage coming to the street this summer.
The five events will run through mid-September and they include: “Going to Play”, a card game at the May 13th Sunday Parkways that had a chance to win a new Trek bike; “Going Shopping”, a promotion throughout June that will come with special coupons to local businesses; “Going Exploring”, a scavenger hunt in July the with prizes and free treats and coffee at the Concordia Neighborhood Yard Sale; “Going to Work”, which will include free bike repair stations along the street in August; and “Going to School”, which promises to be a “giant fair for kids and parents” at King School Park on September 14th.
At the beginning of May, PBOT sent out a mailer with details on these events to the 5,500 households within 1,000 feet of the bike boulevard. Those residents will continue to receive mailers as part of this campaign through September. Here’s another detail from that mailer…
Another nifty thing PBOT unveiled at Sunday Parkways were these cool seat covers (as seen below on my daughter’s bike):
Portlanders will also get visual cues that Going is a great street for biking. PBOT plans to add “street sign toppers” along Going this summer (similar to the ones already installed on SE Clinton St.). Bureau spokesman Dan Anderson says there will be four designs, three bike-focused designs already in use on Clinton Street and, “a new pedestrian-focused design.”
In just a few short years, Going has already established itself as a great example of the city’s renewed bike boulevard efforts. With stop signs turned to keep bike traffic flowing, speed bumps to keep auto speeds down, sharrows, and improved infrastructure at crossings, biking on Going is a breeze. Between 2010 and 2011, bike traffic on going rose 34%. With more awareness that the street exists, even more people might head out and give biking a try.
— Learn more at NeighborhoodGreenways.org