Month: October 2012

I-5 widening plan up for vote at City Council Thursday

I-5 at Rose Quarter

ODOT’s dream to widen I-5 near the Rose Quarter
could take a big step forward tomorrow.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

On Wednesday, a plan by the Oregon Department of Transportation to widen I-5 near the Rose Quarter will be considered for adoption by City Council. The I-5 Broadway/Weidler Facility Plan, which includes freeway and surface street changes that are estimated to cost $400 million, will be considered in tandem with the N/NE Quadrant Plan, an effort by the City of Portland’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability to re-imagine transportation and land-use in the lower-Albina and Lloyd districts.

While passage of both plans is likely, the key component of the I-5 Facility Plan — the widening of the freeway between I-84 and the Fremont Bridge — is not supported by local grassroots group Active Right of Way (AROW). A City of Portland Planning Commissioner also voted against the facility plan when it came before the City’s Planning and Sustainability Commission last month.

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Champagne Marin Nicas 2010

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Year: 2010
Brand: Marin
Model: Nicas
Color:Champagne
Size:17′
Serial: F579ESC001
Stolen in Portland, OR 9721
Stolen:2012-10-17
Stolen From: 4224 NE Halsey St, Hollywood 24 hour gym parking lot.
Owner: Brian Wartell
OwnerEmail: bwartell(replace with at sign)yahoo.com
Reward: yes
Description: very new condition, wide handle grips, pedals are duel clip in’s and flat, trunk rack with keen sticker, head light, speed o meter and rear light bases, water bottle cage, bell, 21 speed, under saddle bag, tan seat, front suspension and seat stem suspension
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: 12-156564
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Champagne Marin Nicas 2010

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Year: 2010
Brand: Marin
Model: Nicas
Color:Champagne
Size:17′
Serial: F579ESC001
Stolen in Portland, OR 9721
Stolen:2012-10-17
Stolen From: 4224 NE Halsey St, Hollywood 24 hour gym parking lot.
Owner: Brian Wartell
OwnerEmail: bwartell(AT)yahoo.com
Reward: yes
Description: very new condition, wide handle grips, pedals are duel clip in’s and flat, trunk rack with keen sticker, head light, speed o meter and rear light bases, water bottle cage, bell, 21 speed, under saddle bag, tan seat, front suspension and seat stem suspension
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: 12-156564
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Metro travel survey shows major shifts in how we get around

Summer bike traffic-14-14

Survey data released by Metro this morning
shows huge spikes in bike traffic.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

Almost every transportation statistic you see has to do with one kind of trip: commuting to work. That’s the only one the Census Bureau asks people about.

But once in a while, someone outside the Census Bureau does research into the 85 percent of trips that don’t involve going between home and work: the coffee shop, the dinner party, the soccer field. And a new survey released by Metro Tuesday morning has some surprising insights about how Portland’s transportation transformation since 1994 has affected our non-working lives – especially the ways biking has competed with and complemented other forms of low-car travel.

All of these numbers are demographically weighted estimates based on a 2011 survey of 6,450 households in the Portland metro area, including Clark County on the Washington side of the Columbia River.

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Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley completes Iron-distance triathlon

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward
A visit with Senator Jeff Merkley-6

Sen. Merkley: Triathlete.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

This past Saturday, Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley accomplished a major goal: He completed an Iron-distance triathlon. That’s a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride, and 26.2 mile run. That’s major. He was so psyched about it, he tweeted a blurry photo of himself near the finish line (see it below).

According to his Deputy Communications Director Courtney Warner Crowell, the 56-year-old Senator competed in the PPD Beach 2 Battleship race in Wilmington, North Carolina. Wearing bib number 561, Senator Merkley was one of 630 competitors in the field that completed the full, Iron-distance event.

Merkley completed the course in 15 hours, 30 minutes, and 22 seconds (his biking leg was 7 hours and 40 minutes). That time put him in 401st place out of 415 finishers.

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White Peugeot 1982

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Year: 1982
Brand: Peugeot
Color:White
Size:54
Stolen in Portland, OR 97214
Stolen:2012-10-21
Stolen From: 12th and se salmon st, locked to a stop sign.
Neighborhood: Se, buckman
Owner: Andrea Langstaff
OwnerEmail: Miss.andrea.l(AT)gmail.com
Reward: 100
Description: It’s white with yellow drop handlebars, non original black pedals, a silver tray in the back for carrying things. It was dirty and a silver helmet was also taken. Also the chain needed greasing. Also the seat was white. 7146565127
Police record with: Ppd
This registrant does not have proof of ownership of this bike

$30,000 worth of bikes used in education program stolen in Eugene

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Our friends with the Safe Routes to School program in Eugene have just announced the theft of an entire fleet of bikes used in their bike education classes. Program manager Shane MacRhodes says a trailer containing 40 Bike Friday bicycles and related gear totaling about $30,000 was stolen from a parking lot at Prarie Mountain School in West Eugene.

Here’s more from MacRhodes:

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What are your best tips for staying warm and dry?

Rider in the storm.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)r

OK folks, it has begun. After an unnaturally long spell of dry and sunny weather, some wet and cold weather is here. This morning’s commute was probably the toughest one since the end of last winter. While I’d love to think that we all pay it no mind and continue on our merry biking ways, it does have an impact.

The bikeways are much less crowded than they were just a few weeks ago. Last week was the lowest count of trips on the Hawthorne Bridge recorded since the new counter went in back in August and Saturday’s 1,536 trips was the lowest ever recorded. But, as a photo shared by the BTA this morning shows, lots of folks are still riding!

For those of you who press on through the darkness, wetness, and the cold, what are your secrets?

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Gold Trek 7.3FX 2008

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Year: 2008
Brand: Trek
Model: 7.3FX
Color:Gold
Size:19
Serial: WTU179C2621C
Stolen in Portland, OR 97206
Stolen:2012-10-22
Stolen From: 43rd/division, from my front porch – was locked up.
Neighborhood: Richmond
Owner: Sumer Gregg
OwnerEmail: sumergregg(replace with at sign)gmail.com
Reward: TBD
Description: it was pretty bare bones, luckily. Has the light hookups and water bottle holder, but lights and water bottle were inside.
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: T12008996
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Green Cannondale R500 2005

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Year: 2005
Brand: Cannondale
Model: R500
Color:Green
Size:50cm
Serial: Q001459
Stolen in Portland, OR
Stolen:2012-10-19
Stolen From: Garage behind house, SE 36th between Bybee and Knapp
Neighborhood: Eastmoreland
Owner: Cindy Bernert-Coppola
OwnerEmail: cindy_bc(at sign)comcast.net
Reward: Yes
Description: Green, black, and white Cannondale with frog pedals, 50 cm, bike computer and small bike bag on back. 503-781-1822
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: 12-156570
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

As Portland inches along, new research shows separated bike infrastructure is safer

Ride-along SW Broadway-9-6

Riding on SW Broadway in downtown Portland.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

A new study by researchers at the University of British Columbia and published in the American Journal of Public Health shows that physcially separated, bicycle-specific infrastructure can lead to much lower risk of injury for people riding bicycles.

Here’s more on the study from Atlantic Cities:

As it turns out, infrastructure really matters. Your chance of injury drops by about 50 percent, relative to that major city street, when riding on a similar road with a bike lane and no parked cars. The same improvement occurs on bike paths and local streets with designated bike routes. And protected bike lanes – with actual barriers separating cyclists from traffic – really make a difference. The risk of injury drops for riders there by 90 percent.

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Red and silver Giant OCR3

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Brand: Giant
Model: OCR3
Color:Red and silver
Serial: GR7G1717
Stolen in Eugene, OR 97403
Stolen:2012-10-18
Stolen From: Mckenzie Hall, South side
Neighborhood: U of O campus
Owner: Noah Gurevich
OwnerEmail: noahg503(replace with at sign)gmail.com
Description: It’s a red and silver Giant OCR3, with continental gator skin tires, alexrims rt125 rims front and rear, full silver plastic planet bike fenders, rear rack and Shimano pedals with spd clips on one side and platforms on the other.
Police record with: Campus PD

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