Month: May 2013

City Club to release major report on bicycling May 31st

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

The City Club of Portland, a respected local civic institution founded in 1916, will release their comprehensive research study on bicycling in Portland on May 31st. On that same day, bicycling will be the subject of their Friday Forum speaking series (speaker TBD) which will be attended by Portland’s movers and shakers at the Governor Hotel in downtown Portland.

“With the release of City Club’s report on bicycle transportation in Portland,” says a description of the event on their website, “we’ll answer the question: ‘How should we improve our transportation system to optimize choice, efficiency and safety for all modes of transportation?'”

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Sierra Club signs onto lawsuit to stop Timberline MTB Park

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

“We really do not have a problem with mountain biking at all. In fact, we would affirmatively support mountain bike access on Mt. Hood and we’d love to build allegiances with those folks, but we just don’t believe this is the proper place for this development.”
— Rhett Lawrence, Conservation Director, Sierra Club (Oregon Chapter)

Plans to build a mountain bike park on Mt. Hood have taken another turn. Yesterday, four non-profit organizations filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to stop the project. The plaintiffs on the suit are Bark, Friends of Mt. Hood, the Northwest Environmental Defense Center, and the Oregon Chapter of the Sierra Club.

In the 56-page lawsuit (PDF), that coalition says the area of Mt. Hood where RLK & Company wants to build the Timberline MTB Park is, “ecologically significant” and consists of ,”fragile alpine ecosystems” that feed directly into Still Creek and the west fork of the Salmon River. The plaintiffs also claim that the Forest Service did not adhere to adequate public processes as defined by federal environmental review laws.

The project would build 17 miles of new, lift-assisted mountain bike trails on a 500-600 acre parcel of land (*I originally posted the incorrect acreage). In November of 2012, the Forest Service approved RLK’s permit to build the park. In doing so, a USFS rep said he believes that mountain biking at Timberline, “represents yet another new opportunity for play in every season of the year.” An appeal of that decision made by an even larger coalition of environmental groups was denied back in March (it’s interesting to note that some groups on the original appeal have chosen not to join this new lawsuit).

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Weekend Event Picks

Sauvie Island Strawberry Ride

Hang out with Don Kruger at
his farm on Sauvie Island
this Sunday.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

Before you finalize all your weekend riding plans, I wanted to highlight three events that deserve your attention.

Tomorrow is the American Lung Association’s big annual Reach the Beach ride. It’s the 23rd year for this popular event that takes folks from several starting points out to the finish line at Cape Kiwanda (south of Tillamook). There are 100, 80, 55, and 28-mile options leaving from Portland, Newberg, Amity, and Grand Ronde respectively. If you’re doing the ride, have fun and good luck! If you’re biking or driving on the route, expect to find thousands of people sharing the road with you.

On Sunday (5/19), bike racers and riders of all persuasions will head out to Sauvie Island for the Kruger’s Kermesse Farm Crit. This unique event features a fun mix of terrain that will have something for riders of all abilities. It all happens at Kruger’s Farm, which is a great place to bring the family and hang out with friends. For a fun day, ride out to the event via the St. Johns Bridge and Highway 30 (where traffic is much more pleasant on the weekends).

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red Giant

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Brand: Giant
Color:red
Stolen in Portland, OR 97202
Stolen:2013-05-16
Stolen From: SE Brooklyn & SE 39th Ave…inside my fenced yard
Neighborhood: Clinton/Brooklyn
Owner: Jane Jacobs
OwnerEmail: enaj.jacobs( atsign )gmail.com
Description: Dark red Giant, converted into a hybrid from a mountain bike. 21 speed
Police reference#: T13004233
This registrant does not have proof of ownership of this bike

2012 PBOT bicycle counts reveal 3.3% annual growth

Bike traffic on NW Broadway-6

It just keeps growing, and growing, and…
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

In a report released this morning, the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) says bicycle traffic counts for 2012 were up 3.3 percent over 2011 levels. These counts, which have been conducted annually since 1991, provide an important barometer for how many people are riding bikes in Portland. In addition to bike traffic volumes, the counts also tally gender and helmet usage. PBOT uses a mix of automated “hose” counts as well as manual counts by staff and volunteers. For the 2012 counts, volunteers manually counted 38,500 daily bicycle trips across a record 216 locations throughout the city — which PBOT says translates into more than 190,000 daily bicycle trips once the two-hour peak period counts are extrapolated out.

Here’s the summary of 2012’s numbers (taken directly from the report):

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Job: Team Member – Universal Cycles – FILLED

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Sorry. This job has been filled.

Job Title
Team Member

Company/Organization
Universal Cycles

Job Description
Looking for a candidate that has vast bike knowledge. Experience in the industry is a plus, but not a requirement. The candidate should be able to do small repairs.

The ideal candidate will be full of energy and have a TEAM mentality. The position will be a little bit of everything that we do here at Universal. Mostly the job is for sales on our retail floor. We have eight shop cats, so the candidate should like cats. The position is full time. The schedule is Sat-Wed. We like a clean shop, so candidate shouldn’t mind cleaning restrooms. We are team here, managers clean restrooms too!

We offer high wages for qualified candidates. We offer medical after 90 days. Our vacation is one week after an year, and 2 weeks after 3 years. We offer 3 paid sick days. Paid closed days for our business are New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. We are a locally owed business that takes pride in providing a great job for great employees!

How to Apply
Please apply in person with a resume.
Ask for Mike, Vic, or Meiko.

Report: ODOT employees mostly male, white, 50-plus

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ODOT’s org chart.

I came across something interesting while perusing some Oregon Transportation Commission meeting materials: the 2012 ODOT Sustainability Progress Report (PDF). The report covers a number of things; from how much paper the agency uses to the amount of greenhouse gases being emitted by their vehicle fleet. But the part that caught my eye was the section titled “Work Force Diversity”. It was an analysis about the demographics of ODOT’s 4,521 employees.

Here’s how the report’s authors introduced the section:

ODOT must have a fully skilled, competent and diverse workforce to carry out its mission. As the number of retirements increase, ODOT must recruit employees with diverse backgrounds, retain the expertise of experienced employees, and develop employee skills to meet new challenges to the agency and the transportation system.

That sounds reasonable. Then I saw the statistical breakdown: 63% male, 90% white non-hispanic and 56% over the age of 50.

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Black/Blue KHS UrbanXpress 2012

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Year: 2012
Brand: KHS
Model: UrbanXpress
Color:Black/Blue
Serial: U11N01383
Stolen in Portland, OR 97215
Stolen:2013-05-15
Stolen From: Off of our front porch, SE 66th avenue on Mt Tabor.
Neighborhood: Mt Tabor
Owner: Lindsay Kalama-Smith
OwnerEmail: waikalama( atsign )gmail.com
Reward: yes
Description: Had a U-lock holder attached to inside of frame.
Police record with: PPD
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Fatal crashes highlight problems with SW Barbur Blvd

Lance Marcus died Tuesday night
while driving on SW Barbur Blvd.
(Photo: Facebook profile)

45 year-old Lance Marcus died on Tuesday night after driving his car into a power pole on SW Barbur Blvd near Miles Street. The Portland Police report that Marcus was driving “at a high rate of speed” before he hit the pole.

In October of 2011, just a few tenths of a mile north of where Marcus died, 25-year old Nisha Rana was also killed when police say she “failed to negotiate a curve” while driving “at a very high rate of speed.”

Back in 2010, just one mile north of those tragedies, 28 year-old Caleb Pruitt was also driving “at a high rate of speed” (according to the police) when he rounded a corner on SW Barbur Blvd near the Town and Country Apartments and collided with 26 year-old Angela Burke. Burke was walking her bicycle at the time and was attempting to cross the street.

Barbur Blvd is notorious in Portland transportation circles. It’s one of the City’s High Crash Corridors and it has been subject of hopeful planning documents and neighborhood activism for years. However, despite this attention, it remains a classic, high-speed arterial where people continue to drive too fast and people continue to get hurt and killed. A few weeks ago a new “Friends of Barbur” group came together to try and hasten improvements. Here’s what they wrote on their website:

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purple Cannondale Synapse 2012

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Year: 2012
Brand: Cannondale
Model: Synapse
Color:purple
Size:48 cm
Photo: https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/531036_10152057470715315_1358510639_n.jpg
Stolen in Portland, OR 97214
Stolen:2013-05-15
Stolen From: Cinemagic, was locked outside to the rack.
Neighborhood: Hawthorne
Owner: Jennifer Haliewicz
OwnerEmail: rofljen(A T)gmail.com
Reward: $25 or baked goods
Description: cannondale synapse WSD. Small light purple/dark purple frame, red bottle cage, red fizik saddle, pink water bottle.
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: 13-153060.
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

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From the Archives

With six kids and no car, this mom does it all by bike