🚨 Please note: BikePortland is currently on hiatus and only publishing guest articles. Learn more here. Thank you. - Jonathan 🙏

Secure gear storage: The next step for bike-friendly businesses?

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Bike gear lockers at New Seasons-2

New Seasons on Williams Ave has gear
lockers for bike riding customers.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

One of the advantages cars have over (most) bicycles is a secure, dry, roomy place to easily stash stuff. Take a look at the inside of most people’s cars and you’ll see all sorts of essential and random things in the center console, the glove box, and scattered on the seats and floor. Bikes on the other hand, are usually stripped clean when parked. This is for a variety of reasons including: the threat of thieves who will take anything that’s not bolted down; the threat of rain getting your stuff wet, and so on. For people who bike, there simply aren’t many panniers or similar products readily available that allow you to secure your stuff to your vehicle while keeping it protected from the elements (and yes, I have seen the Buca Boot on Kickstarter).

The thoughts above are why I’ve been thinking for the past few years that shops, cafes and markets might want to consider providing storage areas for cycling customers. I’ve pitched the idea of gear storage lockers to a few businesses and I’m thrilled that someone finally took me up on it.

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City cancels Sunday Parkways Southwest due severe weather forecast

A scene from a wet Sunday Parkways in
northeast Portland in 2011.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

The Portland Bureau of Transportation has just announced that they’ve cancelled Sunday Parkways due to the severe weather forecasted for this weekend. The event was scheduled for Sunday and this is first time Sunday Parkways been called off since the event started in 2008.

Here’s more via a PBOT statement:

The Portland Bureau of Transportation announced today that the last Sunday Parkways of the season is cancelled due to a severe weather forecast for the Portland metropolitan area. High winds and heavy rain are forecast for this Sunday, September 29.

The event was scheduled to take place in Southwest Portland from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. City officials are notifying sponsors, vendors and residents of the cancellation.

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black Stevens Super Prestige 2012

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Year: 2012
Brand: Stevens
Model: Super Prestige
Color:black
Size:54
Serial: S12CGH0085
Photo: http://i.imgur.com/nNlZ0Z9.jpg
Stolen in Portland, OR 97209
Stolen:2013-09-21
Stolen From: Hot Lips in the Pearl
Owner: Greg Gramstad
OwnerEmail: gramstad73(replace with at sign)yahoo.com
Reward: $500
Description: Dura Ace Group
Easton EA 70 tubular wheels
Easton bars and stem
white Fizik saddle, red bar tape
Police record with: Portland
Police reference#: 13-157397
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

white GT Avalanche 3.0 Hydraulic Mountain Bike 2013

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Year: 2013
Brand: GT Avalanche 3.0
Model: Hydraulic Mountain Bike
Color:white
Size:S
Serial: SNMNG13E80155
Photo: http://distilleryimage10.ak.instagram.com/15699314ded511e2bf9922000a1fbc1c_7.jpg
Stolen in Irvine, CA 92612
Stolen:2013-09-25
Stolen From: The bike was stolen from the locker in underground garage of Toscana apartments at Via Lucca 30
Owner: Oksana Buniak
OwnerEmail: oksana.bunyak(AT)gmail.com
Description: The bike is new, it was only bought in June. It has front and rear lights, no damages. All parts are original
http://media.performancebike.com/images/performance/products/1500/31-0823-WHI-SIDE.jpg
Police record with: Irvine
Police reference#: T13000463
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Article in academic journal offers explanation for Williams project controversy

Williams project meeting-11-10

New research delves into the Williams
project process and why it turned into such a controversy.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

It’s been over two years now since the issue of racism and gentrification became part of PBOT’s North Williams Avenue traffic safety project. As the public process for that project morphed into a citywide dialogue about these volatile topics, the project transcended PBOT and became a case study that has been investigated, analyzed, and debated by people all over the country.

Now the work of two Portland State University professors has been published in the peer-reviewed academic journal, Environmental Justice. The article, Contesting Sustainability: Bikes, Race, and Politics in Portlandia, (published in the August 2013 issue) was written by Dr. Amy Lubitow, an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at Portland State University and Dr. Thaddeus Miller, an assistant professor at the Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning, College of Urban and Public Affairs, at PSU.

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Gloss black Haro 124 bmx 2013

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Year: 2013
Brand: Haro
Model: 124 bmx
Color:Gloss black
Size:24′ bmx
Serial: ACA12M004336
Stolen in Portland, OR 97215
Stolen:2013-09-25
Stolen From: House front porch se 49 and Lincoln
Neighborhood: Hawthorne
Owner: Steve Martinez
OwnerEmail: Owenpay( atsign )gmail.com
Reward: 100 dollars
Description: All black with neon blue crank and accents has a round green sticker with an s
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: 13-157433
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Brown Felt

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Brand: Felt
Color:Brown
Size:56 cm
Photo: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10202092842145034&set=a.1150404562756.24868.1306866938&type=1&theater&notif_t=photo_comment_tagged
Stolen in Portland, OR 97266
Stolen:2013-09-26
Stolen From: 24 Hour Fitness bike rack at Mall 205 at about 12:30pm.
Neighborhood: Montevilla/Hazelwood
Owner: Ron Birge
OwnerEmail: ronabell(replace with at sign)gmail.com
Reward: $200
Description: Brown Felt, not sure of the model or year as I bought it used. I was running Shimano 105.
This registrant does not have proof of ownership of this bike

Black Fuji Cross Comp 2009

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Year: 2009
Brand: Fuji
Model: Cross Comp
Color:Black
Size:56CM
Stolen in Portland, OR 97203
Stolen:2013-09-24
Stolen From: 309 SW 6th, Historic Wells Fargo building’s parking garage.
Neighborhood: Downtown
Owner: Jason Boehlke
OwnerEmail: Boehlke805( atsign )msn.com
Description: Black Fuji Cross Comp, Black Fenders and Rack. Rear and Front Planet Bike Lights. Easton bars w black tape, bell under left shifter, Sprintech Rear Mirror, three BTA stickers on rear, one on rack, two on fender. Illuminating rack flaps, very distinctive, black by day, illuminate once light strikes them. Flight Titanium Saddle and a Cervelo carbon fiber seatpost.
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Woman hit while walking on Barbur; but help is on the way – UPDATED

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SW 26th Ave is not a nice place to walk.

The bad news is that the Portland Police responded to yet another collision on SW Barbur Blvd this morning. The good news* is that help is on the way — in the form of a recently awarded, $1.8 million state grant — to add safer crossings and other improvements where it happened.

(*We’re still debating if waiting years for a paltry $2 million safety upgrade to a known danger spot — while people continue to get hurt and killed — should really be considered “good”.)

According to Police, a woman suffered “traumatic injuries” and is currently at a local hospital after she was “struck by a vehicle”. The incident occurred at around 8:00 am at the intersection of SW Barbur and 26th Ave. at the 9600 block of Barbur. We haven’t heard any other details about the woman’s condition or how the collision occurred;. It’s worth noting that this is an area well-known for its safety problems.

UPDATE, 4:05 pm: Here’s what happened according to the PPB:

“Investigators learned that the 27-year-old female pedestrian was crossing Southwest Barbur Boulevard from South to North, at 26th Avenue. There is not a crosswalk at this location. Both lanes of eastbound traffic stopped and allowed her to cross into the center median but then she stepped into the westbound lane of traffic and was struck by a Honda Accord driven by a 34-year-old woman.”

This stretch of Barbur is so notorious as a danger zone that the City of Portland and local neighborhood activists have been trying for many years to implement some basic safety updates. According to the Portland Bureau of Transportation, SW Barbur Blvd is a designated “High Crash Corridor” for all modes. “Within City Limits, there were 19 pedestrian crashes and 23 bike crashes on SW Barbur from 2000 to 2009. Speed was a factor in many of the crashes, as was failure to yield,” wrote PBOT in the grant application (PDF).

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Red Ochsner 1983

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Year: 1983
Brand: Ochsner
Color:Red
Size:52cm
Photo: http://s16.postimg.org/dy7uyzp11/DSCN1376.jpg
Stolen in Portland, OR 97210
Stolen:2013-09-25
Stolen From: Stolen from outside of Bluehour restaurant at 224 NW 13th Ave.
Neighborhood: Pear District.
Owner: Justin Charness
OwnerEmail: jcharness( atsign )gmail.com
Reward: 200
Description: Red Ochsner road bike with black handlebars, black seat, and a red bottle cage. Cream/White lettering. $200 reward for its return, no questions asked.
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: 13-157415
This registrant does not have proof of ownership of this bike

With $2.8 million grant, PSU now a national center for ‘livable communities’ research

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The Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium (OTREC) at Portland State University continued to raise its national profile with today’s announcement of a $2.83 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. This grant comes on the heels of a $3.5 million federal grant awarded in January 2012 that solidified PSU’s role as one of the premier university transportation centers (UTCs) in the country. The competition for this grant was very stiff with 142 universities vying for just 32 grants.

With this latest grant, OTREC at PSU is now the USDOT’s go-to institution when it comes to “livable communities” research. For this round of grants, the USDOT awarded just five national university transportation centers. Each center was pegged to focus its research on one of the agency’s five categories: economic competitiveness, environmental sustainability, safety, state of good repair, and livable communities.

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