‘Bike Pods’ at State Parks among projects lining up for Oregon Lottery dollars

Places like Champoeg State Park (shown above) could become even more welcoming to bike riders if funding comes through.
(Photo by J. Maus/BikePortland)

As we’ve been covering since the legislature passed it back in July, a pot of $42 million in Oregon Lottery-backed funding is now available to bicycling projects for the first time ever through the Oregon Department of Transportation’s Connect Oregon program.

And, not surprisingly, when the application process opened at the end of last year, ODOT was flooded with biking and walking projects from throughout the state. Of the 108 applications sent in, 35 of them were in the “Bicycle/Pedestrian” category (the other categories are aviation, marine, rain and transit) and the dollar amount for those projects totaled more than any other mode.

Now ODOT has released more information about each project, so we decided to take a look.

Of the 108 projects on the list, 11 of them are from Multnomah County. The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) applied for two projects, Metro applied for just one, and the others were requested by the Portland of Portland and a host of railroad, marine and aviation-minded concerns.

There were no surprises from PBOT. As we reported back in October, they’ve requested a total of $3.6 million spread between a streetcar project and the second phase of their bike share project. Metro’s sole request is $2.94 million to begin construction on a piece of the North Portland Greenway Trail between St. Johns and the Rivergate Industrial District.

Beyond those local projects, a few others caught my eye: a $900,000 request from the City of Eugene to start a bike share program, a $348,000 request from the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department for “Bike Pods” and “Bike Hubs”, and the City of Garibaldi’s $2 million request to build the first piece of the Salmonberry Corridor Trail.

Learn more about each of these projects in the descriptions below (provided by ODOT):

Metro – St. Johns Rivergate Access Project (Grant request: $2,294,996, total project cost: $2,868,746)
The project will complete a critical gap in the 40-Mile Loop Trail and the North Portland Willamette Greenway Trail and connect the St. Johns neighborhood and region to the Smith and Bybee Wetlands Natural Area and the Rivergate Industrial District. The project will benefit residents who work in the industrial area, children attending 14 nearby schools and regional trail users.

PBOT – Bike Share Phase 2: Jobs, Training & Transit (Grant request: $2,000,000, total project cost: $4,700,000)
Bike Share Phase 2: Jobs, Training & Transit expands the state’s largest public bike sharing system by adding 30 new stations and connecting the state’s largest employment centers, workforce training sites, and high-capacity transit lines. The project will provide healthy, equitable access to jobs, job training, commercial corridors and transit for thousands of Portland residents and commuters.

PBOT – Streetcar Safety and Jobs Access Enhancements (Grant request: $1,600,000, total project cost: $5,020,319)
This grant will close a funding gap for the procurement of one streetcar vehicle, and the installation of automatic train stop (ATS) safety equipment on each vehicle in the City’s streetcar fleet. The installation will begin as soon as funding is available to meet the fall 2015 deadline.

City of Eugene – Eugene Bike Share (Grant request: $909,066, total project cost: $1,136,333)
The City of Eugene proposes development of a public bike share system consisting of approximately 170 bicycles and 24 stations located near residential, shopping, employment, and transit centers in downtown Eugene and nearby areas including the University of Oregon (UO). This bike share system will fully integrate with a 4 station, 40 bike system being implemented on the UO campus in spring 2014.

City of Garibaldi – Salmonberry Corridor: Garibaldi to Barview (Grant request: $2,000,000, total project cost $2,500,000)
Construct 1.1 mile of pathway to address safety issue for bicycles and pedestrians between Barview and Garibaldi, completing the first section of the Salmonberry Corridor.

McKenzie River Ranger District, USFS – McKenzie River Trail Restoration (Grant request: $81,200, total project cost: $106,469)
This project includes the replacement of five major trail bridges, two major reroutes, and heavy tread maintenance work on the McKenzie River National Recreation Trail. A grant for three of the bridges has already been received from a Recreation Trails Program (RTP) Grant from the Oregon Recreation and Parks Program (ORPD). A successful grant from Connect Oregon will fund the remaining work.

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department – Bike Pods of Oregon – Grant request: $348,000, total project cost: $435,000
“Bike Pods of Oregon” encompasses a statewide roll out of 12 Bike Pods and 7 Bike Hubs. “Bike Pods” are strategically located in State Parks throughout the state to serve long distance overnight bicyclists. “Bike Hubs” provide amenities for day use cyclists and are located on public land, primarily in communities, along popular destination cycling routes.

From here, ODOT will vet these projects internally and then pass them off to regional committees for closer public review before a final decision is made by the Oregon Transportation Commission later this summer. Learn more about this current round of Connect Oregon funding on ODOT’s website.