September 2014 Archives

Sunday vigil set to honor and remember Steve Fritz

Commissioner Amanda Fritz at an
anti-Columbia River Crossing
rally in 2009.
(Photo: J.Maus/BikePortland)

All of Portland is hurting for Portland City Commissioner Amanda Fritz’s family this week.

Carpooling to his job in Salem, Steve Fritz was killed in a traffic collision Wednesday after a northbound pickup crossed the freeway barrier and collided with Fritz’s Nissan. The husband of the city council member died at the scene.

A vigil for Steve Fritz is planned this Sunday, Sept. 28, at 5 p.m. in Terry Schrunk Plaza, across the street from City Hall at 1221 SW 4th Avenue.

“We will have an open mic and will be collecting letters to be given to the family at a better time,” wrote Cameron Whitten, a local human rghts activist who got to know Fritz during Occupy Portland’s 2011 encampment and his subsequent hunger strike outside City Hall for housing justice, in an email. Whitten, who later supported Fritz’s reelection campaign, is among the organizers of Sunday’s event.

For her part, Commissioner Fritz wrote on Wednesday that her family would be suggesting charitable donations in lieu of flowers or cards:

The new temporary traffic diverter at N. Rodney and Ivy.
(Photo: Zef Wagner)

People using the future neighborhood greenway route on North Rodney Avenue got a surprise last week: a temporary diagonal traffic diverter at Ivy Street, designed to reduce cut-through auto traffic.

Project manager Rich Newlands said in an interview Wednesday that the city installed the diverter as part of its Williams Avenue traffic safety project after months of pressure from the local neighborhood association.

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Trucks frequently (and sometimes illegally) encroach on the SE Caruthers bike lane. A new street design will help bike riders navigate SE Caruthers more smoothly.
(Photo: Besty Reese)

Anyone who has ridden on SE Caruthers in the pathway gap between the southern end of the Eastbank Esplanade and the start of the Springwater Corridor trail (map) has likely experienced the problem of trucks encroaching on the bike lane. It’s common because two truck-heavy businesses — Apple Foods and McCoy Millworks — have loading docks adjacent to the street and a smooth, mountable curb is all that separates the parking zone from the bike lane.

Andy Jansky practicing what he preaches on a ride at Mt. Saint Helens with his two teenage daughters.
(Photo courtesy Andy Jansky)

This article was written by Andy Jansky, a volunteer trail steward with the Northwest Trail Alliance.

It’s time to start a new cycling movement. I call it the “Dirt Roots Movement” and it’s all about getting more kids on mountain bikes.

Street Books founder Laura Maulton talks last week with patrons Jonathan and Bam.

After four summers loaded with all the paperbacks you can fit on a cargo trike, Portland’s most public library is rolling merrily forward.

Moderator Michael Andersen (on the left) and panelists Rob Sadowsky, Roger Geller, and Jessica Roberts.
(Photos by J. Maus/BikePortland)

What happened to Portland? Did we really deserve to lose our spot atop the podium of America’s best bike cities? Is this whole stagnation thing for real?

Source: Census. Chart by BikePortland.

As Portlanders puzzle over why local bike, bus and rail transportation has stopped rising, last week’s Census figures show another trend continuing to reshape the city’s population.

New construction in the central city hasn’t come close to relieving one of the country’s harshest rental housing shortages.

For structures built before 1940 — the bungalows and walk-ups built before the age of automotive planning that cover most of the land between the Willamette River, 82nd Avenue, Powell and Lombard, including many of the most bike-friendly neighborhoods in North America — median rents rose 19 percent in the two years from 2011 to 2013, Census estimates show.

Since 2005, when the City of Portland’s population growth began to dramatically outpace its supply of new units, rent in these central-city buildings has risen 47 percent.

At this weekend’s Bike & Beer Fest, you can drink local beer while
getting to know local bike makers like Eric Estlund of Winter Bicycles.
(Photos by J. Maus/BikePortland)

What happens when you mash together two of Portland’s best fall bike events into one, big, blowout weekend party? The Handmade Bike & Beer Festival.

Our fun crowd of biking Blazer fans at the 2010 event.
(Photos by J. Maus/BikePortland)

Since the first Bike to Blazers we organized back in 2006, our goal has been to showcase cycling for the Trail Blazers organization, the team, and their many fans. We’ve made solid strides toward that goal, but we’re still hoping to make the biking/Blazers connection much stronger.

I’m happy to say that this year, the Blazers reached out to us early wanting to re-energize the Bike Night event and make it bigger and better than ever. As many of you know, I happen to think biking and the Blazers go great together, so I eagerly accepted.

Let it be known that Sunday, November 2nd is Blazers Bike Night at the Moda Center!

How did our guest author do her second time out?
(Note: That’s not her in the photo.)
(Photos by J. Maus/BikePortland)

This is Rebecca Hamilton’s second article in a series about her introduction to cyclocross racing. Read last week’s installment here.

It’s Week 2 of the Blind Date at the Dairy cyclocross series and here I am again, back for more.

Seattle’s 2nd Avenue gives bikes their own signal phase.
(Photo: M.Andersen)

Here are the great bike-related links from around the world that caught our eyes this week:

Seattle’s showcase: Downtown Seattle’s new two-way protected bike lane, which replaced a one-way door-zone lane, seems to have immediately tripled bike traffic on the street.

Cop impersonator: In Palo Alto, a man seemingly impersonated a police officer while ordering two kids in a bike lane to ride single file instead of side by side. He then flashed a weapon at one of them.

Kerry Kunsman.
(Photo: San Diego County
Bicycle Coalition)

Kerry Kunsman, a 67-year old bicycle safety instructor and board member of the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition is in critical condition after being hit from behind by a pickup driver while riding near Tillamook yesterday.

According to the Oregon State Police, Kunsman, a resident of San Diego California, was riding westbound on Highway 131 between Tillamook and Netarts Bay (map) when he was struck from behind by 74-year old Oceanside (Oregon) resident Frank Bohannon, who was driving a Ford F350 pickup.

The collision occurred at milepost five in the apex of a right-have and curve. As you can see in the photos below, Netarts Hwy has two lanes in this location and no paved shoulder. The posted speed limit on this highway is 55 mph, but there’s an advisory speed of 35 mph posted for this specific corner. The investigation into the collision is ongoing and no enforcement decision has been made. Kunsman is suffering from a brain injury and is being treated at Legacy Emanuel Hospital in Portland.

This is the latest in an alarming spate of rear-end collisions involving bicycle riders on rural Oregon highways in the past month.

Sunday vigil set to honor and remember Steve Fritz

Eliot neighborhood gets temporary diverter on Rodney as part of Williams work

PBOT’s first ‘advisory bike lanes’ coming to SE Caruthers

Guest article: Take a kid mountain biking and help grow the ‘Dirt Roots Movement’

Portland’s pedal-powered street library blooms into a beloved institution

Panel ponders Portland’s slide from cycling superstardom

2,000 missing homes: Prices soar in bikeable areas as Portland’s rental shortage deepens

Locally made bikes, beer and music on tap for weekend festival

Basketball fans, get ready for Blazers Bike Night!

A newbs-eye view of cyclocross, part two: Learning the hard way

The Monday Roundup: Seattle’s showcase, bait bike success in Texas & more

San Diego Bike Coalition board member in critical condition after rear-end collision

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From the Archives

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