Philadelphia.
(Rendering: Sheward Partnership)
Here are the great bike links from around the world that caught our eyes this week:
Racetrack gamble: As Minnesota’s only velodrome considers closing rather than putting up $850,000 for repairs, a private company is building a $100 million bike racing arena in Philadelphia.
Bike camping: You can now purchase a camper trailer for your bike. (Hope for low winds.)
DIY diverters: Rebel Metropolis has more good photos of the handpainted guerilla traffic diverters installed on Southeast Clinton last week by anonymous activists.
Seattle’s CRC: As Seattle’s deep-bore highway tunnel suffers its latest open-ended delay, Grist reviews Seattle’s disastrous attempt to build an underground highway along its shoreline.
Overestimating trips: The auto traffic projections that the bible of traffic engineering claims are associated with new developments appear to be way, way off and getting worse.
Bike lane renewal: Lincoln, Nebraska, is completing the funding for its new downtown protected bike lane (designed by two Portland companies) with urban renewal funds.
Bike lane removal: Newark, New Jersey, is ripping out its first protected bike lane in part because it’s stopping people from double-parking while they shop.
“Magic roundabout”: OK, the new North Williams might be confusing, but it could be worse.
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Assigning blame: In its podcast, Strong Towns asks whether individual engineers should be held at fault when people are killed on streets they design.
Self-parking cars: BMW’s new “remote valet parking” system can navigate a multistory parking lot without you in it.
Gamifying riding: Cycling app KappoBike is like Strava except more game-like, and it’s building the sale of biking data to cities right into its business model.
Bike lane record: Washington D.C. added a record nine miles of new bike lanes in 2014. (Portland has hit that mark six times: in 1981 and every year from 1995-1999.)
Bike lane honored: The PeopleForBikes Green Lane Project named SW Multnomah Boulevard the country’s seventh best new bike lane of the year. (Disclosure: I wrote this article for my other job, but as always when we link to PFB stories in the Roundup, Jonathan chose it.)
Pricing parking: Part of downtown DC is experimenting with parking prices that vary by time of day, plus a few times a year, to respond to driver demand.
California laws: The California Bicycle Coalition’s ambitious legislative agenda includes an official definition for low-speed e-bikes and special ticket diversion programs for people who get citations while biking.
Mandatory helmets: As the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador prepares to enact a new mandatory bike helmet law, one woman predicts that the main effect will be lower biking rates — which are, of course, hazardous to one’s health.
Mobile green space: Who needs to bike to the park when the park bikes to you?
And your video of the week looks at a low-car city that could — at least for the moment — become a new model for livable American streets:
The Street Life of Havana from STREETFILMS on Vimeo.
If you come across a noteworthy bicycle story, send it in via email, Tweet @bikeportland, or whatever else and we’ll consider adding it to next Monday’s roundup.