If all goes according to plan there will be at least one oasis for bicycle riders on what is now a pretty miserable stretch of Highway 30 known among many who ride it as “Dirty 30.”
The bike lanes on Highway 30 north of downtown Portland are infamous. They are strewn with shards of every type of material imaginable, they are often taken over by large trucks accessing the many large driveways, and they are adjacent to fast-moving traffic. Flats are a common occurence and there aren’t many destinations where you’d feel like stopping to take a break.
That’s why we’re happy to report that the owner of the Union Market and Deli at 5515 NW St. Helens Road (between Kittridge and Saltzman – map) wants to install a public bike repair station. Martha Cole has lauched a campaign on GoFundMe.com to raise $1,550.
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Here’s more from the project description:
“Traveling on Hwy 30 through the NW Industrial Area and Linnton can be terrible on your bike and so many Portlanders make this commute 5 days a week. In addition to the recreational riding is very popular in this area as well.
As a member of this community and a Portlander, I believe a bicycle repair station would be a wonderful gift to present our bicycling enthusiasts. The Union Market and Deli has agreed to allow a self-service repair stand to be placed on their property, which will provide cyclists a safe secure location off the road to complete repairs.
Everything is in place to make this happen, but we lack the funding to go forward. The price of a deluxe (meaning with a pump, tools and tire rack) is $1495.00. This is where you come in…we need your help in raising the money to purchase and install the repair station. Anything will help. Even if you cannot donate to our fund, please at least spread the word. It may not seem like much, but even the smallest contribution to something can help make the world a better place.”
Getting this repair stand funded and installed would be a nice little victory in a part of town we don’t often have nice things to report on. Check out the funding campaign, share it with your friends, and let’s see if we can make this happen.
Nice idea. Nice gesture. Thanks for the alert.
Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires for roads like this. Not flat proof, but they’ll give you enough time to stop and pull out the offending object in most cases.
I’ve contemplated getting some Marathons. Does a Conti Gatorskin with a Mr.Tuffy liner compare I wonder?
I’ve found that tire liners tend to wear into your tubes unless you keep your tires pumped up real tight. It helps a little when you flatten out the overlapping ends with a file or hammer. They’re also heavy.
Thanks for highlighting this, Jonathan. It would be nice to have a station or two like this along the highway to stop and fix a flat. Trying to see if we can’t get one at the Linnton Community center or nearby as well. Cheers.
ODOT should pay for the station in since Hwy 30 maintenance is under their jurisdiction and there sweeping is so poor.
North Plains has a work station in Frank Wing Park. Padded vice and some basic tools cabled in place. Also has a bike rack and a water fountain. The porta-potty is hit or miss, it was there earlier this year but now missing.
That’s interesting. The group of guys that I tend to go do most rides with, we have all stopped doing anything in North Plains. Don’t spend any money, don’t stop, keep riding. This place is just the worst. Everyone seems so angry there. I don’t get it. It seems like such a hostile little town.
A bit of an aside, but freight on 30 has increased in recent years. While anecdotal, it seems trucks are dropping off the 405, on to 30, and cutting back to the 5 via Marine drive — there’s just not that much action occurring after 5pm out on Rivergate; many of the trucks are diverting traffic on I5 (even if heading to a dock door on Rivergate, I5 is the shorter safer route, with fewer intersections/pedestrian encounters — minus the congestion).
Both freight and auto traffic will continue to congest on 30. Cars will be backed-up deeper into the bike lane on 30 southbound — it seems backed-up for a mile some days already. Technically, every car waiting in traffic in the bike lane should be ticketed. But how would this be fair?
Portland is only a few years away from rush hour traffic rivaling DC, LA, NY, Chicago, etc.
Safe ‘protected’ crossings are about 3 miles apart with the store in the middle on the south side of the street. High volume traffic at speed or more (45mph +) makes this a largely unusable feature.
I once advocated and successfully got a bike corral in by the theater in St Johns. I thought it would be hugely successful, but its reality is a lot less use than I imagined. The cost of that corral was a little bit more than the proposed station. For the relatively few riders on 30, my guess is this station will be used very little.
I use the bike corral in front of the Theater. Thanks!
A bike repair stand would be great, but what 30 really needs are protected bike lanes.