According to Multnomah County the new Sellwood Bridge will be ready for traffic by late February or early March. That would be about 10 years since we first started planning it and just over four years since the project broke ground in 2011.
Martin Greenough wasn’t really a Portlander yet; but from what I’ve learned about him in the five days since his death on December 12th, he was someone all of us would have been proud to adopt into our civic family.
A new crop of well-funded Craigslist competitors has some anti-bike-theft organizers smelling an opportunity.
Craigslist, the San Francisco-based classifieds website founded in 1995, is a common venue for reselling stolen bikes, in part because it does almost nothing to regulate the goods people buy and sell.
“Craigslist is a freaking wall a mile high,” said Bryan Hance, the Portland-based operator of the anti-theft service BikeIndex.org. “They just don’t do anything with anybody. They just don’t care.”
“He was just getting to know the city. He might have just wanted to give it a shot and see.”
— Monica Maggio, Martin Greenough’s housemate
I don’t ride on Lombard. You probably don’t ride on Lombard. Heck, why would anyone ride on Lombard?
It’s a state highway, a freight route, and people drive about 50 mph on average! In many sections — especially around NE 42nd where 38-year-old Martin Greenough was killed on Saturday — Lombard is essentially an urban freeway. Biking is legally allowed, but practically prohibited by design.
But you wouldn’t know that by looking at a city bike map.
In the past few days I’ve noticed a familiar thread of conversation around this tragic crash: Why was Martin even riding on that section of Lombard when everyone knows to avoid it like the plague? Some people, on a website that shall not be named, even go so far as blaming Martin for being in a place not meant for bike riders.
But what if Martin had no idea just how dangerous Lombard was until it was too late?
For the past few days I’ve been trying to track down people who knew Martin. I want to share more about who he is so we can all remember him as something more than just “that bicyclist.” One thing I’ve learned is that he moved to Portland only two weeks ago.
I’ve spoken with one of Martin’s housemates, Monica Maggio, who shared some touching memories of him. I’ll share more of our conversation in a separate post (I’m still waiting/hoping to hear from his family); but one thing she told me was that Martin had just gotten a new job and was riding home from work when he was hit.
“He had just bought his bike… Saturday night might have been the first time he commuted to that location and back,” Monica said.
He very likely had no idea there was a dangerous gap in the bikeway on his way home.
Martin worked around NE 11th and Columbia and he lived near NE Alberta and Cully — a nice bike commute distance of about 3.6 miles with a direct east-west connection via Lombard.
If not for the admonitions from Monica and the other two housemates Martin was living with, he might have tried to get home via Columbia. “But we told him,” Monica said, “Please don’t ride on Columbia. Find another route. Columbia is too fast, too crazy.”
As many of us know, as dangerous as the biking conditions are on Lombard, Columbia is even worse.
So Martin chose Lombard, which was actually the lesser of two evils.
Monica said Martin was using one of the city bike maps of Portland to orient himself and find his route. It’s very likely that he simply opened up the map, saw that Lombard was listed as a bikeway and figured he’d take it to Cully, then up to Alberta. Straight and direct. Easy-peasy.
Unfortunately the bike map doesn’t point out that Lombard is a state highway where people drive 50+ mph. Or that the bike lane is often full of debris and gravel or that people often park their cars in the bike lane, forcing bike riders to contend with fast-moving auto traffic. (Stay tuned for our next post which takes a closer look at the riding conditions in this area.)
And inexplicably, the City of Portland bike map doesn’t list the notorious bike lane gap at 42nd as a caution area (it’s a wonderful map and the city staff who work on it are top-notch quality folks, so I’m sure they’ll address this in the next printing).
On the city bike map, the hostile and dangerous bikeway on Lombard is depicted in the exact same way as the relatively serene and safe bikeway on N Vancouver, or the civilized and respectable, grade-separated cycle tracks on Cully.
In other words, to someone new to town there’d be no reason to avoid Lombard. He wasn’t familiar with the neighborhood sidestreets and his map said Lombard would take him directly to Cully with a bike lane the whole way. And of course, Martin probably realized how bad it was once he got on it. But we’ve all done that. We ride on a street and think, ‘Dang, that was scary, I won’t ride here again.’ But we do. Because we might be in a hurry, or we might not have any other choice. Or, like in Martin’s case, we might simply not know of a safer place to ride.
“He was just getting to know the city,” said Monica. “He might have just wanted to give it a shot and see.”
We have a bumper crop of videos this week! I thought things would get quiet as the weather has turned. Our first video this week (above) is from the City of Ottawa. It’s a great primer about minimum parking standards. I don’t recognize the neighborhoods mentioned but I certainly recognize the urban forms. Can you imagine if Portland’s City Council was spreading this message? That would be fantastic.
If you thought it was bad last week… a new storm is headed our way.
Below we’ve pasted the warnings just sent around today by the Portland Bureau of Transportation and the Oregon Department of Transportation:
PBOT:
SEVERE WEATHER ADVISORY: PBOT WARNS PUBLIC TO EXPECT HEAVY RAINFALL DURING THURSDAY MORNING COMMUTE, USE CAUTION
(Dec. 16, 2015) The Portland Bureau of Transportation warns the traveling public to be prepared for heavy rainfall Thursday morning that could create hazardous traveling conditions.
The National Weather Service has advised the Portland area should expect 3 inches of rain in 48 hours, with the heaviest precipitation coming from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday. The Bureau advises people traveling by car, by public transit and by bike to expect wet roads and slippery conditions.
People driving are urged to use caution and slow down, especially when driving on wet roads. Slow down to avoid damaging nearby private property and splashing travelers who may be walking or biking. We urge people driving to not drive through standing water, especially near creeks and other bodies of water. Turn around safely and use an alternative route.
Travelers must obey road closure signs for their own safety and for the safety of PBOT crews. Driving through flooded roads could cause your vehicle to be swept away or stall in the middle of the high water. People driving who ignore street closures and drive through barricades face fines of up to $1000. As of Wednesday, only two roads are closed in Portland: SW Montgomery between SW Vista and SW 14th Avenue, and SW Hamilton near SW 39th Avenue. They are both closed for repairs from damaged caused by storms last week. City crews are prepared to close additional flooded streets if necessary.
In the event conditions prompt PBOT to close roads, the bureau will make that information available to the public. For the most current updates on road closures, follow PBOT’s Twitter feed at https://twitter.com/@PBOTinfo A Twitter account is not necessary to view the listings. PBOT’s website will also be updated at http://www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation/ with weather-related road closures in Portland between the hours of 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.
Residents are advised to notify PBOT of debris, mud, rocks, trees, or branches blocking a road by calling our 24/7 maintenance dispatch hotline at 503-823-1700.
During a heavy rain event, many people may report the same incident. Residents may find it more convenient to report using the PDX Reporter App on Apple and Android smartphones. To report standing water on a roadway, use the category Plugged Storm Drain/Inlet. To report rock or mudslides or other debris blocking a travel lane, use the Debris in Roadway category. We strongly encourage the public to submit photos with their service requests, because that helps PBOT crews assess changing conditions as they respond to reports.
With leaves largely removed from city streets, road flooding that may occur may be the result of too much water in the system in too little time.
City crews have stocked sand pile and sand bag locations for any Portland resident or business owner who wants to protect their property from flood damage in the Fanno Creek and Johnson Creek watersheds. Sand and sand bags are provided at no charge; you must bring your own shovel.
The following locations are stocked:
* SE 88th Ave just south of Holgate Blvd in the parking lot at Lents Park,
* SE 111th Ave and Harold St at the southeast corner of the intersection, and
* SW 42nd Ave and Vermont St in the lower parking lot of Gabriel Park.
PBOT will have extra crews working overnight on Wednesday and during morning hours on Thursday. Crews are prepared for the need to clear debris from storm drains, unplug storm drains that have underground blockages and close travel lanes as needed.
ODOT:
Know Before You Go: Be ready for a new round of flooding and high water
More rain and the threat of snow and freezing rain on Mount Hood and in the Columbia River Gorge could make hazardous driving conditions in the days ahead.The National Weather Service is forecasting a lot of rain in the Portland area, up to three inches, with the heaviest punch coming from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday. That could translate into high water on the roads, snow on the Cascade passes, a slushy mix on Interstate 84 in the Gorge and perhaps some icy roads near Hood River.
Travelers in the region should use extreme caution for this mix of wintry weather by checking conditions on their route at www.tripcheck.com. Weekend travelers setting out on Christmas travels should be extra careful.
A one-day enforcement of traffic laws on Clinton Street Tuesday handed out 35 citations and 25 warnings to people driving and biking on the major neighborhood greenway.
It’s the first time the Portland Police Bureau has engaged in an action described as being related to Vision Zero, the city’s policy that the public bears partial responsibility for every traffic death or serious injury.
Here’s the tally of offenses recorded by police during the two shifts, one in the morning (from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.) and one in the afternoon and evening (from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.).
Do you want to help police fight bike theft? If so, they’re hiring an intern.
As you know, we worked with the Portland Police Bureau to establish the Bike Theft Task Force last spring. The most important component of that effort was that it granted powers to two Central Precinct officers to spend official city time fighting this epidemic problem.
These officers are doing amazing work, but they only have a very limited time every week to devote to it. One of the biggest challenges we have is human capacity to throw at the problem. Now the PPB has taken a step to fix that by announcing the first-ever intern position devoted to bike theft.
Our Instagram post the other day received a large number of “likes” and positive comments from as far away as London, and a lot from right here in Portland.
On a related note regarding rear lights: I remember the late Sheldon Brown telling me about “target fixation” and impaired drivers. Every since then, I’ve always avoided blinkies, and ridden with a solid red in back.
We’ve just received a response from the Oregon Department of Transportation in response to the crash Saturday night that killed Martin Greenough.
Martin Greenough is the name of the man who was killed while riding his bike on NE Lombard on Saturday night. He was 38 years old.
Here are some updates on the case as we continue to follow the story and report on its impacts…
The man driving the car that struck Greenough, 26-year-old Kenneth Smith Jr., was in court yesterday to face multiple charges in the incident including Manslaughter in the Second Degree, Criminally Negligent Homicide, Reckless Driving, and Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants (Marijuana). KATU-TV was at the Justice Center and provided some important new details about Smith’s family and the crash itself.
According to KATU, Smith’s wife spoke on his behalf at the hearing, saying that he’s “An awesome person and he’s a great father to all three of these kids.” She pleaded for leniency and said the crash was an accident and that Smith had no idea what he’d done.
