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6/20: Hello readers and friends. I am having my second (of two) total knee replacement surgeries today so I'll be out of commission for a bit while I recover. Please be patient while I get back to full health. I hope to be back to posting as soon as I can. I look forward to getting back out there. 🙏. - Jonathan Maus, BikePortland Publisher and Editor

Comment of the Week: How Portland’s housing crisis impacts cycling

[Note: I know it’s been forever since we did a “Comment of the Week”. I hope to make it a more regular occurrence. You can help make that happen by flagging great comments for me, either via an email or text or smoke signal.]

Portland’s lack of housing and rising costs of what we do have is well-documented. The situation has vast impacts on many parts of our lives.

Of the 495 comments we had this week, the one that stood out to me most was related to this topic. It was actually a reply to another reader’s comment, so I guess we have two comments of the week. The comments come from the “Year in review” story we published from Joe Cortright.

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Council hears concerns about I-5 expansion impacts on Tubman Middle School

The Oregon Department of Transportation’s plan to expand the width of I-5 through the Rose Quarter got a fresh dose of criticism at a Portland City Council hearing yesterday.

The project was on the agenda as part of a slew of Comprehensive Plan amendments and people concerned about the project didn’t waste the opportunity to tell Mayor Ted Wheeler and city commissioners that they feel it’s not the right thing to do.

One piece of testimony that was particularly noteworthy came from Portland Public School Board member Paul Anthony. He raised several questions about the project’s impact on Harriet Tubman Middle School. The school will be re-opened this fall and it sits just yards away from where new lanes will be added if and when the project is built (see photo). ODOT has already come under scrutiny for how this project will impact air quality around Tubman.

In a phone interview today, agency spokesman Don Hamilton said they’re used to working with adjacent property owners.

I’ll share Anthony’s testimony and then Hamilton’s response.

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20 mph speed limits: What they said about it at Council and what you need to know

Commissioner Fish got a bit salty. And it was good.

As expected, there was no debate at Portland City Council yesterday where an ordinance to authorize a new 20 mph residential speed limit was on the agenda.

Getting a 5-0 vote in support was a foregone conclusion because the state law council endorsed was crafted by the City of Portland in the first place. Lower speed limits are also a key pillar of Portland’s Vision Zero plans.

When there’s no real drama, council meetings like yesterday’s are often most useful because they give us a window into what our electeds, city staff, and other community leaders think about the policies we obsess about around here all the time.

Before I share a selection of comments and testimony I heard yesterday, let’s take a look at the technical aspects of the 25 mph –> 20 mph rollout the Portland Bureau of Transportation will now get started on in earnest:

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Job: Volunteer Manager – Axiom Event Productions – FILLED

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Sorry, this job has been filled. Browse more great jobs here.

Job Title *
Volunteer Manager

Company/Organization *
Axiom Event Productions

Job Description *
Recruit and coordinate more than 2000 volunteers for Sunday Parkways and more than 20 other fun Portland events!

Overview

We, at Axiom, believe in building community through events. Axiom produces more than two dozen events per year including Portland Sunday Parkways, Mississippi Street Fair, Worst Day of the Year Ride, and the Portland Marathon.

Unleash your enthusiasm and organizational power by assisting Axiom in the production of these Portland-based community events and more. Recruit and coordinate more than 2000 volunteers in the preparation and production of events. Work closely with agencies in Portland and across Oregon to secure permits for various events. Be a leader in the office who is friendly, supportive, patient, and energetic.

Full Time: Average 40 hours per week; salaried rate depending on experience.

Primary Responsibilities

Volunteer Management:
• Develop and maintain productive relationships with various individuals and groups of volunteers, to create buy-in for the shared vision of the event.
• Recruit new volunteers and assure they get proper orientation and recognition.
• Build volunteer opportunities to build leadership, ownership, and community within our events.
• Maintain service records of all volunteers; provide periodic reports to management.

Permit Management:
• Work with Event Director to create a permitting plan for 12 events over the course of the year.
• Work with all team members to create needed production documents. Follow up with teams to make sure that event production is compliant with permits.
• Maintain active communication with clients and public agencies to complete permits.
• Perform regular reviews of permit process, and create systems to streamline and improve the process.

Event Production Support:
• Prepare all event staff and volunteer coordination communications across all Axiom events.
• Lead the packing and unpacking of supplies of each of the Parkways events
• Lead 20-50 volunteers and a section of the route as a Parkways Volunteer Coordinator
• Support a number of events as a Volunteer Coordinator or other role

Be a cheerful ambassador for Axiom and the events to clients, volunteers, participants, and members of the public

Skills and Qualifications

• 1-3 years volunteer management or coordination experience.
• Able to manage volunteers with diverse expectations, skills, interests and abilities.
• Stamina and positivity for working long hours on consecutive days
• Enjoyment in problem solving, adapting and performing in high-pressure situations and in large crowds
• Ability to follow specific instructions with excellent attention to detail
• Ability to work independently, quickly and confidently
• Valid driver’s license and a clean driving record
• Own a laptop to work from, and smartphone with data plan
• Preferred: Skills in Microsoft Excel, Google Drive, mail merge, and website editing

Must be available for the production of the following events – no exceptions
• Six Sunday Parkways events, on the following Sundays:
– May 18-21
– June 22-25
– July 20-23
– August 3-6
– August 17-20
– September 21-24
• Mississippi Street Fair: July 11-16
• Other occasional weekend events throughout the season

Working Conditions

• Work Location: scheduled time in office or independently from home. On location for specific events
• Must have perceptual and judgment ability to recognize and respond verbally to safety concerns, and to deal appropriately with any disagreements or conflicts
• Physical Demands: 50% Sitting, 30% Walking/Standing, 20% Lifting/Carrying 30-50 Pounds. Event days may last 15 hours or more, with appropriate breaks included
• Work environment ranges from quiet office space to noisy roadsides in high-traffic areas, and various outdoor weather conditions
• Occasional evening meetings and some travel will be required.

How to Apply *
TO APPLY: Email Jobs@AxiomEventProductions.com with these four things:
1. Full name, email, and cell phone number
2. Confirm that you are available to work each of the Sunday Parkways and Mississippi Street Fair days
3. Confirm you can pass a background check
4. Why you are perfect for this job

2017 Year-in-review: More driving, more dying

Traffic on the Hawthorne Bridge.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

This story is by Joe Cortright. It first appeared on City Observatory.

Four days before Christmas, on a Wednesday morning just after dawn, Elizabeth Meyers was crossing Sandy Boulevard in Portland, near 78th Avenue, just about a block from her neighborhood library. She was struck and killed, becoming Portland’s 50th traffic fatality of 2017.

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Portlander Paul LaCava wants to climb 1 million feet in 2018

He knocked off 4,199 feet during a ride in the West Hills on Tuesday.
(Photos J. Maus/BikePortland)

How many feet of elevation do you climb each week? How many times do you ride per month?

These are the type of calculations that will weigh heavily on Paul LaCava’s mind for the next 11 months as he tries to accomplish his goal of 1,000,000 feet of vertical gain by December 31st.

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Weekend Event Guide: Hell of the North Plains, Rapha and Ruckus sales, Palm Tree ride, and more

Discover Vernonia’s backroads on an old-fashioned adventure at OMTM’s season opener on Saturday.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Sponsor This!

BikePortland relies on advertising. We have a great events sponsorshop package that’s recently become available. If you’re interested, text or call Jonathan Maus at (503) 706-8804.

We’re at that point in winter when you probably have your unpredictable weather routine all figured out. There’s no telling if it’ll be cold, balmy, wet, dry, windy, or some combination of all that.

But regardless of what mother nature throws at us, we still must ride. And if you don’t feel like heading out, there happen to be two big sales going on this weekend.

Here’s our weekly selection of the best things to do…

Friday, January 19th

PDX Coffee Outside – 7:00 am to 8:30 am (Location TBA)
Grab your coffee-making kit, swing onto your bike and meet up with friends old and new. PDX Coffee Outside meets every Friday at a different location. More info here.

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Today at City Council: 20 is Plenty

PBOT says the new signs — and new law — will be ready by April 1st. No foolin’.

Today the Portland will make official one of the key pillars in the war on speeding: A blanket 20 mph speed limit on 70 percent of our entire street network.

The move comes as Portland grapples with its deadliest year for people walking and biking in over two decades and the highest overall death toll since 2003. That grave reality is reflected in the ordinance language that will go before Council this morning: “An emergency exists because people are dying in traffic crashes; therefore, this Ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage by the Council.”

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ODOT congestion pricing open houses begin January 23rd

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

This just in from the Oregon Department of Transportation:

ODOT plans community conversations on congestion pricing for I-5 and I-205

The Oregon Department of Transportation invites public input on the use of congestion pricing to help improve travel times and reliability on Interstate 5 and Interstate 205 in the Portland metro area.

The public is invited to share their experiences with congestion and views on congestion pricing at three upcoming open houses in Clackamas, Multnomah and Clark counties as well as an online open house that will be available for nearly three weeks, Jan. 17 to Feb. 5.

Congestion pricing, also known as value pricing or variable rate tolling, refers to tolling options that are specifically designed to improve traffic flow. Congestion pricing systems charge higher prices for driving on a road when demand is greater, in the morning and evening rush hours, for example. Some drivers choose to travel on other routes, at different times of the day or on other modes of transportation. Communities across the US have found these tools effective in improving traffic conditions and enhancing travel time reliability.

Here is the schedule for the community conversations and the online open house.

— Tuesday, Jan. 23, 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., Clackamas Town Center Community Room (Level 1 near Buckle and across from Macy’s), 12000 S.E. 82nd Avenue, Happy Valley
— Saturday, Jan. 27, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Lloyd Center (Level 1 between Ross and the ice rink), 2201 Lloyd Center, Portland
— Tuesday, Jan. 30, 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., Vancouver Community Library, 901 C Street, Vancouver.

The Online Open House will be active at odotvaluepricing.org. The public can see materials, view video recordings of the project Policy Advisory Committee meetings and leave comments for the project team.

The open houses will be informal, drop-in events with ODOT project team members stationed throughout the room to provide materials, discuss the options and answer questions.

During the open houses, the public will get a chance to:

— Share their concerns about congestion on I-5 and I-205 in the region and its effects on people and freight movement
— Learn about the types of congestion pricing concepts that are being considered
— Provide feedback on the potential benefits and also challenges associated with congestion pricing.

ODOT’s community conversations will help to inform the Policy Advisory Committee in its work to prepare a recommendation for the OTC. On Feb. 28, the PAC will hold the third of six planned meetings. The project team will present the feedback received through Feb. 5 via the website, associated questionnaire and in-person community conversations to help inform the PAC’s consideration of congestion pricing concepts for further analysis.

A second phase of public input will take place in March, which will focus on specific concepts being considered for development of congestion pricing on I-5 and I-205.

Background

The Oregon Legislature last year approved HB 2017, Keep Oregon Moving, which committed $5.3 billion to a wide range of transportation investments, and also directed the Oregon Transportation Commission (OTC) to pursue federal approval for value pricing along Interstate 5 and Interstate 205 from the state line in the north to where the two roads meet south of Tualatin.

The OTC established a Policy Advisory Committee to help inform their implementation of congestion pricing. The PAC includes representatives of local governments in Oregon and Washington, the business community, highway users, equity and environmental justice interests, and public transportation and environmental advocates. It is scheduled to prepare a recommendation for the OTC this summer. By Dec. 31, 2018, the OTC will submit its value pricing proposal to the Federal Highway Administration.

Community rallies against ODOT’s plans to tear down Flint Ave bridge

Veteran activist Ron Buel works the crowd on Flint Avenue this morning.
(Photo: Emily Guise)

They offered free coffee and donuts, and some bad news: The bridge they were giving it out on will be removed if the Oregon Department of Transportation ever breaks ground on their $450 million I-5 Rose Quarter project.

Volunteers from the No More Freeways coalition and Bike Loud PDX hosted the event with an aim to educate people about the project and add signatures to a petition they plan to deliver to Portland City Council this Thursday.

I was there for just a few minutes and was surprised to be greeted by Jim Howell and Ron Buel, two veterans of Portland’s past freeway fights. They were both eager to show me a strip of grassy hillside adjacent to the current I-5 freeway that separates thousands of polluting cars from students at Harriet Tubman Middle School. “That’s where ODOT wants to put the new lanes,” Buel said.

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