Earlier this month we shared that a new pump track is coming to the Gateway Green bike park. Yesterday Portland Parks & Recreation made it official. And today we received a sneak peek at the plan drawings.
As you can see in the image above, we are in for quite a treat. According to a source the new track will be about 600 feet long and 15,000 square feet in size.
In a statement posted to Facebook yesterday, PP&R said they’ve reached an agreement with American Ramp Company (who will work with Velosolutions and Progressive Bike Ramps) to build the track.
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Here’s more from PP&R:
“The asphalt material will expand the cycling options for wet weather riding at the park… The pump track will be located in the area of the park commonly known as ‘The Hub’, and will be installed as part of the current Phase II improvements already underway. The new track will be around 580 feet in length, including a wooden wall ride. The track came about with the help and advocacy of longtime partners. Northwest Trail Alliance (NWTA) contributed significantly to this new feature, and we very much appreciate their assistance.”
The new pump track and the rest of the major upgrades are set to be completed by mid-November which is also when the park will re-open to the public. We can’t wait!
Parks also shared this cool aerial image that shows some of the new elements of the downhill section of the park (view is from NE Glisan looking north):
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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This park is starting to look absolutely world class. There’s huge benefit to the community: I am so optimistic that the next generation of kids here will have one more great reason not to stay inside and be on their computers all the time. Wow. Well done, PBOT and NWTA!
PBOT? How are they involved?
Whoops! PP&R!!!!
Hear hear! I am so excited for this to be opened. It is close enough to my work that my lunch breaks are going to improve dramatically.
A long time coming…Special thanks to all involved for making this happen. I’ve watched GG from an idea to a reality. The Gateway Green project would never have become a reality had the “off road” cycling community not partnered with East Portland activists determined to use this space for the good of the community. Portland Parks and Recreation continues to fund and build these types of projects in East Portland. I hope the funding continues to flow east.
My concern is access to this facility will continue to be a challenge until our active transportation is safe for all, and accessible to all.
Yes! Today, Gateway Green; tomorrow, Forest Park!
This is amazing news and the park is looking like it is going to be amazing! I am concerned about accessibility to the park from the south. TriMet is building a new bike and pedestrian bridge with accessible grades to access the park and as accessible connection to the 205 path (because the existing route between Gateway transit and the park does not have accessible grades. Unfortunately, the accessible route will change to an inaccessible surface, gravel, at the north end of the bridge when it enters the park. This is being done to exclude what PP&R calls ‘fast bikes’ but it also puts an unfair burden on people with mobility devices, families with strollers, etc. Further, because this is a park, it will be closed at dusk and no lighting will be included which means the only accessible route to the I-205 path will also be in the dark. I think PP&R is really missing an opportunity to make this a park for all users. Even though it is primarily for mountain biking, the park should support the friends, families and anyone else who wants to visit. They are also missing an opportunity to commit to creating accessible routes at every opportunity. I acknowledge that thee are other sections of the 205 path with inaccessible grades, but if we don’t fix problems when the opportunity arises, we will never make progress. It is really not too late for PP&R to be convinced to pave the accessible route between the bridge and the 205 MUP and to include lighting along that stretch so the route can be used as the transportation link it is purporting to be.
This is the first I’m hearing about a design intention to exclude “fast bikes”. Do you have a link for more info on that? I’m boggled to imagine the rationale behind it. Are they afraid swarms of roadies are going to come to the pump track to do laps? Or… even if one *could* carry speed the whole way through, the park is hardly a shortcut as compared to staying on the 205 MUP. Just, huh?!
I do not have any documentation, but I have heard that directly from the PP&R project manager. The bridge over I-84 is being built as part of the ‘Better Red’ project and is supposed to provide an accessible connection to the Gateway Green Park AND the I-205 path, but they are not lighting the bridge or section of the “Spine Road” within the park, not are they paving the spine road to discourage “fast bikes”. Unfortunately, this also discourages people using mobility devices, people pushing strollers, new/young riders. PP&R is badly missing an opportunity to make this a family park that is accessible to everyone and are over-focused on delivering a niche park. Maybe Jonathan could follow up with PP&R to get them to clarify. I was told that since other parts of I-205 path are not accessible, this section doesn’t need to be; which is totally lame and hateful, IMO
No amount of half measures are good enough for PBOT….
This looks great to bad Las Vegas & Henderson wont let any professionals build the pump tracks/dirt jumps here. Theres only 2 and they are TRAASSSHHHH!
This start of this comment is difficult to parse. But professionals are building the dirt jumps, which have been hand finished by local volunteers. And Velosolutions is involved with the pump track.
Does everything eventually just turn into a smoothed out jump line? Hopefully the single track in the wooded area doesn’t get the same IMBA skatepark treatment. Portland lacks single track, with only firelane 5 in FP and the small amount in GG. Maybe I’m being selfish, but this looks to be at the edge of my abilities to ride safely and I know many people who see this type of trail as beyond them. Fingers crossed there will be a longish loop of engaging and approachable trail available.
I hear you about wanting singletrack trails, but a pumptrack like this is rideable by kiddos on balance bikes. I think these are less difficult to ride than Firelane 5. We desperately need a variety of riding experiences around the city. I am hopeful that success here will mean future successes for those other riding experiences, too.
I guess I wasn’t specific enough, I was referencing the second image, where the whole upper (south) section of the park has been rebuilt with table tops and rhythm sections. The pump track is an improvement over the old one and great for kids.
The great advantage to the table top jump line shown in the photo is that a rider can ride it at any speed. If you’re inexperienced, you roll all of them without every leaving the ground. As you gain a little more experience and speed, you might get just a little separation/air as you come up over the lip and land on the flat landing (the top). As you gain more experience and confidence, you eventually carry enough speed to jump the table top and land on the downhill side. The beauty of a table top (rather than a gap) is that you can ride it at any speed. And yes, I’m speaking to my own level of experience here as someone that cannot clear a table top but have worked up to getting a little bit of air. I’m excited to progress on this once it’s built.
I think a tabletop is certainly better/safer than a gap, I wasn’t arguing that. I disagree that you can ride that jump line at any speed, at least successfully and safely. It isn’t a liner progression from rolling all the jumps (which is not fun if they are table tops) to clearing the jump and eventually stringing a few jumps together. To get the pacing and physics right you need to ride at a certain speed range so as not to case a jump. This is also true of the shorter rhythm sections, where you will defiantly fall if you don’t go fast enough to clear a double. As I said, this is at the limit or beyond many users skill level. And while it’s fine to have technical features, to give up so much of the space to dirt jump stuff isn’t my preference, that’s all. I like trails that allow users to go at whatever pace they like and build progressively. It’s not about removing skilled sections or dumbing things down, it’s just a preference I have for natural trails vs. roller coster skate park dirt jump lines. Hopefully there will be a long single track trail along the periphery and through the wooded section to give maximum milage out of the park’s limited space.
TBF you aren’t going to get “natural” trails in a place like GG. Go liberate some space in FP!
It does without volunteers to maintain the jumps. Be on the lookout for regular work parties from FOGG or NWTA.
The asphalt track will be great for all the wet weather we have. I’m wondering how well the berms and rollers will hold up on the south slope. No doubt work parties will be a common thing here. This is looking great, can’t wait to see the rest of the trails come together.