Our latest video was made to help you navigate a part of town that everyone could use help getting through: The messy I-5/Hayden Island/Jantzen Beach jumble.
I’d ridden between Delta Park in north Portland to Jantzen Beach and Vancouver dozens of times over the years before coming across this shortcut. It’s a little path that helps you avoid some of the worst bike routes in the region. I call it the Hooters Shortcut.
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If you’ve ever tried to get from the I-5 bike path northbound to the Jantzen Beach Shopping Center, you probably took the standard route that Google and the City Bike Map recommend: a circuitous route that requires you to awkwardly cross a freeway off-ramp in a crosswalk, routes you up onto a narrow sidewalk, includes several beg buttons, and then puts you on a dodgy, debris-filled, unprotected underpass bike lane. I always feel so disrespected when I take that route.
But there’s an easier way! Watch the video to see what I mean. And if you liked this video, please subscribe to our growing YouTube channel and give it a “thumbs up”. If you know of a cool shortcut that could help others get around by bike more safely and efficiently, let me know so I can consider it for an upcoming video.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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Wow, that’s cool. What a strange little piece of engineering at 1:11. There’s a cut in the curb to let you get off the path, then a small curb around the electrical box, which looks like part of an old parking lot island. Weird that there’s the newer Hooter’s curb and someone added some pavers to bridge the gap. I wonder if the newer development to the north will further change things?
Jonathan, would you consider this safe with kids (ages 8 and 10) or too much traffic and possibly unstable campers?
I remember using that cut 15-20 years ago when I lived in NE Portland – it connected directly with the Safeway there (now obviously a construction site). I didn’t know about the Hooters back alley, but I suspect it was there way back then too. I too regularly used the underpass to get to the mall area.
Ahhh… Safeway cut through makes sense.
For a bit of “Old Portland” flair you could retcon the name to “Waddle’s Shortcut”
Indeed back when it was Waddles classic joint(before Hooters)they had a little ramp placed to transition off the curb onto the parking lot surface, making it easy to drop smoothly. Removed by Hooters, so now trickier; Jonathan’s “back alley” way avoids that. If you do drop off the curb down to the lot surface though, it’s a straight shot onto the road Jonathon’s route joins… it just does so a bit earlier. The lot is always far from full and I’ve never had an issue crossing it to the street.
Sounds like it’s time to make like the skateboard kids do with DIY skate spots, and mix up a bag of cement and make a ramp. Maybe throw a second one around the pavers to lock things in place.
This marks maybe the only time that changing to Hooters actually classed the joint up. I heard Waddles was the last place in Portland to stop being whites-only. I could not confirm this, but there’s definitely photographs of Waddles where they ask for “white trade only, please.”
https://calisphere.org/item/ark:/13030/hb0b69n6qr/
Any chance of getting this in ride with gps map form?
Since the old Safeway location is under construction, using the Hooter’s shortcut is somewhat a necessity. My buddies and I have been using this for six years or so. I always use the downriver side of the I-5 bridge and avoid the tunnel altogether.
Seems to be a much better and safer route.
Hell yeah! My ma lives in that moorage on the Columbia Slough so I take this route all the time.
Thanks for the great video, Jonathan. As an island resident, it hadn’t occurred to me to share this handy shortcut. It works for me!