2022 Archives

Metro Council will hear plan for “ultra” high speed rail

Screen grab from Fast Forward Cascadia website, a group boosting the effort.

The future is now — or so say the planners leading the Cascada Rail project to bring “ultra-high-speed ground transportation” (a.k.a. high speed rail, or HSR) to the corridor between Portland and Vancouver, British Columbia. While this project may seem far-fetched, regional leaders are giving us some hope that we’ll be whisking ourselves between Portland and Seattle at 250 mph sooner rather than later.

At last Friday morning’s Metro Transportation Policy Alternatives Committee (TPAC) meeting, planners from Metro and the Oregon and Washington State Departments of Transportation (ODOT and WSDOT) briefed the committee on the latest HSR updates. As it turns out, there has been quite a bit of progress on this project in the past couple years. The main agency leading this progress is WSDOT (the majority of tracks will be laid in Washington) but other agencies are supportive and on November 16, 2021, Oregon Governor Kate Brown, Washington Governor Jay Inslee and British Columbia Premier John Horgan signed a Memorandum of Understanding in a show of support.

As far as the North American west goes, the Cascadia Megaregion is quite dense, containing three of the most populated cities in the United States and Canada within a little more than 300 miles. The entire region has grown significantly in recent years and this growth is projected to continue in the coming decades by as much as four million people by 2050. This is one reason advocates think it’s so important to take urgent action on this project.

Concept of the route. It could expand during project planning — perhaps to serve Eugene and central Oregon. (Source: WSDOT)

It’s difficult to fathom what a HSR system in the Pacific Northwest could do for our region. At 250 miles per hour, trips between Portland, Seattle and Vancouver could take less than an hour between each city. Theoretically, a Portlander could get to work at the Microsoft headquarters near Seattle in almost the same amount of time as it takes to drive to Intel in Hillsboro during rush hour today. Hell, you could even throw in a trip to Canada in the time it would take to get through the line at the original Starbucks in Pike Place Market.

The project planners have more a more detailed account of the benefits of Cascadia HSR. The Metro TPAC memo states:

This enhanced interconnectivity would unite the Cascadia megaregion and allow to better manage population and economic growth potential and maximize public transportation benefits, resulting in better access to jobs, affordable housing, shared resources, increased collaboration, and economic prosperity. Corridor study has conceptually considered various scenarios with 21 to 30 daily round trips, with some express trips stopping at only a few locations, interspersed with others that stop at more locations at about $24 to $42 billion in up- front construction costs.
Outcomes include:
— Ultimate potential to carry 32,000 people an hour (only 12 to 20 percent of total current intercity trips would shift to UHSGT).
— Estimated annual ridership between 1.7 and 3.1 million, conservatively.
— Estimated annual revenue of between $160 and $250 million.
— Estimated $355 billion in economic growth and 200,000 new jobs related to construction and ongoing operation of the service.
— Reduction of 6 million metric tons (tonnes) of CO2 emissions over first 40 years and potential for zero emissions by using clean energy sources (hydro, wind, solar).

Letterhead of MoU between Oregon, Washington and BC.

Planners in Washington began the Cascadia HSR research process back in 2016. In late 2019, policymakers and business leaders convened in Seattle to discuss the future of the project, and the momentum continued from there. Perhaps the most actionable step came in November 2021, though, when the leaders of Oregon, Washington and British Columbia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) committing to “advance activities in support an ultra-high-speed ground transportation project.” Here’s an excerpt:

We commit to establishing a Policy Committee made up of Washington, Oregon and British Columbia designees and representatives from regional planning entities and the private sector to build relationships and coordinate efforts to advance the project. A lead from the respective government departments or ministries will be identified to spearhead the related activities in each of our jurisdictions and engagement in the Policy Committee.
We commit our states and province to advancing work on the Ultra-High-Speed Ground Transportation project and to pursuing emissions reduction with a focus on equity, inclusion and meaningful community engagement.
We commit to developing an organizational framework that facilitates inclusive input and decision-making…

While this MoU is not legally binding, it serves as documentation of a collective regional interest in this project and lists a few specific government commitments.

A timeline overview from WSDOT. (Source: WSDOT)

Skeptics may point out that American high speed rail has long been a transportation white whale, elusive even when it seems close to the surface. Just look at all the chaos surrounding the California HSR project. There are considerable roadblocks in the way of getting these types of projects done in a country so heavily oriented toward freeway projects.

Still, planners are optimistic. With WSDOT allocating $150 million to studying HSR in the Cascadia Corridor last March, the project is now in a development phase, and the team is currently researching more ways to secure federal (and possibly private) funding. (Note to Amtrak enthusiasts: this funding application will also include requests for assistance funding improvements to the Amtrak Cascades route, especially between Eugene and Portland.)

Portland Metro Council will discuss the corridor proposal and more details of the plan at a work session Tuesday (12/6). If they decide to sign on, that will be one more government agency in favor of the plan. It will take more than that to get it done, but it’s a start.

If you’re interested in this project, advocacy group Fast Forward Cascadia is asking people to voice their support to agency representatives and legislators. You can find more information about their campaign here.

(Video) Thief unbolts rack and steals bike in downtown Portland

There might be fewer people commuting and parking their bikes downtown these days, but unfortunately bike thieves are not working from home.

A BikePortland reader reached out to us over the weekend to share the sad news that their electric cargo bike had been stolen. They also sent a video and a brief description of how it happened. Bike theft is so common in Portland that I don’t share every one of them we hear about here on the Front Page unless there’s a notable circumstance.

This theft was notable for two reasons: First, it was captured on video; and second, the person who took the bike did so by first loosening the bolts that attached it to the sidewalk. As you can see in the video above, the thief calmy unscrews the bolts of the staple rack, then works the rack through the u-lock, leaves the rack on the ground, and rides off. The victim used a heavy-duty u-lock, but it didn’t matter.

Be on the lookout for this bike! (Photo: Sent in by reader)

Also notable about this theft is that the rack isn’t blue. This makes me wonder if it was a City of Portland rack or a rack installed by a private building owner. It matters because the standard, blue, Portland Bureau of Transportation staple racks were upgraded in 2017 with tamper-resistant bolts that are harder to unscrew.

This is so infuriating to see! Many Portlanders simply won’t lock up their bikes on a street due to fears of theft and it’s a problem don’t seem to have made much progress addressing over the years.

Unbolting bike racks is nothing new. We’ve covered the issue on several occasions over the years. It seems the best solution to this is to require that racks are sunk directly into the concrete so bolts are not required. If we installed racks this way they’d not only be impossible for thieves to unscrew, they’d also be much stronger bollards against careless drivers. (Then again, I could see thieves carrying around sledgehammers or concrete cutters, but I’d rather not think about that.)

We hope this person gets their excellent and clearly loved bike back. It’s a distinctive red Xtracycle longtail with white accents and a relatively uncommon Nomad Cycles mid-drive motor. See more in this Reddit thread.

Monday Roundup: Musk scams, urban doom, and more

Use code bikeportland22 and save 20% off at ShowersPass.com!

Welcome to the week. We hope you had a nice holiday.

This week’s Monday Roundup is made possible by Showers Pass, makers of quality waterproof rainwear and gear that’s proudly designed and tested right here in Portland!

Here are the most notable stories our writers and readers came across in the past seven days…

Pipe dreams: The worst thing about Elon Musk ghosting cities after promising to build tunnels to “solve congestion” is that some city leaders actually fell for the grift and delayed real solutions. (Wall St Journal)

KGW strikes again: Our local NBC affiliate has once again offered a stinging critique of a non-car project because a business owner is afraid of how it impacts car users. (KGW)

But wait, there’s more!: Musk is the subject of a DOJ probe for allegedly misleading people about just how “self-driving” his Tesla cars are. (Bloomberg)

Car replacement: If you’re skeptical of anecdotal evidence about the e-bike revolution, there’s also serious research that proves how electric cargo bikes can easily fill in the role of many cars. (Science Direct via David Zipper)

Rebates in CA: Now that Oregon has an active e-bike rebate bill, we’re keeping closer tabs on how the policy is going in other states like California, whose rebate program is slated to start next year. (Electrek)

Just one year: The American justice system meted out just a one year sentence to a Coloradan who admitted driving carelessly and then killing another road user. (Daily Camera)

Go by train: Two weeks ago we shared how a group of activists in Amsterdam rode bikes onto the tarmac to stop private jets from taking off. Now France has taken the admirable step of banning domestic airplane flights between cities that have a rail connection. (Daily Kos)

The City that pays its enemies: Don’t miss this exposé from former leader of Business for a Better Portland’s Ashley Henry about the problematic budget arrangement between the City of Portland and the Portland Business Alliance. (Medium)

“Urban doom loop”: The urban ecosystem that has thrived for the past three decades has been given a massive shock thanks to covid and the vast increase in work-from-homers — and dwindling public transit revenue might be one of the largest victims. (NYT Opinion)

Video of the Week: Local ride organizers Evergreen Gravel Racing have created an excellent film about one of our region’s best all-terrain routes

Thanks to everyone who shared links this week.

First Look: Changes complete at NE Tillamook and 7th

Looking south on NE 7th from Tillamook. The old traffic circle used to be in the middle of the street in the center of this photo. (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) has completed a project on NE Tillamook and 7th. As we’ve been reporting, the city wanted to improve safety and traffic operations at this offset intersection as part of their efforts to establish the Lloyd to Woodlawn Neighborhood Greenway which runs from the new Blumenauer Bridge to an existing greenway on NE Holman Street.

There was considerable consternation about PBOT’s plans in large part because it included the removal of a small traffic circle that had a tree planted in the middle of it. Neighbors who live around the intersection organized against the project, saying that PBOT’s plan would lead to faster driving speeds and less safety overall.

Now that the striping and other changes are done, I rolled over today for a closer look. See my photo gallery below…

PBOT installed a new protected intersection treatment on the south side that comes with large corner bulb-outs (which also make crossing safer). It directs northbound bicycle users on 7th up onto the sidewalk on the southeast corner of Tillamook and 7th, then across Tillamook in a cross-bike (green-striped crosswalk adjacent to the standard crosswalk), then onto another small sidewalk section before re-entering 7th in a painted bike lane. From there, people who want to turn left (west) onto Tillamook, can choose to “take the lane” (there’s a sharrow marking for that) or they can utilize the new, green-colored left turn box.

In addition to those bulb-outs, they’ve painted five new crosswalks on 7th — four standard white ones for people on foot and one green one to help people crossing at Tillamook.

Also of note is the new concrete planter they’ve installed at the north end of the intersection. They call it a “slow speed planter” and it’s been placed on 7th just north of where the traffic circle and tree used to be. Even though the planter is much smaller than the circle used to be, it’s placement north of the intersection gives it more relative strength because of how narrow the street is. It’s possible to drive around it faster than the circle, but I’d prefer to wait until we see traffic speed and other operational analysis before making any judgments of how it compares to the previous design.

Looking south on NE 7th from Tillamook. (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

Overall, the intersection feels less safe to me because of how large a footprint the circle and tree used to occupy. It’s a much wider expanse now. And as we all know, very few car drivers care about paint on the road — especially this time of year when all it takes is a bit of wet dirt and leaves to render that paint nearly invisible.

Another thing I took away from my time at the intersection is how PBOT installs design treatments many bike riders don’t/won’t even use. It would be interesting to put up cameras for a few weeks and do a count of how many people actually use the protected bike lanes that go up onto the curb and then back down onto the street. Same goes for the left turn box — especially since they’re in the uphill direction and folks on bikes always seek the shortest/straightest route from a-to-b. I have nothing against these type of treatments in theory. It just seems odd to install something new and then watch no one use it.

I also understand that not every piece of infrastructure is meant for every type of rider. We need diverse treatments because we have diverse riders.

Have you ridden these changes yet? What do you think?

See what more local riders think in the replies to our post on Instagram.

PBOT pushes new Powell Blvd truck detour

Railroad tracks separate the two yards. (Source: BikePortland)

“If a truck driver’s doing ten trips a day, and the additional route causes them to [only] do nine trips a day, that’s a 10% cut in their pay.”
– Corky Collier, Columbia Corridor Association and PFC member

In the wake of an October crash that killed Portlander Sarah Pliner while she biked across Southeast Powell Blvd at 26th Avenue, advocates have pressed for changes. Pliner died after being hit by a man driving a semi-truck north on 26th Avenue as he made a sweeping right turn onto Powell and swiped her with the truck trailer in the process.

The tragedy spurred some safety advocates, freight industry experts and city transportation planners to reexamine truck traffic on 26th Ave. This street is located in an industrial area near both the Union Pacific Intermodal Rail Yard and the Fred Meyer distribution center, and drivers traveling to and from those locations are often toting massive trailers behind them that are difficult to control.

When we talked to people who work in the trucking industry in the immediate aftermath of the crash, some said it is inherently dangerous for semi-trucks to use the corridor, especially when they have to make a right turn onto Powell. With this in mind, the Portland Bureau of Transportation took some initial steps last month to discourage truck traffic from using this route.

At Thursday morning’s Portland Freight Committee (PFC) meeting, PBOT planner Zef Wagner provided new updates how the reroute would work. PBOT’s proposal sparked concerns from some members of the committee who worry that it requires too much out-of-direction travel for truck drivers.

“Union Pacific is open to reorganizing Brooklyn yards to consolidate operations, but right now…they just don’t have space.”
-Zef Wagner, PBOT

According to Wagner, recent PBOT analysis has found that the majority of problematic freight truck traffic on 26th comes from the Union Pacific rail yard. (Truck deliveries to the Fred Meyer distribution center are evidently less common and involve smaller trucks.) Truck drivers meet up with freight trains at the rail yard in the Brooklyn neighborhood and ferry goods back and forth to the Union Pacific Annex for storage.

The main rail yard and annex are just across the train tracks from each other, accessible by car via Holgate Blvd, 26th Ave and Gladstone St. This is just a short distance, but it’s right through very narrow residential streets. PBOT’s suggestion is to trade off the short drive for one that relies more on large arterials, not on local neighborhood streets where people live, walk and bike.

“We looked at it, and we think we have found a better route — even though it’s a little bit out of direction,” Wagner said to the committee.

He said a more appropriate route would be to take McLoughlin westbound until it links up with Powell, where there’s a sizable swooping ramp to make the right turn easier for trucks hauling huge trailers. When trucks leave the annex to carry goods to their end destinations via the US 26 truck route, they can take 21st Ave to get onto Powell (see maps above).

What do truck advocates think?

To say the McLoughlin reroute is a “little bit out of direction” is an understatement — it turns a two or three minute drive into a 10 or 15 minute one, depending on the traffic situation on McLoughlin and Powell. But PBOT’s view is that local residential streets were never intended to be used by large freight trucks, and it makes sense to want to send the trucks to the highways, even if they’re out of the way.

Members of the PFC were cautious and warned that truck drivers and freight companies may not agree.

PFC member Corky Collier said if a truck driver’s productivity decreases because of the added drive time, they’ll lose out on pay.

“If a truck driver’s doing ten trips a day, and the additional route causes them to [only] do nine trips a day, that’s a 10% cut in their pay,” Collier said. He added that increased driving times could hamper Portland’s emissions reductions goals, and he doesn’t want the freight industry to be blamed for it.

“The emissions start adding up pretty significantly,” Collier said. “You may still want to do it. But if that’s the case, PBOT should be saying, ‘this increase in greenhouse gas emissions is our fault.'”

Wagner said even though the trucks were previously only moving a short distance, they were stopping and starting often and causing congestion in the neighborhoods — meaning there may or may not be a significant increase in greenhouse gas emissions. And the detour would only apply to outbound trips: once the trucks drop off their trailers, it’s not nearly as intrusive for drivers to just take the cabs back through the residential route.

Containing the problem

A lot of containers at Brooklyn Yard. (Photo: Union Pacific)

But the real problem here goes deeper. The reason Union Pacific freight goods have to be moved back and forth between the annex and the main rail yard so much is because of abnormally high container traffic. Ideally, they’d be able to consolidate operations onto one side of the track, but the quantity of goods is too large right now for that to be possible.

“Union Pacific is open to reorganizing their Brooklyn yards to try to consolidate operations, but right now they have such high container traffic that they just don’t have space for all the containers,” Wagner said.

This is the same reason for the clogged up railroad tracks that have caused so much grief for people traveling around southeast Portland lately. The situation has become so problematic that PBOT is seeking federal funding to find solutions.

Wagner said PBOT will continue to do analysis in the coming months. If they decide to take this approach, it’s unclear how strongly the city would be able to enforce it. Wagner said he wants to put up wayfinding signs discouraging truck drivers to travel on 26th between Gladstone and Powell — but will a sign really be enough to get drivers to take this detour?

This discussion was also yet another indication of just how deep SE Powell Blvd’s safety problems run, and how many different players are involved. It’s going to take a coordinated effort from bike and safety advocates, freight industry reps, and local transportation agencies in order to make change. In the meantime, 26th Ave and similar streets in the neighborhoods surrounding the rail yards — which happen to be home to many families with kids and lots of people who rely on biking and walking to get around — will be unreasonably dangerous.

Weekend Event Guide: Explore Powell, party with the Cyclocross Crusaders and more

Celebrate a successful cyclocross season at Hopworks this Saturday. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

Happy December, and welcome to the weekend. It’s probably going to be a cold and wet one, but luckily, the best antidote to winter blues is getting bundled up and riding your bike.

The Weekend Guide is made possible by our friends at Portland-based Showers Pass, who remind you that they’ve offered excellent and reliable rain gear and other apparel must-haves for 25 years!

Here’s our hand-picked selection of the best rides and events coming your way. For more suggestions, see the BikePortland Calendar.

Thursday, December 1st

Shift Social and TNR Prefunk – 5:15 – 7:30 pm at Lucky Lab on Hawthorne (SE)
Get together with the Shift2Bikes crew at the Lucky Lab on Hawthorne. Learn more about the Shift calendar and forum and chat with some old Pedalpalooza friends! Anyone is welcome, and the group will head to the Thursday Night Ride after. More info here.

Saturday, December 3rd

PDX Coffee Outside – Location TBD
The location always changes for the weekly park gathering of bike and coffee lovers. Check the group’s Instagram for location, which will be posted the day before. More info here.

PSU Farmer’s Market ride – 10 am at various locations (SE)
Join Hami Ramani and friends on the the weekly journey to the PSU Farmer’s Market! More info here.

BikeLoud PDX SE/East Chapter Ride: Around and across inner Powell – 12:30 pm at Hampton Opera Center/Tilikum Crossing (SE)
Learn about inner Powell Blvd by riding around it with the BikeLoud crew. BikeLoud member Josh Hetrick will lead the ride and talk about what advocates are doing to make Powell safer for riding a bike. More info here.

Cyclocross Crusade Party – 2:00 pm at Hopworks Urban Brewery (SE)
Meet up with your Cyclocross Crusade friends for the last time this season at Hopworks this Saturday. They’ll have prizes and will give acknowledgements to the people who raced this year. Free drink tickets for racers will also be available, so don’t miss it! More info here.

Sunday, December 4th

WeBike Sock Drive Ride Help bring some winter warmth to people in need and join The Street Trust’s Madi Carlson on a WeBike ride to the annual Golden Pliers sock drive. WeBike events are intended for anyone who doesn’t benefit from cis male privilege. More info here.

See all upcoming events here. Promoting an event? Know about something we should boost? Please let us know and we’ll get it on the calendar.

Local nonprofit recycles 50,000 pounds of bike scrap metal every year

Many of you have probably heard of the Community Cycling Center. It’s that plucky (or should I say scrappy) nonprofit known for their bike shop on NE Alberta Street, their summer camps, and more recently, a food delivery program.

But did you know they also recycle tons of scrap metal every year? 25 tons to be exact!

One of the things that powers the CCC programs and business model are the hundreds of bikes they receive as donations every year. They clean and repair as many of them as they can. Then they salvage all the usable parts. What’s left over is a messy combinations of plastic, rubber, and different types of metal that has no use to anyone. It can’t be used for cycling and it’s no good for recycling because it’s too mixed up. They offer some of it to the community via salvage sales where folks can rummage around for things to use in art projects, garden sculptures, for welding practice, and so on. But there’s still a ton of leftovers no one wants to eat.

That’s were CCC staff and volunteers come in. “We could take bikes and parts to the scrap yard without separating types of metal and removing plastic and rubber, but we want to do right by our donors, our community, and our industry,” the org said in an email today. “So we put in the extra effort to deliver clean scrap metal only. This ensures that the material will actually be recycled and used for years to come!”

This arduous process includes stripping frames, separating aluminum rims from steel spokes, separating tires, tubes, saddles, pedals and more. They estimate they recycle over 50,000 lbs of metal every year that would otherwise be taking up space in a landfill.

The CCC’s salvage program is just one cool way this nonprofit helps our community. And they’re just one of many great, bike-related nonprofits in Portland. Right now the Willamette Week is hosting their annual Give Guide, which is a handy way to learn about and donate to not just the CCC, but also to Northwest Trail Alliance, Depave, OPAL Environmental Justice, Albina Vision Trust, The Street Trust, and many other great organizations that care about our streets and our city.

Woman cited by Portland Police for not riding in downtown bike lane

“[That bike lane is a] death trap. It’s hazard after hazard.”
– Bicycle rider ticketed downtown

A woman riding a bike was pulled over and cited by a Portland Police officer Monday afternoon. It happened on Southwest 2nd Avenue as she rode north just after crossing SW Washington. Her offense? She was not riding in the bike lane.

Believe it or not, Oregon has a law that requires bicycle users to use a bike lane whenever one is available. ORS 814.420 states, “a person commits the offense of failure to use a bicycle lane or path if the person operates a bicycle on any portion of a roadway that is not a bicycle lane or bicycle path when a bicycle lane or bicycle path is adjacent to or near the roadway.”

It’s a type of law — known as a “mandatory sidepath rule” — many states have moved away from. The national nonprofit League of American Bicyclists vehemently opposes laws like this and has fought against them at the federal level. They’ve also specifically called-out this law in Oregon as a reason for notching us down several rungs in national bike-friendly state rankings.

A big problem with mandatory sidepath laws is that they leave enforcement open to discretion of police officers — some of whom are unsympathetic to bicycle riders, don’t fully understand bike-related law and don’t have any bicycling experience themselves. It’s also just a waste of resources to pull someone over for operating their bicycle in a general purpose lane in downtown Portland where speeds and volumes are relatively low and bicycle riders travel at the same speed as other road users (and of course there are rampant, illegal, dangerous, yet harder-to-see-because-it’s-so-normalized-and-ubiquitous, behaviors by car and truck drivers).

The woman ticketed Monday said SW 2nd Avenue has been her regular commute route home for the past eight years. She usually avoids the bike lanes because they are “a death trap.” “That entire stretch is hazard after hazard,” she shared with me this week. “I wish the police would refocus their efforts to ticketing the 5-10 cars parked in the bike lanes I come across on my 1.5 mile commute.”

Adding to the frustration around this incident, it happened in a location where the bike lane is arguably less safe than other lanes (another reason this is a bad law).

I posted a video to Facebook in 2017 that illustrated my concerns with this bike lane — the same ones I shared when it was first installed in 2016.

Bike riders will often opt out of using bike lanes because they are so often full of debris, potholes, or inherent engineering hazards that make bike lanes less safe than other lanes. The 2nd Avenue bike lane specifically is also known to be full of puddles and leaves this time of year. This matters because ORS 814.420 includes an exception that says a person is not required to use the bike lane if they are, “Avoiding debris or other hazardous conditions.”

Back in July, BikePortland reader crazytraffic99 posted a video to YouTube that clearly captured one of these hazardous conditions:

While tickets for not using the bike lane are “very rare” and “not useful” according to Portland bike lawyer Mark Ginsberg, who specializes in helping people with these type of infractions, unfortunately they are still being written.

In this case, the woman who received the ticket reports that the officer who pulled her over didn’t talk much during the stop. She said he seemed like, “just a typical cyclist hating driver.” When asked to describe more about their conversation, she said the officer stated that he first noticed her while she rode eastbound on SW Alder, in the left lane outside of the new bike/bus lane. She did this because she was turning left at SW 2nd (a clearly legal thing to do according to ORS 814.420). Here’s more from her account of their conversation:

“He wasn’t happy I was riding down Alder on the left side (since I was turning left on 2nd and not crossing the Morrison Bridge). So after I turned onto 2nd and moved to the outside of the left lane to eventually turn right onto the Burnside Bridge, he turned on his lights and pulled me over at 2nd and Washington. He stated that there was a bike lane on 2nd and I was required to be in it, because motorists weren’t expecting me to be in their lane.”

The bicycle rider says she plans to contest the ticket when her day in court comes up in December 2023. “I will fight it,” she said, “If I don’t die in the next 13 months.”

A 13-year effort to gain local control of speed limits is over

Portland’s long-awaited dream to manage its own speed limits has finally come true. This week the Oregon Department of Transportation made it official that Portland — along with 240 other cities statewide, as well as Multnomah and Clackamas County — can set its own speed limits without needing state approval.

Before this change, ODOT controlled all speed limit change requests. If a city like Portland wanted to reduce one, they had to make a request of ODOT’s Speed Zone Review Panel, then sit back and wait until it worked its way through red tape. It was a process that could take 6-12 months because ODOT had only one engineer qualified to investigate the requests for each of Oregon’s five ODOT regions. Then at the end of the process, the state traffic engineer had final say on whether the request should be granted. Beyond the bureaucratic backlog, there would sometimes be a difference of opinion between what speed state and local engineers felt was safe.

In the system now in effect, local road authorities like the Portland Bureau of Transportation will be more in charge of their own destiny when it comes to speed limit changes. It’s a significant departure that Portland has lobbied for for well over a decade. In 2009, then PBOT Commissioner Sam Adams urged ODOT to give cities this control. PBOT then spent several legislative sessions chipping away at ODOT’s grip in what we began to call the “war on speed.”

Most of the progress toward this change was made in 2020. Then in the 2021 session, the final lift came with the passage of House Bill 3055, an omnibus transportation bill that included the language to enact this new speed limit designation process stuffed into one paragraph on page 28 of the 77-page bill. ODOT then spent several months translating the law changes into corresponding Oregon Administrative Rules (OARs) before the law could go into effect. They also had to clarify the process local road agencies must go through to gain this new power.

Before we get into what happens next, keep in mind there are two types of speed limits: statutory and designated. Statutory speeds are governed by state law and include things like 20 mph in School Zones and 65 mph on most interstate highways. Designated speeds can change depending on what an engineer deems is appropriate for the context. This new authority only gives cities the ability to change to designated speeds.

So, what does PBOT need to do in order to take advantage of these new powers?

According to the process laid out it in OAR 734-020-0013, a “road authority” like PBOT would still have to jump through a few ODOT hoops. For starters they’d have to notify the state highway engineer and then:

(A) The road authority must participate in training provided by the Department on the criteria and speed zoning practices.
(B) The road authority must designate one qualified registered Professional Engineer to be responsible for decision making and assuring all methods and procedures in this rule are followed.
(C) The road authority must prepare and submit to the Department a quality control plan for assuring compliance with program rules and procedures.

It’s clear from the OAR that ODOT wants to keep a close eye on speed limit changes — even if they’ve delegated the decision-making power. For example, even after a road authority is granted the authority, ODOT says they want to check the work of the first engineering study to make sure it meets muster. And if a city doesn’t do good work, ODOT can take back control of the process.

Suffice it to say, it will be very interesting to see how this plays out.

I asked PBOT to share what their new internal process will be going forward. Will they set up a new internal engineering staff or committee to handle speed zone requests? If so, what will that look like?

PBOT Public Information Officer Dylan Rivera told me today that, “We’ve been eagerly awaiting this new authority.” I’ll share an update once I hear back about those larger questions. Stay tuned.

Now on sale: That amazing 1896 Portland bike map

I am very happy to announce that you can now buy a print of the most amazing vintage Portland bike map in existence. Yes, that 1896 Cyclists’ Road Map of Portland District that we’ve shared on TikTok and here on the Front Page is now available for purchase on BikePortland.

>> Click here to order <<

This remarkable map was first printed in 1896 (that’s not a typo) and was endorsed by the Multnomah Wheelmen cycling club. It was sold at the Oregon Historical Society gift store in the 1970s and then sold for a few years by the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (now The Street Trust) before it went out of print sometime in the 2000s. There’s so much to love about this map, but perhaps the coolest thing is how it illustrates the cultural prominence and popularity of bicycling in our region nearly two decades before cars were even sold.

BikePortland has resurrected this map. We’ve teamed up with Portland-based map seller Transit Maps to complete a few minor digital restorations and can now offer quality, archival prints of this special piece of history. Buy one today for just $40 and get free shipping.

The map includes several amazing details that give you a window into Portland bike culture at the turn of the 19th century. It’s a perfect gift or splurge for: transportation nerds (you know who you are!), map geeks, bike advocates, bike lovers, or anyone who appreciates forgotten history.

Specs:

24″ tall by 30″ wide.
Map highlights include: location of taverns marked, ads targeting cyclists, Vancouver Ferry information, “Information for Wheelmen” sidebar, and more.
Each poster is printed on-demand using fully archival, UltraChrome inks on Moab Lasal Matte, a beautiful, brilliant white, 230gsm (11 mil) alpha cellulose paper which is acid- and lignin-free.
Each print is carefully inspected, wrapped in pH-neutral paper, then rolled and placed in a sturdy chipboard tube for shipping.

Order one today and we’ll get it shipped out right away. We’ll also bring a limited amount to our Pitch & Bitch event next Wednesday (12/7).

Your purchase helps support our work. We appreciate your business!

Opinion: Who cares if cars are killing coho in Cascadia?

Every once in a while the news cycle will hit me over the head with the simple fact that cars are the most violent and destructive force in our society. They enable drive-by shootings, smash-and-grab thefts, rage-induced violence, social isolation, inhumane urban sprawl, and so many other terrible things.

Now the story I can’t get out of my head is the one about how the rubber used in car tires is responsible for mass die-offs of Coho salmon in the Pacific Northwest. This isn’t a new story, but it was just covered this week by local NBC station KGW. I admit that I didn’t take time to let this story sink in until it was covered in-depth by a local outlet. Now I can’t stop thinking about it.

If this new to you, here’s the gist (via KGW):

[Scientists] discovered a toxin called 6PPD-quinone produced when the common tire preservative 6PPD mixes with oxygen. As tires age, the rubber starts to peel off leaving bits and pieces in their path. When it rains anything that doesn’t soak into soil becomes stormwater pollution, eventually ending up in local waterways where every fall Coho salmon return to spawn.

(Source: US Tire Manufacturers Assocation)

I’m no expert, but I can tell from a cursory bit of research that the science around this finding is not in dispute. It is 100% clear that little bits of car tires (and other major rubber sources) are killing coho and damaging our water sources. The fact that there isn’t more urgency around the issue is not surprising, since most people have accepted every other negative trade-off that comes with our car-centric system.

The responses to the problem are very telling. There’s a lot of talk about how to make the tires less toxic and about the need for tougher environmental regulations for makers and sellers of them. What about the tire industry? They can’t refute the science (although I’m sure they have tried), so they’ve got websites and other PR messaging to keep the profits coming. They admit the chemical they use, 6PPD, kills fish and pollutes streams and rivers, but they want you to know that it also keeps drivers safe (see image at right). And hey, it makes your tires last longer so you save money! Isn’t that great? Dead fish be damned.

Unfortunately, most of the news stories I’ve read about this mass coho die-off never mention the one thing that would solve it: less driving and/or bans on driving in watersheds. (And last time I checked, electric car tires have tires too.)

Another innocent victim of car dependency. (Photo: Puget Sound Institute)

This is an immense problem that will take decades to solve if we go about it through the standard procedure of incremental reforms. It’s the duty of policymakers and city leaders to muster the political support and courage to quicken the pace of change. If we address the root problem of car dependency and driving abuse, we can save much more than coho.

— Learn more about 6PPD and 6PPD-Quinone at PugetSoundInstitute.org.

Guest Opinion: Why I voted for the BikeLoud lawsuit

“We’re in a place where we see that our city has failed us.”
– Nic Cota, BikeLoud PDX

— By BikeLoud PDX Board Member Nic Cota (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

People in the Portland bike advocacy scene are sometimes known for making vague threats to sue the city for this or that transgression. These warnings are often made in jest, without serious plans to follow through. For more than a year, however, board members of BikeLoud PDX have been completely sincere about this issue, and we ultimately decided to take legal action against the City of Portland for failing to meet the requirements of the Oregon Bike Bill.

This decision to sue the City of Portland did not come lightly to a single member of the BikeLoud board. As a cautious person, I was among the most hesitant of the group. When it came my time to vote on the motion to sue last November, I froze. It was a major decision that would determine the entire future of this organization and potentially transportation throughout the entire state.

I had many concerns, ranging from the security of my job as a civil engineer, to BikeLoud’s relatively scant resources. But the biggest discomfort for me was the fear I would jeopardize the relationships I’ve built. Usually, I don’t lambast city employees or elected officials, who are often our biggest supporters as we push for safer streets and multimodal access. After all, these staffers come on rides, they talk about visions for the city, they agree that our streets are too dangerous. They dream the same dream. Was it worth potentially unraveling those relationships?

“Do we need a bike-supporting populace that’s willing to prioritize bikes, walking, and transit? Or does the infrastructure need to come first?”

But I had to ask: given all the passion from so many city staffers, why has there been such a lack of action? Where are the bike lanes the city claims to want to build in their plans? Where are all these people on bikes? Where’s that 25% of trips made by bike we are supposed to get to in seven years?

As I thought about my vote, I thought about where we’re going wrong in Portland. My cynical first reaction was that maybe, instead of pushing the status quo, too many Portlanders have quietly fallen back in love with the comfort of it all. Cars are convenient, cars are freedom, cars are ubiquitous: we’ve gotten complacent. We’ve accepted our fate that we all should afford cars, insurance, gas, and just crank the AC a little higher when the next heat dome comes.

My second reaction is that maybe people just don’t know how good it is here. Much of our city is easily accessible by biking and walking, unlike the suburbs and exurbs where many of Portland’s transplants come from. This new generation of Portlanders just doesn’t know how unique this city is. And since our biggest additions to bike infrastructure in recent years have been neighborhood greenways, much of our infrastructure is hidden to the vast majority of potential new riders.

My central dilemma about the lawsuit came down to the classic chicken-or-the-egg problem: Do we need a bike-supporting populace that’s willing to prioritize bikes, walking, and transit? Or does the infrastructure need to come first in order to support that populace in the first place?

After a lot of growth, a lot of listening, and a lot of time biking: I think we need to start prodding the egg to hatch. We’re in a place where we see that our city has failed us.

So, in the end, I voted yes, and the board unanimously agreed to be the plaintiff in a suit against the very city we live in. And a year later, I can confidently say: we’re ready. The time to demand better bike infrastructure is now, for the sake of our future as a sustainable and equitable city. And we have the law on our side. There is no Oregon law that mandates cities to maintain a flow of cars driving on our streets and dedicate space for them to park wherever they like. There is, however, a law that requires planners give bike and pedestrian infrastructure their due: the 1971 Oregon Bike Bill.

What this lawsuit determines will impact not just Portlanders, but people who live throughout the state of Oregon. The roads we are building now will one day be used by our kids and grandkids, and they should reflect the urgent need to change our habits to meet Oregon’s climate goals.

Imagine a future where your kids can easily opt to ride a bike or an e-bike within and between any destination in Oregon and get there safely, comfortably, and with dedicated space for all ages and abilities. I’d like to think that’s what the writers of the Bicycle Bill intended, and I hope the courts will see it that way, too.

If you believe holding the city accountable is a right step, you can help us by making a donation to BikeLoud so we can finally get off the ground with a paid staff member in the near future.

BikeLoud is a grassroots organization that stays active through monthly rides and meetups that are free and open to all. We help elevate policy like the new e-bike legislation, we collaborate with other nonprofits, and we do as much as possible to get more people involved with biking (for instance, with our brand new ‘Bike Buddy’ program). And there’s more we could do to get Portland to a 25% bike mode share by 2030 — but we need your help. We need all the help we can get to get folks out of their cars and onto a bike of their own.

— By Nic Cota, BikeLoud PDX board member