Welcome to the Comment of the Week, where we highlight good comments in order to inspire more of them. You can help us choose our next one by replying with “comment of the week” to any comment you think deserves recognition. Please note: These selections are not endorsements.
The comment thread into our report on the first 82nd Avenue project district workshop, is another example of top-notch, informed discussion about active transportation trade-offs. This is what people read the BikePortland comment section for.
Reader “DW” wrote a long, thoughtful comment which argued for not getting ahead of your audience. It was one of the best calls for moderation that I’ve ever read in our comments section. He makes the point that how, and in what order, we arrive at our transportation solutions matters, that tactics are important.
Here’s what DW wrote:
I have spent a lot of time thinking about 82nd ave. I share the view that it’s okay if they prioritize better sidewalks and dedicated bus lanes over building bike lanes.
Here’s my two cents;
PBOT/Trimet have burned a lot of political capital doing very unpopular projects in the last few years. As an example, people are absolutely losing their minds over the Division upgrades. For what it’s worth, I personally think they are great. My bus commute sped up 25%, I use the bike lanes a ton, and I even feel safer driving my car on it. That’s not popular opinion though. The unfortunate reality is that not many people are currently using those bike lanes. While I see more and more people on them as time goes on, I suspect it will be a few years before there’s an appreciable volume of bike traffic on Division.
People see that the street is more complicated (humans hate change), connect that with empty bike lanes and feel personally attacked because they’re “just trying to drive to x.” The harm that cars cause to our city is a huge gap in perspective for even a lot of very progressive people. In the same way that politicians, like Rene Gonzales, espousing anti-homeless/law and order rhetoric did well in the last election, I fear that it’s only a matter of time before Portland elects a “rip out the bike lanes” mayor.
I see a huge practical benefit in making big transit and safety improvements while still taking into account how the street is currently used – which is overwhelmingly by cars.
Speaking of how the street is used – take a cruise down 82nd on the 72 some day. Or just look at Google Maps. Most properties are explicitly car-oriented development. Many businesses are fronted by large parking lots and drive-thrus. It’s lousy with car dealerships and auto shops too. These are already cause a lot of conflicts for people walking. “Protected” bike lanes would have to have frequent and large gaps to accommodate access to the properties along the street.
If I was redoing 82nd in my Cities:Skylines game I’d just delete the car-oriented stuff and replace it with mixed-use buildings that front to the sidewalk. I’m sure that will happen in real life, but it will take decades if not a generation. The city can’t just cut off access to all those business – even if the commenters on Jonathan Maus dot com think they should be able to.
Upgrading sidewalks and transit service will have a tangible and immediate benefit to the people who are already using the street outside of a car. Upgrading parallel greenways with diverters and crossings is a great solution to provide bike access and another sorely-needed North/South bike connection.
Sometimes we have to compromise projects we should build in order to get projects we can build.
Thank you DW. Read DW’s comment and the entire discussion under the original post.