Did you know Cully is home to Portland’s first Euro-style cycle-track? See it Saturday on the PBOT Bike Advisory Committee Ride. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
September is almost gone and the summer-to-fall transition is hitting hard this year. If the weather holds (or even if it doesn’t, that’s what jackets are for!), there’s a ton of cool rides happening this weekend.
Check out our picks below. Note: Times posted are usually meet-up times. For roll-out times, see link for more info.
Friday, September 29th
Nomad Cycles E-Bike Ride – 6:00 pm at Nomad Cycles (NE) Join this welcoming shop ride where any type of battery-powered bike is encouraged. Organizers say there will be an opportunity to “open up that throttle” if that’s your type of thing. More info here.
Saturday, September 30th
Tualatin Ride – 9:00 am at Tualatin Community Park (Washington County) Portland Bicycling Club’s Tualatin chapter is leading this ride. Expect a fast pace and about 60 miles where experienced riders can flex their muscles a bit. More info here.
Speedvagen Warehouse Sale – 10:00 am to 6:00 pm at Speedvagen HQ (NE) No, this legendary local bike brand isn’t closing up shop. They’re just going through a big restructure. And if you’re in the market for tools, shop furniture, rare finds, and even parts, frames, and complete bikes, do not miss this. More info here.
PBOT Bicycle Advisory Committee Ride – 10:00 at NE 76th and Alberta (NE) Join Portland’s chief bike planner and its official committee of lovable bike nerds for a 10-mile exploration of the Cully area that will be full of discussion stops and engaging banter. More info here.
Long(ish) Ride with Jenna Bikes – 10:00 am at Peninsula Park (N) Rescheduled from last week, this is your chance to hang with the one-and-only Jennabikes! You know her from TikTok, but do you know her from doing longer rides. Expect about 20 miles at a 12 mph pace, without any major hills and with major cool people. More info here.
Tigard-Tualatin Bike Rodeo – 11:00 am to 3:00 pm at Tigard Police Dept (Washington County) Do you live on the West Side and want a family-friendly place where the kiddos can “let ‘er buck” on their bikes and learn skills in a structured environment? Organized by City of Tigard Safe Routes to School program. More info here.
Sunday, October 1st
Tigard-Tualatin Bike Rodeo – 9:30 am to 11:30 am at Tualatin Elementary (Washington County) Do you live on the West Side and want a family-friendly place where the kiddos can “let ‘er buck” on their bikes and learn skills in a structured environment? Organized by City of Tigard Safe Routes to School program. More info here.
Speedvagen Warehouse Sale – 10:00 am to 6:00 pm at Speedvagen HQ (NE) No, this legendary local bike brand isn’t closing up shop. They’re just going through a big restructure. And if you’re in the market for tools, shop furniture, rare finds, and even parts, frames, and complete bikes, do not miss this. More info here.
WeBike Ride to Liepold Farm – 11:00 am at Cartlandia Food Carts (SE) The Street Trust will lead this Femme/Transgender/Women ride out to beautiful Boring via the Springwater to rejoice in the full splendor of Oregon fall farm vibes. RSVPs appreciated. More info here.
Small Biz Sunday – 1:00 pm at Deadstock Coffee (NW) Ride Safe PDX says this queer-led jaunt is for those of us who can never make the early start of Coffee Outside and who want to support great local small businesses! More info here.
— Don’t see an event? Please tell us about what’s going on in your neighborhood by filling out our contact form!
One of my theories for how the PBOT commissioner and director could have made such a gross miscalculation is that their judgment was clouded by the bandwagon of cynical people who think bicycling — and the people who do it and care deeply about it — is in retreat in Portland. That could not be further from the truth, and the way you all responded to this threat is just the latest proof of that.
Yes, biking’s reputation and political power in Portland has waned in recent years. But while political winds always shift, belief in bicycling — and the values it embodies for so many of us — is constant. It’s stronger than lazy headlines, false narratives, and especially the whims of elected officials and their petulant friends.
Join us tonight! We can share gratitude for each other, remind ourselves why we are so committed to safe streets, and ride together on a protected bike lane that is worth fighting for, and that is now — just like our resolve as a community — only going to be stronger in the future.
Let’s Ride Broadway! Meet: 5:00 pm at N Broadway and N Wheeler Ave / Roll out: 5:30 We’ll ride Broadway over the bridge, through downtown to PSU, then turn around and find a place to hang that has outdoor food. (Cart Blocks on Burnside is first option) If you’re on the West Side, just join us anywhere along Broadway between 5:30 and 5:45 or so. Info contact: (503) 706-8804
This would be so fantastic! (Source: A Keller Renaissance: Final Report / Hennebery Eddy Architects)
Existing conditions.
There’s a lot of talk right now about how to revitalize downtown Portland. One of the best tools we have to meet this challenge is our public right-of-way. Specifically, we need to use more space for community and less space for cars.
A new feasibility report for a major renovation of the Keller Auditorium passed unanimously by City Council this week, would take an exciting step toward that goal.
The 106-year old auditorium is poised for a major rehab, and the folks behind it see a new pedestrian plaza on SW 3rd Avenue as a major part of the upgrade. Currently, space for cars cleaves the Keller Auditorium off from the iconic Keller Fountain. The two-lane road and two lanes of on-street parking are guilty of, “disconnecting the two urban places,” states, A Keller Renaissance: Final Report, the 63-page feasibility study passed by Council Wednesday.
“There is an opportunity for the fountain plaza and auditorium to blend together by remaking Third Avenue as a pedestrian-first plaza. This approach would improve the sense of place for both landmarks while increasing pedestrian safety,” the report reads.
I get the impression after listening to the council presentation and reading the report that the momentum is clearly behind making it carfree.Look at those bollards! More renderings. And a map showing its connection to Halprin Sequence.
The 3,000 seat Keller Auditorium, which owned by the City of Portland and operated by Metro, is one of Portland’s most important cultural sites. It’s home to the Portland Opera, Oregon Ballet Theater, and is the only place in town that regularly hosts major Broadway productions. Bakers of the new report want City Council to green light an estimated $200 million renovation project that will bring it up to modern theater standards.
Tim Eddy, president of Hennebery Eddy Architects, the firm that developed the report, said in council testimony that the plan, “Has potential to energize the neighborhood and take better advantage of its physical relationship to the world-renown Keller Fountain,” and, “create public lobby space and a programmable urban plaza connecting the auditorium and fountain so they can perform as one.”
While the vision presented in the report shows a cross-section with 14-feet of “potential vehicle access” on 3rd Ave., the tone in the text and at council was that it wouldn’t take much more than a nudge to make it completely carfree. And there’s already been some planning momentum for the concept, thanks to Portland State University students.
The new plaza would not only help activate this part of downtown, it would bolster the existing Halprin Sequence, a series of open spaces listed on the National Historic Register of Historic Places that links the Keller to the Lovejoy Fountain and Pettygrove Park. With its proximity to Portland State University, major hotels, other cultural venues, and public transit, a carfree plaza at this location should be a no-brainer.
Here’s how the report describes the potential of the plaza:
“The new glass façade carries the revitalized spaces within, extends beyond the existing concrete colonnade, cantilevers over the new pedestrianized plaza of SW Third Avenue, and engages with the park. This gently curving façade displays the performative wonders from inside the auditorium stage, connecting the spaces to the outside and infusing the fountain and the surrounding spaces with new energy.
Together, this space will not only be the prologue and epilogue to every performance at the Keller, it will be a standalone attraction — a strong piece of public art on its own that becomes a true destination in combination with a revitalized plaza and auditorium.”
Everyone on council loved the report (granted, they were not being asked to make any binding decisions, just to accept the report into the record). Commissioner Rene Gonzalez said (in written remarks) that the vision is, “exciting because it speaks to activating space in a new and exciting way,” and that, “in particular, turning a section of 3rd Avenue into a pedestrian thoroughfare.” Mayor Ted Wheeler called the report, “So uplifting, so visionary, and so compelling in terms of what our community can be.”
Stay tuned for public engagement around this vision and a decision point back at City Council in spring 2024. If all goes according to plan, construction could start in 2027.
Platforms similar to this one at SW Broadway and Main will be installed at three other hotels. This photo was taken prior to full completion. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland) Here’s a more recent look at the platform. (Photo: Nic Cota)Photos of the valet loading platform in front of the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. PBOT says they’ll add these to three other hotels on Broadway to allay concerns.
I have some very good news. But first, let’s set the context…
The idea that the Portland Bureau of Transportation, spurred by a plan hatched from Commissioner Mingus Mapps’ office and carried out by their Director Millicent Williams, would roll back the design of a major downtown bike lane to a version that’s obviously less safe, just to appease downtown hotel and business owners, was justifiably shocking to many people.
Thankfully, they put the idea on pause after the plan was exposed to the public. But ever since PBOT’s initial, damage-control statement came out nine days ago, a part of their response remained unsettling.
In the official statement, sent out about 24 hours after our first story broke, PBOT wrote:
After receiving additional feedback from PBOT staff, Director Williams asked staff to prepare 1) a full project evaluation that considers all users, 2) proposals for upgrading or “hardening” portions of the existing bike lane in its current configuration and in a potential future state (similar to the proposed bike lane for the forthcoming SW Fourth Avenue project) and 3) a proposal for a modified bike lane that clears parking corners along the corridor and increases signage and paint, while also returning the bike lane to its 2018 configuration between NW Hoyt and SW Salmon streets.”
As many of you know, that last one, a return of the bike lane to its previous (door-zone, unprotected) configuration, was the controversial option PBOT Director Williams chose (with what she claimed was the approval of Commissioner Mingus Mapps). The fact that it remained on the table, irked many safety advocates. And when PBOT updated their project website that same day, many of us were concerned that option three was still there.
I’m happy to share that PBOT has updated the website and now that option is gone!
They’ve also added new language to the page that marks a significant shift in this entire episode.
Old plan on the left. New plan on the right.
PBOT and Director Williams say after hearing “significant community feedback” they are “actively moving forward” with making the Broadway bike lane much better for everyone.
They plan to install a host of previously planned and budgeted safety upgrades that they say were delayed in the last year. Those include: new valet loading platforms at three hotels (Vance, Benson, and Heathman) similar to the one already installed in front of the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. PBOT says the platforms will reduce conflicts between hotel patrons and bicycle riders. And they’ll add three signal upgrades at SW Oak, Taylor, and Jefferson. The new signals will have separate phases so that right-turning drivers and bicycle riders will proceed at different times, thus reducing the risk of right-hooks.
PBOT says the new valet platforms could be installed this winter and the signals should be up-and-running by next year. Also, later this year PBOT will release a full project evaluation with proposed upgrades that the public can weigh in on.
This is great to hear and it’s clear now that instead of a worse Broadway we will get a better Broadway! PBOT and City Hall have heard loud and clear that they cannot play politics with our protected bike lanes.
Thanks to everyone who has contacted PBOT and City Hall offices about this — especially the dedicated and knowledgable volunteers at BikeLoud PDX. They mobilized testimony, planned events, and have been a tremendous resource to our community for the past week or so.
SW Broadway bike lane. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
One rationale Transportation Commissioner Mingus Mapps and Portland Bureau of Transportation Director Millicent Williams used to justify their attempt to make major changes to the bike lane on Broadway through downtown, was that it simply looks bad.
“Concern regarding aesthetics of street, bike lane, parking signs,” was one of eight concerns noted by Williams in a PBOT staff meeting on August 21st.
And one month later, when Williams was forced to apologize for pushing the plan through over objections of staff and without any public notice, she said one of the reasons for doing so was because Broadway bike lane was funded through the bureau’s Quick Build program. That program is used to, “fill gaps in the multi-modal transportation system through small projects” that generally cost under $500,000.
“The fact is, that this bike lane was built as a Quick Build project,” Director Williams said while reading her apology from prepared remarks at a meeting of the PBOT Bureau Budget Advisory Committee last Thursday. “And as you all know, the budget for those projects are very limited and doesn’t always result in our best work.”
It’s unclear if Williams came up with that herself, or if someone wrote it for her. Either way, it’s not true.
According to PBOT Public Information Officer Dylan Rivera, the protected bike lanes on Northwest and Southwest Broadway (along with several other projects that were part of the Central City in Motion plan) were funded by the federal government, through $4.5 million worth of Regional Flexible Funding Allocation (RFFA) grants, which were administered by Metro. PBOT also chipped-in $600,000 in local matching funds from their General Transportation Revenue pot (which is made up of State Highway Fund and parking revenues).
In an email this morning, Rivera said, the project was, “Built in the style of a Quick Build, with the plastic posts and other elements you’d expect in a Quick Build, in order to deliver the project as soon as possible. But there was no funding from our Quick Build program in the project.”
To be clear, despite Williams’ statements, Quick Build program funding was not used to build the Broadway bike lanes.
And when it comes to Metro’s role, they have more than just a financial investment in the Broadway bike lanes. As the primary funder, they’re obligated to follow strict federal rules for how their grants are spent. While researching this story, I asked Metro about the potential reversal of the Broadway project — a move that would have been counter to the goals of Metro’s RFFA program.
A Metro spokesperson told BikePortland that,
“We are monitoring how PBOT implements grants awarded by Metro and paid for through federal funds. These are competitive grants that help address our region’s limited transportation funding, and it’s imperative that jurisdictions that are awarded grants follow through on the grant commitments.”
And Metro Councilor Duncan Hwang, who represents downtown Portland, said in an email to BikePortland,
“These are competitive grants and other jurisdictions in our region like Oregon City or Beaverton also would have liked to see increased bike/ped infrastructure. Jurisdictions that don’t follow the grant terms may damage their credibility in future grant cycles and noncompliance also reflects poorly on our region when it comes to federal funding.”
And in City Council testimony last week about a separate US Department of Transportation grant PBOT has applied for, The Street Trust Executive Director said the Broadway situation, “Raises a significant question.” “Why would the federal government fund an infrastructure installation that PBOT might later just decide to remove?”
All of this underscores just how recklessly Commissioner Mapps and Director Williams acted. And making a misleading statement about funding to cover-up for a mistake only serves to confuse the public and further erodes trust. Thankfully, this misguided attempt to rip out an important and safe bike lane appears to be on hold. But the damage to PBOT’s reputation is done.
UPDATE, 12:22 pm: After reading the post, PBOT PIO Dylan Rivera emailed BikePortland: “Clearly Director Williams was referring to the project as a quick build style installation, not the funding source. If you look at the context of those statements, it was in light of the concerns we heard from people about the materials and design and her statements about it not being the level of work we are used to building when we have funding for more permanent improvements. Please correct your post.”
Portland City Council passed a landmark climate change investment on Wednesday when they voted unanimously in support of the $750 million, Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF) five-year spending plan.
As I shared yesterday, at least $80 million of that fund will support bicycling and other transportation programs and projects that encourage people to drive less. $25 million of it will go directly to the Portland Bureau of Transportation to boost an existing program that provides free bus, BikeTown, scooter, and taxi rides. Strangely, PBOT Commissioner Mingus Mapps — who just 24 hours ago laid out the most bleak transportation budget in the history of Portland — was the only person on council to not make a statement to mark the historic occasion.
But while Mapps’ silence was notable, it was the statement from Commissioner Rene Gonzalez that really stood out.
Before voting yes on the measure, Gonzalez shared several “deep concerns” with the plan.
(Listen to audio of Gonzalez’s remarks below.)
Gonzalez expressed shade at the carefully-vetted plan, a plan that went through months of careful outreach to thousands of Portlanders and was rigorously vetted by a nine-member committee made up of climate experts, business owners, community leaders, and academics. Without any evidence or explanation to back it up, Gonzalez said he had “concerns” and “real questions” about whether the investment would “truly push for decarbonization.”
Dismissive, condescending comments like this erode public trust in city government and depress civic engagement when we need it most. They also typify the, I-know-better-than-you-because-I’m-up-here-and-you’re-down-there mentality from some elected officials that Portlanders are eager to jettison when they vote for a new slate of councilors next year.
Then Gonzalez said, “Deeply embedded in this ordinance is permanent racial grievance… and as a framing of public policy going forward, I question if that’s the way we should be defining issues.”
That was a very surprising thing for a councilor to say, given that this PCEF plan tracks very closely to many existing City of Portland policies and a deep body of public health research. He also refuted something that, while it’s clearly uncomfortable for him personally, also happens to be a fact. Racism has underpinned much of the planning and infrastructure investments throughout Portland’s history.
Gonzalez has only been on council for 10 months, so perhaps he’s unaware that the Portland Bureau of Planning & Sustainability (the bureau that oversees PCEF) has documented this racism and that PBOT’s current strategic plan includes “Will it address structural racism?” as one of the two questions it asks before making decisions.
And it’s not just a Portland thing. The Justice40 Initiative, passed via executive order by President Joe Biden in 2021, made it an official policy of the United States to direct climate, transportation, and clean energy investments to marginalized and disadvantaged communities. Interestingly, the White House did not make race a qualifying factor due to a concern over legal challenges (although Biden called out “communities — brown, Black, Native American, poor whites” in speeches about it). As a result of race not being considered, studies have shown that the initiative will be much less effective in narrowing the racial gap that exists in places hardest hit by climate change impacts.
Gonzalez also said it’s “problematic” to him that the communities that will benefit from PCEF investment plan have been chosen using a “strictly racial framing.” That is untrue. The PCEF Climate Investment Plan (CIP) never says that. On page of 12 of the plan, it states: “PCEF recognizes the crucial role of communities of color and low-income people as frontline leaders in effecting change.”
For someone concerned about incorrect framing, Gonzalez appears to be the one guilty of that here.
— PCEF is funded through a 1% surcharge on the Portland sales of large retailers with $1 billion in national revenue and $500,000 in local revenue. Learn more about the PCEF Climate Investment Plan here.
Geoff, Jonathan, Ted, Cathy, Zane, Hami, Timur, Carlton, Frank, and Caleb.
Clara and Brenna
It’s Wednesday, and you know what that means… It’s Bike Happy Hour night!
Can’t wait to see all of you tonight. We’ve got a special guest coming out and we might have the chance to try our alternate, indoor location.
But first, I want to extend an open invitation to anyone running for Portland mayor or a City Council position. If you want to come meet a great crowd of civically-engaged folks who care deeply about this city, swing by Bike Happy Hour any Wednesday and I’ll give you the floor for a few minutes. Last week we welcomed our first candidate, Timur Ender (Council District #1), and it went great! He made his (first ever!) stump speech and got to pass out a bunch of cards.
You really never know who will pop in (last week we had 3-time USA Cycling Cyclocross National Champion Clara Honsinger show up!), and that’s just one thing that makes Bike Happy Hour so much fun.
Speaking of which, I’m excited to share that Sam “Coach” Balto will join us this week. Sam is a primary instigator of the bike bus revolution that’s sweeping the nation. Come out and meet the guy behind the videos (but get there early because he has to leave around 5:20).
Few shots of the alternate indoor meeting space above Ankeny Tap (across street from the patio). It’s nice!
As per usual, we’ll talk about issues of the day, make friends, enjoy good food and drinks, and who knows what else.
If the weather is too wild for the Gorges Beer Co. patio, we’ll be across the street at our alternate location. Walk over to the second floor above Ankeny Tap & Table (stairs to left of entrance). There’s an nice, indoor space with chairs, tables, even a TV where we can play music or whatever else. Or maybe we’ll do some sort of topical discussion or Q & A about something if anyone is interested.
Anyone want to talk about the fiasco on Broadway? Or maybe the PBOT budget has you in a tizzy? Want to pitch me a story? Whatever’s on your mind, bring it to Happy Hour and tap into the community hive-mind and we’ll help you makes sense of it all. Everyone is welcome and I can speak for all the regulars in saying that we’d love to see you.
Bike Happy Hour – Every Wednesday All Year Long 3:00 to 6:00 pm Gorges Beer Co, SE Ankeny & 27th (On the “Rainbow Road plaza!) $2 off drinks (full menu, includes non-alcoholic and coffee from Crema) BikeHappyHour.com – “See you next week!”
The plan’s e-bike rebate program will launch in spring 2024 with funding for an estimated 6,000 bikes. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
There might be a few cases of transportation funding whiplash at Portland City Council today. After the grim reality of the city’s transportation budget was laid bare during a work session Tuesday, today Mayor Ted Wheeler and the rest of Council are expected to adopt the five-year $750 million Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF) Climate Investment Plan (CIP) — and the $80 million it includes for transportation programs, projects, and grants.
The two headline investments for transportation are a $20 million e-bike rebate program and a $25 million boost to the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s existing Transportation Wallet program. PCEF’s plan estimates up to 6,000 e-bikes could be purchased through the rebate program and that 20,000 low-income Portlanders will get free BikeTown, e-scooter, Uber/Lyft, taxi, and TriMet service through the wallet program.
Dr. Megan Horst (left) and Maria Sipin (bottom) during our interview.
PCEF, which uses taxes on corporations to fund projects and programs that aim to help low-income and communities of color to battle the impacts of climate change, was passed by Portland voters in 2018. When the fund’s first projects were chosen in 2021 (and the fund’s value was much smaller), none of them were transportation-related. That has changed, big-time. 17% of the current PCEF investment plan is set aside specifically for transportation programs and grants, making it the second largest funding category. When you take other parts of the plan into consideration, like funding to plant trees on 82nd that will likely come with wider sidewalks, funding for tree canopy expansions, depaving, and so on, the total climbs to over 20%.
According to PCEF Committee members Maria Sipin and Megan Horst, the new priority on transportation is a result of the fund’s growth. “Excluding transportation didn’t mean the architects of PCEF didn’t believe in the needs of communities of color around transportation,” Sipin shared during an interview with BikePortland this week. “It’s because there was a huge lack of investment that would directly benefit communities of color in the clean energy space.” And Horst added, “The concern back when the fund was expected to be $60 million a year was that that wouldn’t actually go very far for transportation.”
But that was then, and this is now. In addition to those aforementioned set-aside funding programs, PCEF will fund exciting initiatives we don’t even know about yet through its “community responsive grant” program.
The origin story of PCEF and the values at is foundation make it much different than other large funding and grant-making bodies. While it will be managed by the Portland Bureau of Planning & Sustainability (BPS), Sipin, a community advocate with a graduate degree in planning from Portland State University and a resume that includes stints at the Oregon Department of Transportation and the Safe Routes to School National Partnership, says it stands apart. “There’s a lot room here where community-based organizations can pitch their big, bright ideas to get these grants. PCEF allows regular Portlanders to dream up solutions that don’t fit in any other spaces.”
Sipin is referring to the $181 million in community grants in the PCEF CIP — $35 million of which are set aside specifically for transportation.
For Portlanders with lower incomes, the dream of owning an e-bike has always been out-of-reach. Since many people move further away from jobs, family, and other destinations to find cheaper housing — and their new neighborhoods are often not as well-served by transit — having a motorized bike that can shrink the city can be an invaluable addition to their lives.
The e-bike rebate program is slated to launch in Spring 2024 and will be fleshed out in the coming months through a public process handled by BPS. What we know so far is that qualified participants will be able to walk into their closest bike shop and get an instant rebate on the e-bike of their choice. And PCEF envisions a comprehensive program that won’t end with the bike purchase. Funds are available for helmets, locks, and other accessories, as well as ongoing maintenance. And the bike shops themselves will receive funding to do education, host group bike rides, and so on. With $600,000 in the plan for workforce development and retention grants, PCEF estimates shops could hire up to 50 new e-bike mechanics to keep the bikes running.
To further boost the e-bike rebate program, Horst, an associate professor and director of the Masters of Urban and Regional Planning program at PSU, said PCEF would love to see a nonprofit apply for a grant to lead rides or do advocacy connected directly to these new e-bike riders.
But Sipin warns that just because a new crop of Portlanders can suddenly hop on quality e-bikes, and there will be wrap-around services to help them along, it doesn’t mean they’ll keep riding. “I think the e-bike program is just the very beginning of getting more people on bikes and decreasing the barriers to biking. It’s not going to be the magic solution that increases our bike mode shift in the city. If we don’t have safe, secure, accessible bike parking, e-bike use will only go so far. We also have a street network that is still way behind getting built out to what it would take to improve access and safety.”
Sipin is hopeful that BPS will work closely with PBOT and that advocates will see the PCEF investments as an opportunity to push for better conditions. “We know the Bureau of Planning & Sustainability is not the bureau that builds the infrastructure. We are waiting to see what the relationship between these two bureaus are… and I count on a lot of Portlanders to be vocal about the ways they’d like to see the e-bike program grow in terms of infrastructure that could complement this growth in e-bike usage.”
Sipin sees a large role for engaged advocates over the next five years as the CIP rolls out. We’re already seeing how City Council members are eyeing the fund as a way to backfill budget holes. That’s a big concern around the PCEF table. City bureaus are eligible to request grant funds, but they’ll have to adhere to PCEF values when they spend them.
“PCEF has persisting, everlasting, guiding principles which are justice-driven, accountable, community powered, and focused on climate action with multiple benefits,” Sipin said when asked about the prospect of city bureaus using PCEF funds. “People don’t always feel like their bureaus are acting in accordance to those types of principles already. So for bureaus to be transparent and accountable on how the funds are used… I think that could be a tall order for any bureaus who haven’t demonstrated that.”
“When we make clean transportation affordable, it is an anti-poverty strategy as much as it is a climate strategy.”
– Indi NamKoong, Verde
Horst agreed letting city bureaus in on the funding has caused some heartburn. “Backfilling PBOT budget holes for something like filling in potholes? I empathize with that problem, but we’re very clear that that’s not the mission of PCEF,” she said.
At its core, PCEF is about bringing climate change mitigation investments directly to the people. Horst said infrastructure is one thing, but there’s a need for helping people change behaviors — and more specifically — incentivizing more climate-friendly ones. “I think that’s exactly what these programs are doing. We’re giving people money to mode shift. We’re making the green choice, the cheaper choice. To me that’s super exciting.”
That approach rings true for Indi Namkoong, who sold her car last year after getting an e-bike.
“When we make clean transportation affordable, it is an anti-poverty strategy as much as it is a climate strategy,” she said in City Council testimony in support of the PCEF CIP last week. “Transportation is the second largest expense for most households in Portland just behind housing. These transportation programs will put hundreds, and in many cases, thousands of dollars directly back in the pockets of low-income people and people of color in our city every year. And that money can be life-changing. I know personally, it was for me. When my rent increased substantially last year it was good transit access and an e-bike that made it feasible for me to sell my car. I saved hundreds of dollars a month on payments and insurance and I was able to hang on to my apartment and stay in my neighborhood.”
A partnership between The Street Trust and We All Rise, a Black and women-led consulting firm, will bring 90 new electric bikes to the region.
Armed with a grant from Portland General Electric and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, The Street Trust says the program will be called Ride2Own and will be, ” a pioneering program aimed at enhancing e-bike safety, equity, and accessibility in Oregon.”
The Street Trust says the Ride2Own program will consist of deployments of 15 bikes in four different parts of town. The first phase will be a year-long pilot in the Portsmouth neighborhood in north Portland that will begin October 1st. The program will specifically target Portlanders with lower incomes who would other not have access to e-bikes. Everyone who takes part in the program will track their experience over a one-year period and will be able to keep the bike at the end of the pilot. The other parts of the region that will take part are Parkrose, Milwaukie, and Hillsboro.
Here’s more shared by The Street Trust in a statement Tuesday night:
“Ride2Own will go beyond most current eBike subsidy programs – delivering not only free eBikes, but also training , safety gear, maintenance/repairs, and community- building events. The program design and execution is advised by compensated community members and transportation experts across disciplines to support the integrity and accessibility of each pilot. Ride2Own’s overarching goal is to create positive, transformative experiences through eBiking and initiate a ripple effect that expands sustainable transportation options for residents and reduces the amount that people drive (VMT, vehicle miles traveled) across the region.”
“Through Ride2Own, we’re providing more than free e-bikes,” added The Street Trust Executive Director Sarah Iannarone, “We’re equipping, educating, and empowering community members who’ve been historically excluded from e-mobility.”
A media and launch event are set for the end of this month.
Part of Central City Concern’s crew of e-bike riders that use downtown bike lanes. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
“We urge the city to use critical resources to continue to make our streets safer, not to undo safety projects.”
– Rachel Maas, Central City Concern
Central City Concern, a nonprofit social services provider and one of the largest property owners in Old Town, wants to make sure the protected bike lane on Broadway isn’t ripped out and replaced with a door-zone bike lane.
Rachel Maas, Central City Concern’s director of climate action, sent a letter to Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Transportation Commissioner Mingus Mapps, and Portland Bureau of Transportation Director Millicent Williams last week. The letter, dated September 20th, was written in response to plans uncovered by BikePortland that Williams and Mapps were working together to make major changes to the Broadway bike lane between NW Hoyt and SW Salmon.
“CCC supports and has greatly benefited from the current bike lane configuration that was completed just last year!” the letter reads. “Our Clean Start program with Downtown Clean & Safe, Outreach Team, as well as many of our staff, clients, and affordable housing residents travel and commute on bikes, trikes, and other mobility devices throughout Old Town and the downtown core.”
Maas goes on to explain how the previous, door-zone bike lane configuration was not safe and that the change to a parking-protected lane, “has ben a welcomed change in the neighborhood” that has, “increased safety, livability, and convenience to our staff and community members who live and work downtown.”
After we published our stories about their plans, PBOT Director Williams apologized. She now says the plans are on hold and that a public process to consider changes to the Broadway design are forthcoming. Mapps claims to have never signed-off on any changes and that he and Williams were simply responding to concerns raised by business owners along the corridor.
Maas also shared her organization plans to expand their e-bike fleet in the coming months, which will lead to more of their employees and clients using the bike lane. She encouraged Mapps, Williams, and Wheeler to not waste Portland’s global reputation as a climate-smart city.
“We urge the city to use critical resources to continue to make our streets safer, not to undo safety projects,” she wrote.
Scenes from the work session in council chambers this morning. Activists from BikeLoud wore red and held signs.
Sunday Parkways, Safe Routes to School, the 823-SAFE hotline, basic maintenance, 127 full-time jobs, landslide cleanup — yes landslides! — were are all put on the chopping block in City Council chambers this morning as the Portland Bureau of Transportation presented its budget at an annual work session.
Commissioner Mingus Mapps, PBOT Director Millicent Williams, and top-level staff painted a bleak picture for Mayor Ted Wheeler and the rest of council. It was the first major public step in the agency’s journey to cut nearly one-third of its discretionary budget — or find new revenue to prevent an unprecedented reshuffling that would be felt by PBOT and throughout city government.
But what was that about landslides?
“We are eliminating all landslide repairs and any major emergency repair work on structures,” said PBOT City Engineer Todd Liles as he laid out cuts under consideration by the Engineering Services group he manages.
“What does that mean?” Mayor Wheeler asked.
“They’ll sit there,” Liles replied. “We need to come up with some money to do that.”
“Sorry I asked,” replied the Mayor.
If you’re shocked at the level of cuts under consideration, consider this: PBOT’s budget looks big on paper when you see the $509 million top-line figure. But just $147 million of that is actually available to the bureau to use as discretionary (no strings attached) funding. And even within that $147 million slice of pie, about $48 million is tied up in debt service and other commitments.
That leaves just $99 million left to run the 800-person agency, implement programs, maintain the 5,000 lane miles of roads, 159 bridges, 60,000 street lights, and so on. This year, PBOT is being asked to cut $32 million from that $99 million in order to balance their books. That’s because of a perfect storm of factors that includes a loss of revenue from parking fees and gas taxes (pushed down further due to the pandemic) and a big increase in material and construction costs due to inflation — and it follows five years of difficult belt-tightening.
The budget is so bad that PBOT has been asked to rewrite their strategic plan, because they cannot fulfill their current plan with the funding they have.
Director Williams, who sat in front of a sign that read “Resign” that was held by someone protesting her involvement in the Broadway Bike Lane scandal, put the situation in simple terms: “We either cut $32 million from the $99 million available next year, or find a solution or combination of solutions, to fill the gap. If we must make a $32 million cut, you will not have the Portland Bureau of Transportation as you see today.”
After Williams laid out the problem for council members, managers of PBOT’s seven different groups shared the specific cuts and layoffs they would be forced to make.
But before I get into that, Williams was asked a notable question by Commissioner Rene Gonzalez.
“I ride my bike or take the train 90% of the time downtown,” Gonzalez said. “Are [car] drivers subsidizing me in our current revenue model? I pay for my bike in maintenance but I don’t pay a fee to to bike every day. My TriMet pass has been provided to me at less than I think the cost of my usage is in a year. So that’s the question: am I being subsidized by drivers?”
“Yes you are. Yes,” replied Director Williams.
“So what’s the solution? How do we better reflect the cost of supporting cyclists and those who use public transit?” Gonzalez asked.
Williams then said it’s a “complex conversation” and then listed a few ideas on how to adress it. “There are a number of ways that we could get to having the whole of community supporting the transportation network,” she said. “So there are more opportunities for us to explore and discuss that with you.”
More strategies for raising revenue were discussed later in the work session, but let’s get back to the cuts.
Below are the slides that went with each group director’s presentation about their planned cuts:
Slides shown by PBOT at the session.
As you can see, there are some very notable cuts and layoffs on the table. They include:
Removal of subsidies for street fairs, community events, farmers markets, etc…
Reduce funding for Portland Streetcar
Complete reduction of stairway and tunnel maintenance (will only do structural repairs)
Elimination of all landslide and other major emergency repair work
50% reduction in street paving
Less vegetation management (meaning more branches and bushes into the bike lanes)
Reduction of snow plowing and lane striping
Dozens of family-wage jobs
Laying off six parking enforcement officers
PBOT would no longer support its three modal committees (Bicycle, Pedestrian, Freight)
Time to respond to key project grants
Sunday Parkways and other popular programs
823-SAFE public safety requests and investigations
Fewer damaged, mid-block streetlights will be repaired
and so on and so forth.
No one on council wants to see these cuts happen. Since so much of PBOT’s work is connected to other bureaus, there would be ripple effects felt citywide. What can be done about it?
There was a lot of talk about how PBOT might tap into some of the $750 million Portland Clean Energy Fund Climate Investment Plan. That plan will be adopted by council at their meeting tomorrow and PBOT (along with other bureaus) are circling around it like vultures. PCEF is already going to fund PBOT’s Transportation Wallet program, but will PCEF’s advisory committee support a larger ask from PBOT? That remains to be seen.
The end of PBOT’s presentation to council was the big ask for new funding sources.
A big one PBOT is targeting is the Utility License Fee (ULF), which are fees collected by the city from utilities that use the right-of-way (a natural relationship to PBOT). Back in 1988, when transportation funding was separated from the city’s General Fund, PBOT was promised 28% of this fee as a replacement. But over the years, these funds were siphoned away into other bureaus. PBOT estimates they’ve lost $585 million since 1988 and they want some of this money back. In a slide shown by Director Williams, PBOT expects they could net $25 million per year if council restored the ULF to 1988 levels.
“This restoration could be directed by council now to avoid PBOT cuts,” Williams said. “But yes, there would be an impact on other bureaus.”
As expected, PBOT also made an ask to reduce other bureaus’ funding from the General Fund in order to pay for transportation. If all other bureaus reduced their General Fund budget by 1%, PBOT could receive $6.7 million. A 5% reduction would net PBOT $33.5 million.
Offloading certain annual expenses — like homeless camp cleanup ($1.3 million), Sellwood Bridge debt ($5.7 million) and derelict RV removal ($3 million) — could result in an additional $22 million for PBOT.
These are just some ideas PBOT floated at the work session. Now the real negotiations and debates will likely begin among Mayor Wheeler, Commissioner Mapps, and the rest of council to come up with a solution.
While Wheeler and Commissioner Gonzalez said they would absolutely not support using any Public Safety funding for PBOT, it sounded like there was a genuine interest from all five members of Council to collaborate on this crisis.
“What I can do in my role is to be transparent with you,” Commissioner Mapps said in his closing remarks. “And today is the beginning of that dialogue.”
Slide from briefing document created for Commissioner Mapps on August 21st.
Just three weeks after Portland City Commissioner Mingus Mapps hired Millicent Williams to lead his transportation bureau, she was already committed to major changes to a 16-block stretch of Northwest and Southwest Broadway through downtown.
In newly leaked emails from Portland Bureau of Transportation Director Millicent Williams to PBOT staff, we learn that she wanted to address Broadway as early as August 15th, a full month before an email she sent to staff turned into a public relations crisis for the bureau and forced Williams to apologize Thursday for “moving too fast.”
Unlike her contrite tone late last week, Williams was urgent and serious in her emails from mid-August.
August 15th email to PBOT staff from PBOT Director Millicent Williams.
In an August 15th email to a select group of PBOT staff, Williams wrote: “We need to meet about Broadway… I have thoughts about what we can do to both meet our goals and to be responsive to the concerns shared by the ‘downtown’ community.” She knew some of the invitees would have timing conflicts, but she expected them to attend. “Please do what you can to adjust your calendars,” she wrote.
There was one point in that initial email Director Williams made sure to underscore: “Please note that one of the options cannot be to leave things the way that they are, so I will disabuse you of the notion that doing nothing would be sufficient,” she wrote. And then one paragraph later, “Again, doing nothing is not an option.”
We still don’t know exactly why there was so much urgency around this specific bike lane. From a PBOT traffic flow and safety data standpoint, it does not raise any flags (ironically, the current parking-protected bike lane design was installed after years of study and careful planning as a way to reduce what was one of the most high-crash streets in the city). PBOT maintenance staff have said the bike lane is hard to maintain — but there are dozens of miles of similar bike lanes throughout the city that pose equally difficult maintenance challenges. What we do know is that several hotel and business owners have complained about the bike lane recently.
PBOT staff, led by Central City Capital Program Manager Gabriel Graff, noted the urgency in Williams’ email and responded immediately. He and other PBOT staff met with Williams to brainstorm possible changes one week later. Graff then used ideas from that August 21st meeting and rounded up at least 12 high-level PBOT staff to develop a matrix of 15 potential actions (see below) the bureau could take. On August 28th, he sent Director Williams an email that included a two-page list of those actions. The matrix included a relatively (for one week’s work) detailed analysis of each option based on seven factors. Graff also included input on whether or not staff could recommend each option.
The “recommended” (left) and “not recommended” options. Circled option on the right is the one Williams chose, allegedly with Mapps approval.
“I’d like to share the deck and the potential/proposed solutions with the Commissioner’s office for their review and consideration.”
– Millicent Williams, PBOT director, on September 6th
On September 6th, Williams replied to Graff and wrote, “If there are no objections, I’d like to share the deck and the potential/proposed solutions with the Commissioner’s office for their review and consideration.” Graff then wrote that he’d be happy to prepare a summary of the options. “Go for it,” Williams replied. “[Commissioner Mapps] and his team like to see background information.”
Two hours later, Graff came back with an additional five pages and the document was now named “Broadway briefing book for Commissioner Mapps.”
It’s clear from the name of the document and Williams’ emails that it was intended to be shown to Commissioner Mapps. In my interview with Mapps Thursday he said he talks with Williams several times a week, but that he hadn’t had a formal briefing on this project. “I’m waiting for the point where we sit down and talk about what our options are,” Mapps said. “And we haven’t done that yet.”
Two days after she received the briefing book from PBOT staff, Williams emailed the Broadway team again. “I realize that, in order for the Commissioner to be able to make a well-informed decision/recommendation, he (and I) will need a bit of clarity on a couple of things,” she wrote.
Based on the specific items Williams sought to clarify in that email, and on a summary of notes from the August 21st brainstorming meeting with PBOT staff, we now have a clearer understanding of the primary impetus for action on Broadway. On a slide titled, “Concerns noted in 8-21-23 staff briefing from Director Williams,” the document lists eight items:
Concerns regarding driver confusion, hard to move about
Drivers feeling stuck, not realizing they are waiting behind parked car in the pro-time lane
Concern regarding aesthetics of street, bike lane, parking signs
Concerns from hotels regarding loss of valet space, patron and cyclist conflicts
Consider reverting the bike facility to a traditional bike lane or moving to another street
Commissioner requests action
Note that none of those points include negative feedback about the design from bike lane users, nor is there anything on that list about making the lane better for bicycle riders. Every single concern brought to that meeting from Directors Williams (who was likely acting on behalf of her boss, Commissioner Mapps) comes from either a political, car driver, or business owner, point of view. This is despite public statements made (only after our first story broke) by PBOT and Mapps’ office that this whole thing was spurred by “mixed feedback from people biking.”
Williams’ September 6th email to Graff sought clarity on four points, all of which had to do with satisfying concerns from business owners on Broadway:
The platforms for the Heathman and the Vance will support the contiguous flow of all modes as they connect with (or are aligned with) the one in front of the Schnitzer. Got that. While I understand that the Benson is supportive of the platforms based on the need for an operational work-around, have we asked about whether or not their needs would be met if returned to the original curb-tight parking with loading and valet zones? Are there any other platforms planned between the Benson and the Heathman?
Can we deconflict the signage in front of the Schnitzer? I would ask that we use the special ‘5 minute’ parking signs and/or emphasize that the spaces in front of the platform are passenger loading and unloading zones. I propose that we discourage any ‘real’ parking there. I’m fine with a complete removal of any reference to actual parking and that it be designated as a passenger loading zone for the three spaces in front of the venue.
For the other two hotels (Heathman and Vance), can we do the same thing but allow for up to 15 minutes of parking for hotel guests who are loading and unloading. 5 minutes isn’t enough time.
If we returned the rest of Broadway (NW Hoyt to SW Salmon) to curb tight parking with a bike lane to the left of parking, what would that do to everything else? I’ve read your report and recommended solutions. Trying to envision how the two operational constructs would fit together.
Graff offered his most detailed and pointed response to that last point. “On the plus side, this would reduce ongoing maintenance costs of the parking signs and flexposts and may win us some points with some downtown business stakeholders and the hotels,” he wrote. But, he continued, “On the downside, it would be a step backward on safety for people walking and biking. While it may feel like an odd setup for visitors to downtown, the current configuration results in less exposure for pedestrians crossing the street and better visibility for people turning across the bike lane.”
“I would predict the politics of switching back to a traditional bike lane would be mixed but very unlikely to be a net win for the Commissioner or the Bureau. We’d get some support, but I would guess the response from safety and cycling advocates and progressive business interests would be outrage. Politically, I think it would be a challenging change for the Bureau to deliver.”
– Gabriel Graff, PBOT Central City Capital Program Manager
Graff’s opinion of the current Broadway design is based in large part on PBOT crash data. In a slide shared in the briefing book, PBOT shares that between 2015 and 2019, one out of every 42 bike crashes citywide happened in the one-mile stretch of Broadway that Mapps wants to change. But since PBOT changed the design (granted, traffic is down about 50% from pre-pandemic levels) crashes for all users have decreased by 42%. Crashes with people walking and bicycling are down 100% and 77% respectively.
And for his final bit of insight on the fourth option, Graff shared something that was extremely prescient:
“I would predict the politics of switching back to a traditional bike lane would be mixed but very unlikely to be a net win for the Commissioner or the Bureau. We’d get some support, but I would guess the response from safety and cycling advocates and progressive business interests would be outrage. Politically, I think it would be a challenging change for the Bureau to deliver.”
After reading his comments on September 8th, Director Williams claims she consulted with Commissioner Mapps. It’s unclear if that consultation actually happened and/or what level of detail Mapps and/or his staff were given about the Broadway plans before Williams moved forward with them. Mapps told me during our video call on September 21st that he hadn’t yet seen Williams’ set of proposals.
Mapps’ alleged ignorance about details of the Broadway plans is difficult to square with the facts. Given that he told Williams to work on the project and it had top priority in her mind, along with Williams’ statements about having Mapps’ support and Mapps’ claims that he talks regularly with her, it’s very likely Mapps has seen and reviewed a copy of this briefing book.
We also know he has heard a lot from business owners who don’t like the current design. The Portland Metro Chamber, who endorsed and donated to Mapps during his 2020 council campaign, opposed the Broadway bike lane (and related reduction of driving lanes from three to two) in 2018 on grounds that it would have “significant, unnecessary economic impacts on our downtown retail core.”
And on May 4th, during a meeting where PBOT reps, Commissioner Mapps and his staff pitched the Chamber on a new plan to raise funding for PBOT, former Chamber President and CEO of downtown commercial real estate firm Melvin Mark Companies, Jim Mark, railed against the Broadway bike lane. According to someone who was at the meeting but who has requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, Mark, unsolicited, shifted the focus of the conversation away from the revenue idea and “just went off on the bike lane.” According to our source, Mark lambasted PBOT for spending money on bike lanes and said the bike lanes are bad for business.
Then, within a just few weeks of hiring Director Williams, Mapps made it her top priority to change the bike lane to the old design.
And on the morning of September 14th, just six days after Graff’s warning that it would backfire on PBOT and would be a “step backward on safety for people walking and biking” Williams chose that option anyways and did so with what she claims was Mapps’ support.
As we reported last week, Williams emailed PBOT staff with clear marching orders: “After reviewing all of the information and consulting with the Commissioner, I would like to ask the team to do the following…” she wrote, and then shared 16 detailed steps to remove the protected lane and replace it with the old, door-zone bike lane between NW Hoyt and SW Broadway.
And in case you missed our update Friday, I received a more complete version of that initial September 14th email that included these questions which illustrate the pressure Williams felt she was under to get this done quickly:
How long will it take for us to do the work?
When can we start?
How will we publicize/communicate about what we are doing?
Is night work an option?
Another part of the email we didn’t have until Friday was the final paragraph where Williams wrote:
“I recognize that this might be a fairly bitter pill to swallow and that there might be some politically charged discussions and advocate engagement. Please allow the Commissioner and I to handle those conversations.”
While Mapps has repeatedly denied that anything had been finalized or that he had ever seen a set of options or supported any one of them, and despite public statements from his office and PBOT that “nothing is imminent” and that all talks “have been very preliminary,” his bureau director felt she had his full support to move forward with a major reconfiguration of a high-profile, downtown bike lane.
And Director Williams wasn’t the only person who was confused. Graff, PBOT’s central city project manager, was clearly under the impression that the change was to be made and that it came directly from Commissioner Mapps.
“I know there is a lot of effort and heart that has gone into recent work on Broadway and, as our director notes, this may be a ‘bitter pill to swallow,'” Graff emailed other PBOT staff on September 14th. “I am hoping to use this time to identify next steps and develop answers to the questions raised by this change… I am working on outlining a communications strategy for this new direction.”
Mapps also insisted in my interview with him Thursday that a public outreach process was always on the table. But we now know that the decision had already been made — completely devoid of transparent public comment or feedback. Not even PBOT’s own advisory committees were in the loop. And recall that Mapps said in the interview Thursday, “I feel fairly confident that they’ve done a good job of listening to people who are stakeholders in this space.”
Shortly after my interview with Mapps, where he repeatedly said he trusts Director Williams and that she’d done nothing wrong, Williams has made an apology. She even went so far as to tell members of PBOT’s budget committee, “I was not directed by the commissioner to do anything that I’ve done.” When asked for an on-the-record interview, PBOT has refused, saying Williams needs to focus on upcoming budget talks. On Friday, Commissioner Mapps cancelled a town hall meeting that was supposed to take place this evening.
Now that there’s been such an uproar, PBOT says a public process to consider changes on Broadway will be announced soon. Based on an update published to the project website last week, the option to revert the bike lane to its old, unprotected, door-zone configuration is still on the table.
