(Source: City of Portland Bureau of Transportation)
Map of project area looking north.
It’s not everyday that plans for a new street come across my desk. Read that again: Not new plans for a street. Plans for a new street! Yes, the Portland Bureau of Transportation will finalize designs this year and break ground next year on new streets in Old Town. Specifically, they plan to extend NW Johnson and Kearney Streets from where they currently end at NW 9th about one-tenth of a mile east to NW Station Way/Union Station.
The work is part of the Broadway Corridor project, a redevelopment of the 34-acre former US Postal Service distribution site being led by Prosper Portland. Not only will this site be home to new commercial and residential units, it will also be a key link in the future Green Loop, a biking and walking path that will eventually ring Portland’s central city. The Broadway Corridor has been in the planning stages since at least 2015 and reached a major milestone last month when demolition of the USPS facility was completed. Now that the slate has been wiped clean, it’s much easier to get excited about building on top of it. It’s even more exciting to see what type of street design PBOT will build when given the chance of starting from scratch.
On a new website for the NW Johnson & Kearney Street Extension Project, PBOT gives us our most detailed view yet of what we can expect. The conceptual cross-section drawing shows a street with two general lanes, an on-street parking lane, and a wide sidewalk separated from a two-way cycle-track by large trees.
Check out the latest drawing below of what a brand new NW Johnson Street between 9th and Union Station could look like:
It’s 4 images. Click to enlarge each one.
PBOT says in addition to the extensions of Johnson and Kearney, they will also build new bike lanes on NW 9th between Lovejoy and Johnson (this will create a stronger connection between existing bikeways on the Lovejoy viaduct that connects to the Broadway Bridge and the neighborhood greenway on Johnson).
To pay for this project, the City of Portland created a local improvement district (LID) with Prosper Portland. A LID is where a group of property owners share the cost of new infrastructure and get generous terms on a long-term loan to pay for it — with the first payment not due until after the project is completed.
Green shaded rectangles show North Park Blocks extension project area. Red building in lower left is Union Station. View is looking south from NW Lovejoy.
If you’re as excited about this as I am, you should get plugged into a related project: the North Park Blocks extension being managed by Portland Parks & Recreation. That project will extend the existing linear park that exists between W Burnside and NW Glisan north to Hoyt (behind Pacific Northwest College of Art, which is why some folks refer to this as the “PNCA Block) in order to tie into the Green Loop and Broadway Corridor. The result will be a new, 30,000 square foot park. There’s already an advisory committee that has met and ideas the planning and design process is expected to continue through this fall with construction starting in spring 2026.
It just so happens that the first community open house for this project is tonight (Thursday, February 29th). Learn what the future will bring and how you can get involved by dropping in any time at PNCA (511 NW Broadway) between 6:00 and 8:00 pm.
These projects could not be happening at a better time as Old Town emerges from the pandemic and Portlanders begin to demand excellent public spaces where we can enjoy our city.
An e-bike? Or a commercial vehicle? How Oregon regulates trikes like this one is just one issue the bill would tackle. (Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
With just 10 days left in the legislative session, e-bike advocates are making a big push to get a key bill over the finish line. Typically the formation of an official state task force isn’t something folks get excited about. In fact, pushing an important issue into a committee is something many of the advocates lobbying for House Bill 4067 might, in other circumstances, fight tooth-and-nail.
But what HB 4067 would do, establish a new Oregon Department of Transportation Task Force on Electric Mobility, is considered a vital step forward in the effort to legitimize e-bikes, scooters, and a range of promising lightweight electric vehicles. Since BikePortland first reported on this bill before the session began back in January, its importance has grown considerably because of its close connection to another e-bike bill, HB 4103.
When HB 4103 passed the House this week (note that both bills originated in a joint committee and therefore aren’t subject to deadlines like single chamber bills) it was stripped of its most consequential provisions. Heralded as a compromise between lawmakers and advocates in Bend and Portland, there was a general agreement that its substantive proposals needed more debate and discussion so that a more comprehensive and effective bill could emerge next year. E-bikes are so popular and their impact on the mobility of Oregonians could be so vast, the thinking goes, advocates want to make sure any new laws or new regulations help reach that potential instead of kneecap it.
That’s why The Street Trust and its partners put out an action alert yesterday urging members to contact lawmakers and telling them to pass HB 4067. After it passed the Joint Committee on Transportation alongside HB 4103, the task force bill was referred to the Joint Committee on Ways & Means. Why? Because all bills that have a fiscal impact on the state budget must be approved by Ways & Means.
The current price tag is $200,000. That money would be used to pay for administrative overhead and staff needed set up the task force.
If the bill passes, Governor Tina Kotek must appoint 19 members who will, “work to address the problems not solved by HB 4103,” The Street Trust states in its action alert. The background and expertise required of each committee member is prescribed in the bill, which lays out specifically what type of appointees are needed. Here’s the roster, taken from the bill text:
Two members who represent the Department of Transportation.
One member who represents a local government parks and recreation department.
Three members who represent electric micromobility device operators, manufacturers or businesses.
One member who represents law enforcement and emergency medical services.
One member who represents a city with a population greater than 500,000 and one member who represents a city with a population of 500,000 or fewer.
One member who represents a county government.
One member who represents a metropolitan planning organization.
One member who represents a public university.
One member who represents the insurance industry.
One member who represents a nonprofit organization with statewide experience on transportation electrification and micromobility.
One member who represents roadway users with disabilities.
One member who represents an association that represents motor vehicle users.
Two members who represent active transportation organizations.
One member who represents mixed-use trail users.
And what these folks must work on for the coming year is also clearly spelled out in the bill. Their marching orders are to:
Review the existing Oregon laws relating to micromobility and personal mobility devices;
Examine whether safety and education requirements should be required for motor vehicle users, electric micromobility device manufacturers, retailers and user groups;
Examine how electric micromobility devices can be best utilized to promote equity, safety and climate goals in the transportation sector;
Examine best practices for the use of electric micromobility devices, including but not limited to use on highways, bicycle paths, bicycle lanes, public lands, public spaces and mixed-use trails;
Examine statutory definitions of electric micromobility devices;
Address electric micromobility devices for commercial use;
Examine provided education and certification programs relating to electric micromobility devices
And there won’t be time to dilly-dally, because their recommendations must be submitted to lawmakers by December 1st of this year, in time for the 2025 session.
If those sounds like important issues to you, The Street Trust says you should reach out to three lawmakers who are in position to move the bill forward: Senate President Rob Wagner, House Speaker Dan Rayfield, and Joint Committee on Ways & Means Co-Chair Tawna Sanchez.
View looking west on SE Belmont across Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. People in green vests are standing near where Bentley was struck. (Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Violent and allegedly intentional actions led to the death of 49-year-old David “Dino” Bentley on Southeast Belmont in the Buckman neighborhood early Sunday morning. What initially seemed like the result of a dangerous street design mixed with the inherent risks of people who live in homes made out of fabric and thin wood pallets on the sidewalk, now seems to have been something much different.
I spent time at the scene Wednesday afternoon, I’ve reviewed the court documents, and have watched and read local news coverage to try and understand what happened, and why.
Here’s what I know so far…
The man who drove his car into Bentley, 22-year-old Shane McKeever, is currently being held on charges of Manslaughter in the First Degree and Reckless Driving. The probable cause affidavit filed at the Multnomah County Courthouse on Monday relays a harrowing tale that began with what one witness described as an argument. “The suspect [McKeever] walked into the camp and started to argue with everyone,” one man told a Portland Police officer who responded to the scene. “It seemed like the suspect was looking to cause issues.” There was also an allegation from someone in the adjacent encampment that McKeever “threatened to run over their camp.” Then McKeever allegedly got into his car and made good on those threats.
According to the court docs, which were based on witnesses both on the ground and one person who saw it from a window of his apartment at the Grand + Belmont building, McKeever first hit Bentley by driving (an allegedly stolen car) from SE Belmont (under the Morrison Bridge viaduct) across Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, then continued eastbound on Belmont. A different witness estimated McKeever’s speed at 40-50 mph. Bentley was sitting stationary on his bike, either in the bike lane or on the southern sidewalk of Belmont between MLK and Grand with his back toward the approaching driver. A video from KGW shows the impact left a large dent in the hood of the medium-sized Chevy Malibu sedan and smashed-in almost the entire windshield. The witness in the apartment building heard the loud impact and told police McKeever then turned around in a nearby driveway and drove back (westbound) on SE Belmont and “appeared to be intentionally trying to run people over in the camp.” It was at this point that witnesses heard 4-5 gunshots.
McKeever stopped the car about 10-feet east of MLK and tried flee on foot. He was eventually approached by witnesses and ultimately apprehended by police on SE Belmont a few blocks west of MLK.
David Bentley (victim)
Selfie by David Bentley posted to his Facebook page on December 23rd.
David Bentley, who went by “Dino” on the street, seemed to have a lot of friends. He had been living on the streets of Portland for years and KGW interviewed him during the heat wave last summer, when he told one of their reporters: “I don’t want to die out here. I don’t want to die just another homeless guy, just another number.” Mayor Ted Wheeler said in a statement that Bentley was well-known to local outreach workers, that the Mayor’s office was “sad to learn” of Bentley’s death and that the incident was a, “sobering testament of how dangerous living on the streets can be.”
I’ve spent some time trying to track down people who knew Bentley in hopes they can paint a fuller picture of him. So far I’ve only managed to find someone who calls Bentley a brother. The person posted a direct message on their Facebook page late Sunday night that she’d sent to McKeever. “My heart is so broken,” the message read. “Why did you hit my brother with your car?… Why did you run? How come you didn’t get out and try to help my brother? But rather try to run over my son too?”
Shane McKeever (suspect)
McKeever has had many run-ins with the law in his short life. According to his record, he’d been charged with five felonies and two misdemeanors (for theft) since 2021 — not including his current charges. Those charges include multiple counts of criminal mischief, assault, menacing, unlawful use of a weapon, and contempt of court for failing to appear. He’s been convicted of two separate domestic violence assaults.
Photos and messages shared by McKeever on what appears to be his Facebook page, paint the picture of a young man who embraced “the hustle,” liked to smoke, and celebrated handfuls of cash. He also shared that he didn’t receive a lot of guidance in life from people close to him and that he was homeless and lived in his car for at least seven months in 2021. That same year, McKeever wrote that he, “never had a father figure growing up to teach me how to take care of something like this,” and that he, “never had a family base.” He was also married and he and his wife had a daughter in 2020.
McKeever is scheduled to be arraigned on March 5th.
Looking northwest across MLK from where Bentley’s body came to rest. Notice drivers are crossing MLK, not turning off of it.View eastbound from above. That person in the bike lane is a few feet from where Bentley was prior to the collision.Westbound view of Belmont from above. That’s MLK Jr. Blvd in the background. Looking down SE Belmont w MLK in the background. That man in green vest is near where Bentley was struck.Looking west on SE Belmont from Grand.Looking east on SE Belmont towards Grand.Looking south from MLK Jr Blvd as a driver turns onto Belmont.View across MLK Jr. Blvd toward Belmont looking southeast.Posted three days before Bentley was hit.View looking east on SE Belmont across Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Those people are standing near where Bentley was struck.View of crime scene tape from parking lot looking northwest from Grand toward MLK.Looking west from Grand toward MLK.Sign erected by BikeLoud PDX volunteer Sarah Risser earlier this week.
The Infrastructure
I’ve heard a lot of concern from the community about the design of this block of SE Belmont between MLK and Grand. I observed it from all angles yesterday and the concerns are valid. It’s also notable that the intersection of Belmont and MLK is circled in red and labeled as a “difficult intersection” in the official City of Portland bike map (see graphic at right).
(Source: PBOT bike map)
One reason it’s a high-stress area for bicycling and walking is that it’s a relatively narrow (about 15-feet wide) street striped with a bike lane that handles traffic between two very wide (about 50-feet), car-centric and busy urban arterials. Belmont is clearly a recommended bike route because it has sharrow markings from SE Water (near the river) and the buffered bike lane where Bentley was hit. The buffered bike lane was striped in late 2017 or 2018 and it helps Belmont connect to bike lanes further east. In the bike network, this section of Belmont is a couplet with westbound Morrison St. one block north.
The presence of viaducts overhead and the columns that support them adjacent to this little stretch of Belmont reduces visibility. The stressful, multi-lane arterials on either side also contribute to driving behaviors that don’t always keep safety of non-drivers in mind. That being said, the left-turns from MLK onto Belmont have such bad visibility and require such a tight radius, that I didn’t see a lot of speeding or dangerous driving around that movement. The curb at the Belmont/MLK corner bulbs-out a bit, which helps protect the bike lane by creating a shadow of protection. Being out there I realized it’s much easier for drivers to reach dangerous speeds when they come from Belmont west of MLK.
As you can see in the video below, drivers (or bike riders) who cross MLK Jr. Blvd from Belmont face four lanes of relatively speedy, one-way traffic.
Homelessness
This is as much a story about our continued struggle to house all Portlanders, as it is about a traffic crash.
While I was out there yesterday, a crew from Rapid Response Bio Clean, a company paid by the City of Portland to address homeless camps, drove up in one of their big box trucks. Workers got out and talked to the folks who live in the tarp-and-pallet shelters being used as homes by many people adjacent to where Bentley was killed. They were probably informing them that the camp will be “swept” this coming Monday, March 4th. An “Illegal Campsite” notice — posted to the same pole as a memorial roadsign erected by road safety activists earlier this week — went up on February 23rd.
Where will these folks go next? Will it be just as close to dangerous traffic? Will they move into shelters? Are there even enough places for them to find a bed? As long as people continue to live so close to deadly vehicular weapons, should we consider emergency road design changes to respond to the reality of these ticking time-bombs of traffic tragedy?
Conclusion
Given what we know so far, it feels like there isn’t one clear thing that bears responsibility for the events that unfolded early Sunday morning. It was a violent act carried out by a repeat offender who never got the help he needed, in a city where far too many people live precariously close to large deadly weapons on four wheels that can careen into them at any time — whether their drivers intend to or not — and far too often with heartbreaking consequences.
N Delaware crossing Rosa Parks Way. (Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
In the coming months there will be a new neighborhood greenway established in north Portland. The project will create a more bicycle-friendly street on a 1.3-mile stretch of North Delaware between Sumner and Terry.
Delaware is already an important north-south street in the bike network, but it’s currently listed on the official city bike map as a “shared roadway” — one step in quality below a neighborhood greenway. Delaware connects the campus of Adidas North American headquarters near Willamette Blvd in the south and crosses important east-west bikeways such as Ainsworth, Rosa Parks, Bryant and Lombard. Delaware also provides direct access to Arbor Lodge Park, Chief Joseph Elementary School, Portland Village School, and Kenton Park.
To make it safer and more welcoming for bicycle riders, the Portland Bureau of Transportation announced in an email to nearby residents earlier this month they plan to begin construction at the end of March.
Carfree block of N Delaware between Saratoga and Bryant where there’s a school on one side and park on the other.Project circled in red and shown as “Tier 1” recommendation in North Portland in Motion plan.Details from PBOT’s North Portland in Motion Plan.
The plan calls for:
19 new speed bumps,
green crossbike striping at N Killingsworth,
green bike boxes at N Rosa Parks (along with parking removal at the corners and a ban on right turns during red signals),
and sharrow pavement markings, new wayfinding signage, intersection daylighting, and turned stop signs along the entire route.
Changes at Rosa Parks Way will be especially welcome. This intersection was the site of a very serious injury collision in 2016 that left a man paralyzed. It is also a busy cycling route for families coming and going to Chief Joseph Elementary School who want to use the existing protected bike lanes on Rosa Parks.
A few blocks north of Rosa Parks, between Saratoga and Bryant (an existing neighborhood greenway), PBOT has already made Delaware a carfree street. This section is between an elementary school and a park and is a safe place for kids and their families to play! In 2015, volunteers erected a covered bike parking area in the street.
Also of note in this project is PBOT’s decision to not address the problematic crossing at Lombard. You’ll recall that the Oregon Department of Transportation completed a major bikeway project on Lombard in 2022, but they downgraded the bike crossing at Delaware. PBOT is aware of the issue, but says they don’t have enough funding to make changes at this time.
View looking west on SE Stark at 115th. That’s Ventura Park on the right.
One of Portland’s deadliest streets will get major changes with a project set to break ground in the coming months. The Portland Bureau of Transportation announced last week they will repave Southeast Stark Street between 108th and 122nd this spring. In addition to new pavement, PBOT will add protected bike lanes on both sides of the street.
It’s all part of the larger Safer Outer Stark project that launched in 2019. Stark has a gruesome history as a high-speed stroad where people in cars, on foot, and on bikes run a higher than average risk of death or serious injury from a traffic collision. SE Stark and 122nd is known as the highest crash intersection in the entire city. Advocates have pushed PBOT for years to make a large safety investment on outer Stark and the city has responded. PBOT has split the $20 million project into five phases. The first two are complete and the one that will repave and add bike lanes this spring is phase three.
This 0.7 mile section of SE Stark begins just east of the Stark-Washington couplet at Mall 205. The width of the road is about 60-feet and it currently has four general purpose lanes and a center turn lane. The stretch between SE 113th and 117th runs along the south side of Ventura Park and has a 30 mph speed limit. Despite doing a complete repave, PBOT will not reduce the number of general travel lanes. See the before/after graphics below shared in a PBOT video about the project:
As you can see in the image above, PBOT plans a buffered bike lane with a concrete curb.
After this project is complete, PBOT will continue with the last two phases in 2025 when they’ll build six new crossings at SE 111th, 119th, 128th, 137th, 141st, and 151st. The last phase of the project will extend safety and crossing upgrades — as well the protected bike lanes — all the way to the city border with Gresham (SE 162nd).
This Specialized Haul ST is a Class 3 bike with a top speed of 28 mph. (Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Cycling and road safety advocates from across Oregon came together on a piece of electric bike legislation that is now poised to pass the House of Representatives. It’s likely passage is a major win for some e-bike advocates and represents a compromise they hope will lead to a more effective bill next year.
Last week BikePortland reported that a schism among bike advocates had developed over House Bill 4103. That bill was drafted by Bend lawmaker Emerson Levy (D-53) in response to a fatal collision last summer that took the life of a 15-year-old who was riding an e-bike. Levy’s bill sought to do four key things: bring Oregon in line with 41 other states that have adopted a three-class system for regulating e-bikes; make it legal for riders 15 and under to ride “Class 1” models (with a max speed of 20 mph and no throttle); prohibit people 15 and under from riding bikes equipped with throttles (Class 2) and that reach speeds of 28 mph (Class 3); and create a new misdemeanor traffic violation for parents of kids who didn’t comply with the new law.
The bill, known as “Trenton’s Law” was strongly supported by the parents of Trenton Burger, the boy who was killed by a driver while riding in Bend. Bend-based advocacy groups also supported the bill and were happy to see Class 1 bikes become legal for young riders and get more clarity and awareness around e-bikes in general. Since Burger’s death, pressure to do something about teens on throttle-equipped e-bikes has reached a fever pitch in small, high-income cities like Bend, Hood River, and Lake Oswego.
Megan Ramey, the Safe Routes to School manager for Hood River County who penned the “Dawn of the Throttle Kids” story for BikePortland in July 2022, testified at a public hearing for the bill on February 15th that one reason she supports HB 4103 is, “I can’t go a week without a friend, colleague or leader bringing up the ‘scofflaw e-bike teens.'” “The backlash is growing,” Ramey warned. “And it draws the positive energy out of Safe Routes to School.”
But despite liking some elements of the bill, other high profile advocates felt the changes went too far, too soon.
Last Wednesday, two days prior to a vote on the bill in the Joint Committee on Transportation, BikePortland reported that the two largest bike advocacy groups in America — People for Bikes and the League of American Bicyclists — had come out against the bill. Joining them in opposition were Portland-based nonprofits The Street Trust, BikeLoud PDX and No More Freeways.
One of the main sticking points for these groups was that HB 4103 would create a new law they felt was too “punitive” and would unfairly saddle some families with fines and potentially dangerous interactions with police. There were also concerns about language surrounding the maximum power output of e-bike motors, how the ban on Class 2 and 3 e-bikes might dampen adoption of cycling, the lack of a pedal requirement in the bill language, and the lack of a diversion program in lieu of the traffic fine.
“We’re particularly excited about the prospect of our state establishing what might be the nation’s first statewide task force on Electric Micromobility.”
– Sarah Iannarone, The Street Trust
These advocates argued that instead of rushing to pass significant changes this session, it would be smarter to create a statewide task force (as defined in HB 4067) where disagreements could be hammered out and then a new, more effective, bill could be introduced next session.
With the clock ticking on a very short session, and facing strong pressure from constituents to get results, Rep. Levy decided to compromise. HB 4103 was significantly amended prior to passage. The new “unsafe riding” traffic violation was taken out, but so too was the provision that would have made Class 1 e-bikes legal for everyone under 16.
The pared-down version of the bill includes only the three-class definitions and a change in the statutory definition of “bicycle” to include “is equipped with pedals” (a provision all parties agree is important to help regulate some e-bikes that don’t have them and should be considered mopeds or motorcycles).
Reached for comment Monday, Executive Director of The Street Trust Sarah Iannarone said she was optimistic about the compromise. She said it was only possible because of the leadership of Rep. Levy, (HB 4067 sponsor) Lake Oswego Rep. Daniel Nguyen (D-38), and the advocates who have worked on the bills — especially independent advocates RJ Sheperd and Cameron Bennett, John MacArthur from Portland State University, and Neil Baumsgard from The Environmental Center. Those advocates and others are members of the Electric Bikes For All group that has met regularly since 2019 (and is now led by The Street Trust). That group’s ability to quickly mobilize and educate the public and lawmakers with a position statement and petition was a key reason this compromise happened.
“While we’re glad to see Oregon develop a three-class system for e-bikes, we’re particularly excited about the prospect of our state establishing what might be the nation’s first statewide task force on Electric Micromobility to help engage stakeholders and develop policies to secure safe, equitable, affordable access to e-mobility for users regardless of where they live,” Iannarone said.
Now Iannarone and other e-bike advocates are pushing lawmakers to make sure HB 4067, the bill that will establish the Electric Micromobility Task Force, also passes this session. That bill passed the transportation committee Friday, but because it will cost the state an estimated an estimated $200,000, it is currently stuck in the Joint Committee on Ways & Means.
One man is dead and another man has been arrested after a collision between a driver and a bicycle rider around 3:00 am Sunday morning.
Red arrow points to collision location.
According to the Portland Police Bureau, 22-year-old Shane M. McKeever was either driving southbound on Southeast Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd and then turned left onto SE Belmont, or he approached from the west and crossed MLK. As he drove eastbound on Belmont, McKeever allegedly struck 49-year-old David Bentley. The Oregonian has reported that Bentley was sitting on his bike with his back to the road prior to the collision (a report by KOIN TV said Bentley was in the bike lane when it happened). One witness told The Oregonian that, “a car came flying through.” The impact reportedly threw Bentley’s body 40-50 feet in the air.
McKeever initially fled and police say someone shot at his vehicle. He tried to run, but was captured by locals who witnessed the crash. He is now charged with Manslaughter in the First Degree and Reckless Driving. (The Oregonian reports that McKeever is currently on probation for a fourth-degree assault conviction from 2022 in Benton County.)
Given the sharp corner, the damage to the car’s hood, and the estimated location of where this happened, McKeever must have been traveling at a high rate of speed. MLK Jr Blvd is a PBOT-managed highway (99E) with a 30 mph speed limit. Belmont, where the collision occurred, has a 20 mph speed limit. Photos from the scene show that an encampment of people living on and around the sidewalk was spilling precariously into the traffic lanes.
The cross-section on SE Belmont includes one general travel lane and one bike lane eastbound. The bike lane has a buffer stripe. According to Google Maps, it was installed sometime between late 2017 and mid-2018.
View onto SE Belmont from MLK. Image is from 2018. Collision happened at the corner on the center right.
Sarah Heckles is a volunteer with Hygiene 4 All, a homeless services provider based right around the corner, told BikePortland she lives nearby and often walks to work down this exact stretch of SE Belmont. Heckles knew Bentley, who was known on the street as “Dino.”
“When I work a shift at this location, I park in the lot where the suspect’s car was found and walk the same stretch where Dino was killed,” Heckles shared. “It’s super dangerous! I really dread walking this short stretch,” Here’s more from Heckles about the conditions:
“I often need to throw my hand up in the air to catch some attention from cars turning left off MLK to Belmont. The speeds which people turn here is appalling. It’s also a blind turn. It’s so dangerous and this is during the daytime typically. The entrance for our patrons is from MLK, so there is a lot of foot traffic when we are open.”
Heckles said she and her co-workers at Hygiene 4 All are “devastated” and are eager to push for safety improvements in the area.
The location where Bentley was hit and killed Sunday is a spot well-known for camping. In an older Google Streetview image you can see “No Camping” signs posted and a chain-link fence erected to prevent access under the viaducts. Campers have come anyways, and with the fence doing its job, their tents, possessions —and everyday lives — are pushed onto the sidewalk and street.
This comment made me smile. Writing in response to our post about a survey, which noted that Portland struggles with increasing the number of women on bikes, Paige stood a truism about biking on its head.
So many people talk about how riding a bike brings you closer to your environment, whether it’s the cityscape or out in nature. Riding a bike has an immediacy which traveling in a car just doesn’t.
But as Paige noted, sometimes you don’t want to interact much with your immediate environment — and a bike helps with that too!
Here’s what Paige had to say:
I took the survey and I hope it helps! Sometimes when I’m commuting to or from work, I find myself riding with a group of women and I feel such a great sense of camaraderie. We’re out here. And it’s really fun!
Safe infrastructure will go a long way to getting people to just give it a try. When people have a successful first few trips in nice weather, that motivates them to keep at it in less ideal conditions. So make the route connections easy/logical, protect the bike lanes (not just paint!!), and keep the lanes clear. Red light/speed cameras – put them everywhere!! Ultimately we need a road culture overhaul, and that happens slowly.
The last thing I want to say about safety is that I volunteer at Lan Su Garden, so I’m often heading into Old Town by myself. Would I walk around down there by myself? Probably not unless I had to! But I have never, ever been harassed by a person on foot while I’m on my bike, anywhere, in any city where I’ve ridden a bike. People pretty much leave you alone when you’re on a bike! It’s great! It’s very much in contrast to my experience walking in any city. The last thing a man shouted at me while I was on my bike was, and I quote, “Hey, cool boots.”
I want some of those boots.
You can read Paige’s comment and what other ladies had to say about riding in Portland, under the original post.
James Emond, the owner and dedicated heart of The Missing Link bike shop in the Woodstock Neighborhood is going through a major medical situation and folks are rallying support around him and his shop.
“Changes in the vertebrae in my neck have caused a narrowing of my spinal canal to the point where my spinal chord has been abraded,” Emond wrote last week on the shop’s Facebook page. “The overall feeling of this is a lot like what I imagine having a stroke would feel like-difficulty doing anything with my hands, trouble walking, balance issues, dropping things, difficult getting myself up from a seated position. I’m determined to get over this but I need help getting through the next couple months to keep myself and the shop afloat.”
According to a GoFundMe page set up by River Croney, a member of the shop’s riding club, “The good news is his brain is unaffected.”
“James isn’t just a shop owner; he’s a mentor, a friend, and an irreplaceable part of our cycling lives,” Croney wrote. Croney is a member of “Rolling Thunder,” the shop’s cycling club that competes at races throughout Oregon.
So far about $7,000 of a goal of $12,000 has been raised by customers, friends, and supporters of Emond and his shop.
The Missing Link was initially located on NE Sandy Blvd before it closed in 2012. Emond bought the shop from its original owner and moved it to SE Woodstock and 47th.
Emond is expected to make a recovery and could be back in the shop by June if everything goes OK. The shop is closed temporarily and Emond says his surgery is set for March 1st and “can’t come soon enough.”
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• Build and ship replacement orders
• Notify customers for any Out-of-Stock orders, due to double-ordering or inventory errors
• Manage Pro-Industry orders; facilitate Industry orders with other outdoors brands
• Collaborate and communicate with DTC team on weekly and monthly progress
• Collaborate with marketing team on seasonal promotions, understand timing and activations of marketing calendar, and be able to communicate details to customers
• Working with development team to monitor and identify any manufacturing issues
• Work with UPS and FedEx to redirect missing/fraudulent/incorrect address orders
• Work with inline team to help facilitate shop order sales functions as needed
Personal Qualifications:
The ideal candidate has a passion for cycling and understands the importance of quality cycling apparel and can communicate its importance, has excellent customer service skills, and enjoys interacting with customers to create an enjoyable brand experience. This person is excited to work with our customers and get them excited about the brand.
Education & Work Experience Qualifications:
• 2 years customer service experience
• Attention to detail with a desire to learn and proactively improve CS processes
• Excellent customer service and communication skills: verbal and written
• Ability to manage time and prioritize multiple tasks
• A team player who is willing to be flexible and help in other areas as needed
• Knowledge of the cycling, sports and/or outdoor industries a plus
• Preferred but not required: Experience working in customer service role for an e-commerce-based business, experience with Hubspot
• Position is in-office at Portland headquarters
About Castelli:
Castelli is a premium cycling apparel manufacturer with world headquarters in Italy and US headquarters in Portland, Oregon. We have a history of product innovation and performance that goes back over 100 years, and our products have been used by Tour de France winners, World Champions and Olympic Gold Medalists.
Our office and warehouse are in the Hollywood/Laurelhurst district of NE Portland and close to MAX and bike routes.
Full-time positions offer competitive wages, health care, 401k, paid time-off, and a generous product allowance.
The Castelli team strives to create an inclusive workplace that promotes and values diversity. Companies that are diverse in age, gender identity, race, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, ethnicity, and perspective are proven to be better companies. More importantly, creating an environment where everyone, from any background, can do their best work is the right thing to do. We welcome all applicants.
How to Apply
Please send resume and cover letter to careers@castelli-us.com
Welcome to the week. It’s going to be a great! Let’s get started.
Here are the most notable items our community came across in the past seven days:
Cougar attack: Friends riding bikes together on a trail near Fall City, Washington heroically fought off a cougar that attacked a 60-year old woman. Cyclists used their bike to pin down the cougar until wildlife officials arrived. (KOMO)
Less pavement, more life: Portland’s very own Depave leads this article that profiles the growing worldwide trend of removing pavement and replacing it with plants in a bid to improve lives and battle climate change. (BBC)
Silly Americans: Was fun to see headlines about how a massive Taylor Swift concert in Melbourne, Australia could be held at a stadium without acres of car parking lots next to it. Turns out, public transit is a thing. (Independent)
Consequences, finally: An intoxicated woman who was driving 81 mph on a 45 mph roadway in Los Angeles and hit and killed two young boys was found guilty of murder and will face 34 years to life in prison. (The Guardian)
Dubliners want fewer cars: Ireland’s largest city will enact a bold plan to significantly reduce driving in its city center and many of its residents support the plan. (Bloomberg)
TriMet traffic toll: Left turning buses, homeless Portlanders, and careless bus operators are among the reasons why our local transit agency experienced it’s deadliest year in almost a decade in 2023. (The Oregonian)
London’s success: I think the rise of cycling in London and how that makes it a larger target for politicians and public opinion helps explain part of the bikelash Portland faced in the mid-late aughts. (Bloomberg)
Bike vacations for the 1%: If you’ve got a lot of cash and want to ride and hang out with professional cycling stars, there’s a tour company that can make your dreams come true. (Robb Report)
Video of the Week: Banning drivers from streets in front of schools should be a top priority for every city. Watch this Streetfilms from Paris and you’ll see why:
