You’ve all seen the cool new bike path that leads directly into the Portland International Airport terminal. But what good is safe bike infrastructure, if you have to risk your life to access it? And what’s it like to ride from north/northeast Portland neighborhoods to the new path?
When I made that video earlier this month I grabbed footage of my entire ride to the new path, but only shared the the last segment. In this video you’ll see what it’s like to go from Peninsula Park near I-5 in north Portland to the start of the path.
Along the way, you’ll learn about the extremely bumpy and potholed NE Holman neighborhood greenway, the blissful pocket park at Holman and NE 13th, experience the gap on the NE 42 Ave overpass to Columbia Blvd, see how the new(ish) protected bike lane on NE 47th is holding up, ride the white-knuckle gauntlet of NE Cornfoot Rd, and then find out how to connect to off-street sidewalks of NE 82nd Way and get to NE Air Cargo Rd where my other video picks up.
I also shared a bit of news in this video. That (last time I checked) PBOT has funding to build a new path along NE Cornfoot in 2026 and that the Port of Portland will start a project next summer to redesign the NE 82nd Way/Air Cargo Rd intersection to improve bike network connections to the new path.
Remember, getting to the airport by bike isn’t just some cool thing for privileged travelers, there are thousands of people who work at or near the airport who need/want an alternative to driving.
Do you ever ride parts of this route? What has your experience been? Do you think a significant amount of Portlanders would bike to the airport if we had a safe, “8-80” quality route the entire way?