4/25: Hello readers and friends. I'm still recovering from a surgery I had on 4/11, so I'm unable to attend events and do typical coverage. See this post for the latest update. I'll work as I can and I'm improving every day! Thanks for all your support 🙏. - Jonathan Maus, BikePortland Publisher and Editor
Screenshot of man accused of stalking runner on Waterfront Park path. (via @johnannabanana on TikTok)
Last month I covered a series of disturbing incidents on the Springwater Corridor and other local carfree paths. Today I’ve heard of two more things you should know about if you use those facilities.
On Monday, a person who posts on TikTok as johnannabanana shared a video describing a scary encounter with a man on a bike. The person says a guy riding a bike followed her while she was running along the Willamette River on the Waterfront Park path near the Hawthorne Bridge. In the video, johnannabanana says the man was clearly watching her run and taking video of her and then verbally assaulted her when she called him out.
Comments from other women on the TikTok post share similar experiences.
And yesterday, the Portland Police Bureau issued a statement saying they are looking for another cyclist who they say exposed himself to a female runner on the Springwater Corridor. It happened around 10:30 am Wednesday (9/4) in the area of SE Johnson Creek Blvd and SE Brookside Dr. Here’s more from the PPB:
The woman told officers she was jogging when a man on a bicycle passed her and jumped into the bushes further up the trail. According to the woman, as she approached the area, the man emerged from the bushes naked and with his hand on his genitals and he tried grabbing her. The woman managed to get away from the man and run for help.
Willamette Week cover story on I-5 Rose Quarter. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
The cover story in this week’s edition of the Willamette Week pulls back the veil on how the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is building support for their $1.9 billion I-5 Rose Quarter freeway expansion project.
The story, by Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Nigel Jaquiss, is a must-read for anyone who cares about state transportation funding, ODOT, and the future of the Rose Quarter area. It focuses on a consultant hired by ODOT to facilitate meetings of the project’s Historic Albina Advisory Board (HAAB), and the amount of money ODOT has spent on planning the project in general — despite claiming they are out of money and despite having not yet broken ground.
Here’s an excerpt:
Instead of bulldozers and wrecking balls, ODOT comes this time bearing lucrative contracts and gift cards. Over the past four years, to make its pitch to Black leaders, the agency deployed an army of consultants, none more important than a loquacious preacher from Vancouver, Wash., named Dr. Steven Holt…
Holt’s company, Try Excellence LLC, which includes Holt, another consultant and his son, has charged ODOT $2.7 million since 2020. (A recent contract with another government agency shows the firm charges $650 an hour.)
Try Excellence’s billings are a fraction of the more than $127 million the agency has spent on the Rose Quarter project so far, but also a measure of how hard ODOT is promoting the project.
Holt is the facilitator for the HAAB, a committee ODOT has leaned heavily on in order to turn the tides of political opinion about the project. Recall that ODOT created the HAAB only after they dissolved a similar committee whose former members said the agency silenced them because they spoke out against the project. The HAAB is now credited with helping ODOT win the $450 million federal Reconnecting Communities grant. (The Willamette Week article reveals committee members have been paid $48,000 in cash and gift cards for their time since 2021. According to the committee’s charter, members can receive $30 per hour for their time after completing required paperwork.)
Jaquiss also touches on a lawsuit filed by Holt against other community leaders for what he alleges is defamation of character.
It’s an important article that illuminates the people and public relations behind ODOT’s massive effort to make sure their controversial project moves forward.
At Park(ing) Day in 2013, local musician Dan Kaufman set up in a space on SW Harvey Milk. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
The City of Portland recently announced that applications are open for the annual observance of Park(ing) Day on September 20th. An international holiday that began in San Francisco in 2005 and takes place on the third Friday of September, Park(ing) Day is an opportunity for anyone to show how our right-of-way can function as much more than private car storage.
In the past, Portlanders have done all types of cool stuff in parking spaces from performing live music, to creating cool lounges to setting up ping-pong tables, and much more. The event is a reminder that our car-centric curb spaces are a choice and that all we lack is the creativity and public will to re-imagine them.
After all, streets are for people, not cars.
Now is the time to get your idea together and apply. PBOT will accept applications for spaces until end of day on September 13th. There are some restrictions about where you can set up and there’s some legwork you/your team must perform to be considered, but as long as you meet the guidelines and the city’s engineers sign off on your design, you’re good to go.
Find out more about Park(ing) Day and fill out the application on the city’s website.
I saw a lot of people on bike tours, including this guy in Pula, Croatia as we explored their Roman ampitheater. (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Hi everyone. I’m back in the Shed after two weeks away. I haven’t had a break that long from BikePortland in 19 years. I didn’t even bring my laptop! If you know me, you know that’s a very big deal. I had a really nice time away. We visited family (my wife Juli was born in Budapest, Hungary and still has family there) and we also spent much-needed time together as our own family. With daughters 21 and 19 years old, and a son who is 13, it was very special for all five of us to be on the road in such close quarters for two weeks.
Before I dive into the regular routine, I figured I’d share a few bike and transport pics. Keep in mind I was intentionally not focused on taking photos of this stuff because I wanted to be fully present with my family; but when opportunity arose I indulged myself with photos of people on bikes and street scenes.
Join me for a little taste of my time spent in Budapest (capital of Hungary), Bálaton (largest lake in Hungary), and Pula, Croatia…
Fashionable Budapest resident rolls by the Hungarian National Opera House on Andrassy, Utca. Notice how she’s on the sidewalk because the on-street cycling conditions in Budapest are not very safe.
Left: A cool, three-wheeled pedal trike to get around Margaret Island on the Danube River. Right: A dedicated, two-way bike lane across Margaret Bridge.
A woman rides a bike-share bike across Margaret Bridge as the Hungarian Parliament Building looms in the background.
A couple hangs out along the Danube River under the moon on a warm summer night.
Lake Bálaton is extremely bike-friendly with a well-signed and popular bike route around the entire lake and lots of solid facilities, like this covered bike parking. As a result, many folks use bikes to get to the water and do overnight trekking trips.Few more from Bálaton. Classic old bike across the street from my father-in-law’s house. Bike parking outside a pub advertising my favorite drink, fröccs (white wine with soda water). A very popular type of business sign in the town of Tihany.Scenes from the amazing city of Rovinj, Croatia. I was really impressed with Ilica street in Zagreb, Croatia. Transit vehicles dominate, there are very few cars, it’s at-grade with adjacent sidewalks, it’s quiet and safe.
Thanks for taking a look at these. It feels good to be home and I appreciate your patience and support while I was gone. Here’s one last pic of the fam and I up in the Castle District in Budapest.
District 4 candidates Olivia Clark and Eric Zimmerman pose in front of the candidates’ table at the Northwest Oregon Labor Council Labor Day picnic at the Clackamas Fairgrounds.
Labor Day marks the start of the last leg of the race to November’s election, and the candidates at the Clackamas Fairground were working hard. The Northwest Oregon Labor Council’s fairground picnic was the occasion for this AFL-CIO group to introduce its endorsed slate of twelve candidates running for Portland City Council positions.
Endorsements are important in any election, but this election is the first time Portlanders will be voting to fill a reorganized government structure — while using an unfamiliar ranked-choice voting method. Candidates are competing for three positions in each of four newly-formed geographic city council districts, for a total 12-person city council. The previous council structure was four council members and a mayor elected by city voters at-large.
Steph Routh (D1), Elena Pirtle-Guiney (D2), Olivia Clark (D4)Steve Novick (D3), Jamie Dunphy (D1), Steph Routh (D1)Candace Avalos (D1)
The increased size of the council, together with the reduced geographic area in which candidates have to campaign, has lowered the barrier to entry for council races. As a result, the number of people running for office has swelled. Last week was the deadline for declaring candidacy, and although the numbers are not yet official, it looks like District 1 has 15 candidates; District 2 has 20; District 3 weighs in at 25; and District four has ballooned to 27 candidates running. (The City Registrar doesn’t finalize the numbers until Thursday.)
Chad Lykin (D4) and mayoral candidate Carmen Rubio.Tiffany Koyama-Lane (D3) and mayoral candidate Keith WilsonMayoral candidate Mingus Mapps, Eric Zimmerman (D4), Mike Marshall (D2)
Voters will be looking for all the help they can get to make sense of this crowded field, and that’s why campaign staples such as endorsements and yard signs will be so critical this year. As I wandered the fairgrounds, I tried to learn what strategies attendees were using to come to grips with the abundance of candidates. I was hoping that I would hear something I could recommend to others.
How folks are selecting candidates to rank
Bing Wong at the NWOLC Labor Day picnic.Rory Read, a member of Local 483, at the Labor Day picnic.
The first man I talked with quickly disabused me of the notion that people who attend AFL-CIO events on Labor Day are your typical voters. It turns out that Bing Wong was a past officer of the Multnomah County Democratic Party. His preferred method of eliminating candidates is to go straight to the ORESTAR database (Oregon Election Systems for Tracking and Reporting) and eliminate those candidates who haven’t yet formed a candidacy committee. I don’t think most people know what any of that means, and ORESTAR isn’t real easy to use. But I enjoyed talking with Bing. (And what a t-shirt!)
Next I spoke with Rory Read, a member of Local 483, which is the Laborer’s Local representing city employees. Rory is a bike commuter who reads BikePortland, and he and I had a fascinating conversation about what ails Portland city government, as seen by someone on the inside, in a non-management position. And his recommendation for vetting candidates? Rory goes to “meet and greets” in his neighborhood and thinks it is important to see the candidates in person. I agree.
Finally, I spoke with a young woman working the Measure 117 table (statewide ranked choice vote). She was new to Oregon and planned to rely on endorsements from civic groups and unions.
Nobody I spoke with mentioned one of my preferred methods of winnowing the candidate lists. I use the Portland Small Donor Elections website to give me quick handle on where candidates stand, so I thought I would share that approach with you.
Winnowing with Small Donor Elections data
Portland has a Small Donor Elections program which offers $9.00 of matching funds for every $1.00 donated to a city council candidate by a Portland resident, up to a $20 maximum donation. So if I donate $20 to a candidate, the city will kick in $180, for a combined total of $200 to the candidate. If I donate $100, the city will match $20 of my donation with $180, for a combined donation of $280.
The catch is, the city doesn’t release those funds until a city council candidate qualifies for them by reaching a threshold of 250 donations. In other words, a candidate needs to have hustled enough, be organized enough, and have enough community support to have convinced 250 people to donate at least $5.00 to their campaign. (The next two donation thresholds are 750 and 1,250, and the city caps the matches at $40K + $40K + $40K, or $120,000.)
It’s a good program and it goes a long way toward dampening the influence of money in politics. But it’s the program’s portal which has got me hooked, and which might be useful if the number of candidates is overwhelming you. The portal shows all participating candidates, how much they’ve raised, how much of that money could qualify for a match, and it also groups the donations into tranches, by amount.
This might seem brutal, but I’m not considering any candidate who has not yet qualified for the city’s first round of matching funds. In other words, a candidate won’t make my list until they’ve gotten 250 people to give them at least $5.00. Every district has many qualified candidates who have been working their rear-ends off for months, and who have received that first round of city support.
Here’s how the top District 4 candidates are doing:
The cold, hard truth is that ballots are being mailed in six weeks. Candidates are accelerating into the final stretch. Yard signs are going up. A mailer or two are being prepared. And that all takes money. So if you are a voter who doesn’t know where to begin, is short on time, and just wants to cut to the chase, I suggest starting by looking at the fundraising. Pick your threshold, maybe it’s 250 donations, and focus your attention on the candidates above that.
But hey, if you’ve got a twinkle in your eye for someone who is behind with the funds, more power to you and I’m cheering you on. Go for it! That’s the whole point of ranked choice voting, you get to vote your conscience and still have some votes left over to play with.
This guest post was contributed by BikePortland supporter and veteran ride leader Tom Howe.You can contact him via nagitpo@gmail.com.
In early August Coraline’s Curious Cat Trail was installed in and around downtown Portland. This trail, named after the animated movie Coraline, consists of 31 cat sculptures, each beautifully and uniquely painted by artists. These sculptures are about 5 feet tall and are generally located on sidewalks near the street, making them easy to spot. To find them, a cell phone app has been created which provides a zoomable map with markers for each cat.
But the inexpensive app does much more, as it allows you to “collect” the cats and earn rewards by entering a four-digit code from the placard at the base of each cat. These rewards could be discounts on tickets or at shops, or even actual items like stickers and pens to be picked up at the business listed in the reward description. Each cat also has its own image gallery where you can upload pictures you have taken of yourself or your family and friends with the cat. The trail benefits Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, and after it closes on October 13th, the cats will be auctioned off in a fundraiser.
The cat trail has been immensely popular, with most people walking from cat to cat using the cell phone app. I wanted to bike from cat to cat and made some Ride With GPS routes to accomplish that. The main route is a 10-mile loop that visits all 29 of the “low elevation” cats. The route has a point of Interest marker for each cat providing info, and you can zoom in very close to see exactly where the cat is situated. It took me about three hours to complete the 10-mile loop, stopping at each cat to enter the code in the app and take a picture. I rode that loop on a weekend evening and encountered pedestrians at nearly every cat who were also snapping pictures and entering codes. I couldn’t visit one cat named “In Plain Sight” as it is inside Pioneer Place, which closes at 7pm. All other cats are visible from the sidewalk.
There are two remaining “high elevation” cats at the International Rose Test Garden and the Pittock Mansion. Those two cats have their own 5.7-mile loop route due to the steep climb necessary to ride up to them. The Pittock Mansion is about 900 feet above downtown Portland and, in spots, the road can be as steep as a 12% grade. The route goes up to the Rose Garden first, then takes advantage of the elevation already gained to go further up to the Pittock Mansion.
There are also two shorter routes that are not loops for those who don’t want to ride to all 29 of the lower cats on a single ride. The SE-SW route starts at OMSI and is 5.1 miles long visiting 18 cats. The SW-NW route is 3.0 miles long and visits 12 cats. The SE-SW route ends at Salmon Street Springs, while the SW-NW route starts at that location.
The roads in downtown Portland are often one-way, so it is sometimes required to ride around the block to get to the next cat. The cats are not always directly next to the bike path or roadway, so it is necessary to get off the bike and walk over. Please be mindful of pedestrians and avoid riding on sidewalks or crowded paths. This is particularly true at the Rose Garden, which may be crowded with pedestrians.
One unfortunate thing I noticed is some cats are missing the laminated placard at the base of the cat that describes the sculpture and has the 4-digit code for the cell phone app. These placards are securely attached to the sculpture base but can be forcefully torn off, which has happened multiple times on some sculptures. If you encounter a cat with a missing placard, take a picture of the sculpture then DM the Coraline Cat folks at either their Instagram or Facebook pages. They will reply to you with the code for that cat sculpture.
I found riding Coraline’s Curious Cat Trail a highly enjoyable experience and hope you do too. With over 113K likes on their Instagram reel a lot of people feel the same way!
Hungarian national team fans after a big football victory.The “villamos” in front of parliament building. A busker selling corn cobs at Lake Balaton.Young folks meeting on the Danube after work.Bike path on the Danube with Lancid Bridge and Gellert Hill in the background.Bike scenes from my last trip to Budapest in 2016. (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Hi everyone.
Just wanted to remind you that I’m leaving town again for another family trip and won’t be back until the first week in September. I wish there was a way for me to keep the site going strong while I’m away, but without any paid staff that’s just not possible. I realize this isn’t ideal, so I’m asking for your patience, understanding and support as I take this last trip of the summer with my family.
If you’re curious, all five of us (my kids are 13, 19, and 21) are headed to Budapest where my wife was born and still has family (dad, aunt, uncle, and cousins). The last time I was there was 2016. I was impressed with their bike culture and infrastructure back then, so I’m curious what it looks like now. But to be clear, this is a family trip so I likely won’t switch into BikePortland-mode much at all if I can help it.
The thing is, I really need a break! The past 19 years of BikePortland is catching up to me — both physically and mentally. I have a serious elbow tendon overuse issue (from typing and using my thumb) that makes it painful to type and use my phone — both of which are absolutely necessary to do my job. And it feels like I’ve got some sort of mental exhaustion going on from the daily grind of writing, thinking, talking, hustling, stressing, all the expectations, and so on.
Next year will be Year 20 for BikePortland and Year 50 for me, so suffice it to say lately I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about what it all means and what the hell I’m doing here. You know, typical mid-life crisis type of stuff!
Thanks for reading and hearing a few of my thoughts as I get set to leave town for the second time this month. I already miss being home and I can’t wait to get back to Portland and settle into fall. I’ve got a ton of cool stories, videos, and interviews planned for when I return.
Hope your summer has been great. And thanks again for your patience and support.
Make sure you’ve caught up on all the stories we shared last week. It was a busy news week! Now things will get quiet around here again as I head out on another family trip (this time to visit relatives in Budapest, Hungary). BikePortland will be in vacation mode again from later today (still need to pack!) through September 4th.
And with that, here are the most notable items we came across in the past week or so…
Shifter sabotage: Researchers have found a vulnerability in Shimano’s Di2 electronic shifting system that allows hackers to shift gears of a nearby bike. (Wired)
Super idea: Very pleasantly surprised to see this wonderfully presented breakdown of how American cities could implement superblocks, which would reduce the harms of driving cars that impacts so many of us. (Washington Post)
Move over, e-bike rebates: The City of Chicago’s transportation department has given away over 2,000 bikes as part of a program that distributes them to people in need. Is this a more effective way than e-bike rebates to spur cycling? (Next City)
Power of bicycling: Bicycles are giving young girls in India a level of freedom and access to education that is so profound some call a “silent revolution.” (BBC)
Trains for Harris-Walz: Oregon State Rep Khanh Pham was one of 400 participants in a Zoom call fundraiser for the Democratic presidential ticket that raised $12,000. (Streetsblog USA)
Not just for kids: Turns out that when we get kids back out into streets to play, its often the parents who benefit the most from the new community connections. (The Atlantic)
Culture war on cars: Some Republicans are pushing back on common sense traffic law efforts like automated cameras, right turn bans, and other measures because they feel like it’s just anti-car liberal nonsense. Lol. (Politico)
E-bikes helping vanquish car culture: “The concept of car-lite living is trending around the world,” say authors of a new study about how e-bikes are allowing families to reduce the number of cars they own. (Momentum Magazine)
Watch the Femmes: An absolutely thrilling final stage of the Tour de France Femmes was won by Kasia Niewiadoma by a mere four seconds over Demi Vollering. (Velo)
Road closed for a reason: A bicycle rider in California disobeyed serious warnings about a land slide in Big Sur and tried to climb over it — only to fall 100 feet and suffer injuries before being rescued by authorities. The man now faces several charges. (The Mercury News)
Anyone who has traveled from the east side of the Broadway Bridge to the critical Vancouver/Williams bike boulevard — in any mode — knows that this area is a crash waiting to happen. And they happen.
Jonathan was as close to giddy as he gets in last week’s post about proposed changes to this stretch of N Broadway. So was longtime reader and activist Betsy Reese. Both the story and Betsy’s comment marked the years of work by so many people that has culminated in this project. For someone who hasn’t followed the machinations closely (like myself), or is new to Portland, learning the recent history of the streets, their projects, and the people linked to them is one of my favorite reasons to keep reading BikePortland and its comments.
After such a long slog of effort by so many people, including advocates, near neighbors, and BOT/DOT staff, to get the incremental changes that have been made to the notoriously dangerous N Broadway/Flint/Wheeler intersection to try to save a life, this long-overdue complete overhaul of N. Broadway is just tremendous. I am so happy that I’ll live to see it done.
I do have a couple of comments I will make, although if others have more recent or detailed information, I would love for you to let me know.
One: If this really is the new Main Street through this fabulous emerging close-in urban neighborhood, we will need much wider sidewalks on both sides of Broadway. and
Two: ODOT’s Vancouver/Broadway/I-5 Freeway intersection plan for cyclists included a shift of the bike lane from the right side to the left side of the Vancouver across all lanes of motor vehicle traffic as it approached Broadway, and then they funneled cyclists into a “jug-handle” staging area for a right turn from Vancouver to Broadway across the freeway off-ramps. If this has not yet been satisfactorily redesigned already, it is definitely an area for advocates to vigil and speak up about.
To everyone who has had a hand in pushing for improving Broadway for bikes and peds over the last 25 years: Thank you!
Thank you Betsy, and congratulations to everyone who helped make this happen. You can read Betsy’s comment under the original post.
At 56-60 feet wide, PBOT says there’s not enough room for dedicated bike lanes. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Since March of 2023 (at least) I’ve been trying to help folks understand why the $185 million City of Portland effort to redesign 82nd Avenue wasn’t likely to include bike lanes. Now we know for sure. In documents released this week along with a new open house and online survey, the Portland Bureau of Transportation says the project won’t include space for cycling.
Why not? They say roadway engineering constraints would lead to significant delays for bus and car users. It’s a frustrating, yet completely understandable, conclusion to reach.
Despite the outsized role 82nd plays in the transportation system, in PBOT’s view it’s actually quite narrow. While PBOT was able to build protected bike lanes during recent redesigns of outer SE Stark, SE Division, and SE 122nd, those streets are 10-20 feet wider. Because of that extra width PBOT was, “able to incorporate protected bike lanes without creating major trade-offs for transit and other vehicles,” states a PBOT document published to their website this week.
(Source: PBOT)
Given that 82nd carries a high volume of driving trips and is home to the busiest bus line in Oregon, PBOT says, “There is simply not enough space to adequately accommodate all modes of travel” especially since the driver speeds and auto volumes require PBOT to build fully separated, protected bike lanes.
Here’s more from PBOT’s “82nd Avenue Bicycle Strategy”:
“PBOT explored the impact of dedicated bike facilities, focusing on effects on transit and vehicle diversion. Initial modeling showed that even with significant automobile diversion, the Line 72 bus would face major congestion, experiencing about a 50% travel time delay. For example, a 3-mile bus ride on 82nd Avenue would be delayed by an additional 10 minutes, increasing the total travel time to 30 minutes.
Given that Line 72 has higher ridership than the Orange and Yellow MAX lines and currently faces significant delays and reliability issues, the impacts of re-purposing travel lanes for bike facilities are too great.”
What PBOT doesn’t mention is the political risk. I’m not aware of anyone — be it activists or an advocacy group, a community leader or elected official — who’s willing to spend the political capital it would take to get bike lanes on 82nd Avenue. If someone did step up, the bike lanes would be pitted directly against buses, sidewalks, and local business owners. It would risk igniting east Portland narratives about not being listened to by city hall dwellers, the local media would seize on the “bikes versus everyone else” story and we’d be caught in another controversial quagmire. Then there’s the simple fact that bike lanes might not have much support among the many of the interested parties and community groups PBOT has asked for feedback.
The plan instead is to focus bicycle transportation on nearby parallel routes and to improve crossings and access to 82nd.
82nd Avenue and the “bike ladder” concept.
In their new open house documents, PBOT lists several components of their strategy to improve bike transportation in the corridor:
Expand the Neighborhood Greenway Network: Enhance and extend the Neighborhood Greenway Network to provide more choices and more effective biking infrastructure in the corridor.
Improve Bike Connectivity: Strengthen bicycle connections between greenways and key destinations along 82nd Avenue.
Enhance Wayfinding: Add new wayfinding to improve navigation on existing and future bike routes, ensuring clear guidance to connect people to Neighborhood Greenways and local destinations.
Enhance Bicycle Parking: Support the development of secure and accessible bicycle parking facilities near affordable housing and other key destinations.
Review Bicycle Classifications: Assess the bicycle classifications outlined in this plan for consistency and update them as needed in the next Transportation System Plan (TSP) revision.
About half of the planned bike crossings and about three-quarters of the parallel greenway routes are already funded. PBOT calls their robust bike crossing strategy a “bike ladder concept.”
What PBOT doesn’t mention is anything specific about whether or not the future bus lane will explicitly allow bicycling. For riders confident enough, I have a strong hunch the bus lane will become a popular bike route. I currently ride on the red-painted, “Bus Only” lane on NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd quite often and find it to be very efficient and convenient (and only a bit unnerving as it has streetcar tracks in it at several junctures).
Given what a vital north-south street this is, and the fact that all our adopted planning goals call for more bicycling and less driving — especially on busy, destination-rich commercial corridors — it’s unfortunate we aren’t willing to sacrifice driving space to create cycling access on 82nd. But I also understand the thorny political and engineering factors behind PBOT’s decision.
— Check out the online open house and link to the new online survey on PBOT’s website.
