4/21: 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. I'll post as I can and should improve day-by-day. Thanks for all your support 🙏. - Jonathan Maus, BikePortland Publisher and Editor
People who love cycling came together at a food cart pod in Beaverton Monday afternoon. (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Turns out if you just go up and over the hills west of Portland and into Washington County, enthusiasm for better bicycling is bubbling up everywhere you look. That energy was on full display last night at the inaugural Westside Bike Happy Hour that took place across the street from Beaverton City Hall.
I’ve been poking at Washington County bike people for a while now to start a Bike Happy Hour (BHH) on the west side. With at least two solid groups hosting rides on a regular basis — Ride Westside (advocacy-oriented, slow-pace explorations of routes and infrastructure) and Westside Wednesday (fast and fun urban assaults that often go into the night) — and lots of advocates doing hard work in and out of government, I knew the necessary catalysts were in place.
But great things often require one person to stand up and commit. That person was Rob Lewis (@cyclorob on Instagram). Late last month he messaged me about wanting to make it happen, then he connected with folks from those two riding groups and set a time, date, and location.
Westside Wednesday Ride crew showed up in force.BikePortland Washington County Correspondent Tina Ricks helped organize it. Zhian and MichaelKim shared this path gap he’d like to fix.Joel’s really cool t-shirt.Event organizer Rob Lewis.Tink and their rave trike.Joshua is carfree in Washington County.City of Beaverton Planner Kellie Fenton (left) with organizers Rob and Tina.@tigard_stripes sighting!Passing out flyers is a BHH tradition.Sam is 16 and already talks like a planning veteran.RohitI was thrilled that Kellie brought out a map to hear about peoples’ routes and concerns.
Last night I rolled out from north Portland and about 50 minutes later I was locking up at BG’s Food Cartel, an excellent food cart and quintessential “third place” a short walk from the Beaverton Central MAX station, for the first ever gathering.
Within a few minutes the first person rolled up. Then another. Then another. The crowd ultimately grew to several dozen. As picnic benches were pushed together to form a larger table, people were connected to form a larger community. Rob’s vision of creating a centralized space to unite and amplify bike lovers on the west side was coming true right before our eyes!
I met all types of great folks, from many different parts of the cycling life: an older couple on e-bikes, a 16-year old urbanism whiz kid who regaled me with stories about getting a new rapid flashing beacon near his Bethany home, a City of Beaverton planner armed with free bike maps and eager to sign up volunteers for an upcoming bike count, ride organizers looking for new recruits, someone with a story pitch for BikePortland, and folks who showed up because they simply wanted to meet other people into cycling.
And thanks to the generosity of Shawne Martinez (@tigard_stripes on IG), we even borrowed the eastside BHH tradition of free fries for everyone!
The event was a big success and is now officially scheduled for every-other-week at the same time and place. Well done west siders! I can’t wait to see how this evolves.
Westside Bike Happy Hour Every Other Monday 4:00 to 6:00 pm BG’s Food Cartel (4250 SW Rose Biggi Ave)
To experience this monumental transportation infrastructure without the normalized deadly threat of motor vehicles, I set out last night at the midnight closure, with a couple dozen intrepid explorers to ride I-84 by bicycle. Based on media reports of the civic emergency that necessitated this special intervention, I prepared mentally for what we might encounter.
The ride description said “Prepare for side streets, dirt paths, gravel and smooth pavement. Prepare to lift your bike and the bikes of others over things–if it comes to that. Prepare to go in the out way, and out the in way,” but my imagination embellished that further.
Compared to every bikeway I’ve ever been on, and most surface streets, I-84 was as clean as a whistle, and smooth as butter, before the cleanup even got started.
Map to strategize access.
I imagined graffiti abatement armies feverishly spraying paint over every surface of this dirty stricken corridor, a dangerous work zone motorway strewn with barriers, disoriented evicted campers, and slick with gallons of fresh ‘ODOT Gray.’ I pictured crews marching oblivious across the highway hoisting sharp-edged replacement signage like slapstick comedy setups on a heavily-traveled cratered moonscape of ruts and potholes. I think I was expecting these things because they are like what I often experience on the bikeways of Portland, a maze of obstacles, glass-strewn and overgrown, where riders must be ever-vigilant to arrive safely at their destination.
After a planning session over a hand-drawn map to determine the best access point, a steep embankment traverse, some off-camber singletrack over hobo trails, and a stealthy recon, a collective decision was made to “send it.” We lifted our bikes over the concrete barrier wall and pedaled west between the truck mounted attenuators and toward the river and the unknown. As we picked up speed under the half moon, and spread our wings across the generous and empty three-lane roadway, I experienced something new and surprising. We were freely gliding through the city — without any fear.
As a bicycle rider, you rarely get to have this experience. Bikeways in the US are designed to slow riders down, with chicanes, push-buttons, and ever-new safety interventions. Even separated bike paths are interrupted by debris, engineered obstacles, and increasingly by cars.
But I-84, the T.H. Banfield Expressway, is designed for going fast, and so we did. We quickly maxed out our gearing on the flat straightaways and banked turns, with the fixed-gear riders furiously spinning to keep up. Some turned off their lights to make our presence less pronounced, and because there were no defects to spot on the well-lit pavement.
Compared to every bikeway I’ve ever been on, and most surface streets, I-84 was as clean as a whistle, and smooth as butter, before the cleanup even got started. Were there colorful murals on the underpasses? I wouldn’t have noticed. We were busy enjoying the cool unpolluted night air, and the glorious quietude. There’s something about gliding through the city at high speed — in silence — that makes bicycling feel even more like you are flying.
Here’s something you can’t usually do while you are driving down a highway: have a conversation with other travelers. We talked about the exhilaration and the joy we were feeling, and how to experience it more often. “This is what we could have,” I said, thinking about Dutch bicycle highways. “This is what we already have,” was the reply.
Just like on our surface streets, it’s the cars that ruin our highways. Instead of spending millions painting the roses red, let’s give Oregonians an opportunity to enjoy the bed of roses under our feet.
We should prioritize building high-speed regional bicycle highways in Oregon, recognizing that e-bikes now enable fast climate-friendly long-distance travel for almost everyone. And we should certainly begin planning and construction of the Sullivan’s Gulch Trail along this central Portland corridor, a project that has sat neglected on the shelf for decades. But until those long-term projects are completed, we can better use what we already have. If we can close this busy roadway for a superficial painting party, we can easily close it periodically for everyone to experience a bicycle ride without fear.
Impossible you say? Perhaps you didn’t hear about Arroyo Fest last year. Car-obsessed Los Angeles closed seven miles of the 110 Freeway, one of the first freeways built in the US, for four hours last October for an open-streets event. It was a huge success with thousands turning out to enjoy the car-free route that in 1900 was an elevated wooden cycleway before it was converted to a freeway. You might have even gotten a taste of a car-free highway during Portland’s annual Bridge Pedal, and wondered how to have more events like this.
The Oregon Governor prioritized last night’s closure because there was a public perception that I-84 was too dirty and neglected to enjoy. But that perception was misplaced. Just like on our surface streets, it’s the cars that ruin our highways. Instead of spending millions painting the roses red, let’s give Oregonians an opportunity to enjoy the bed of roses under our feet. I-84 without cars is beautiful!
Today’s Monday Roundup is sponsored by the City of Portland 2024 election team who will be our special guest at Bike Happy Hour this week. Come out and join our mock election where we rank bike projects to learn how the new ranked choice voting system will work.
And with that, here are the most notable items we came across in the past seven days…
Expired registrations reality: Turns out that the estimated number of people driving cars with expired tags might be far lower than the City of Portland said it was when they sought to drum up political support for more enforcement officers. (OPB)
E-cargo bike share: Imagine bike share like Biketown, except the bikes are electric cargo bikes you could use to haul kids or cargo or both?! Learn more about CargoB in Boston. (Streetfilms)
Listen up: New research found that the use of headphones while cycling did not have significant cognitive impacts. (Transportation Research)
Olympic urbanism: Athletes and sport won’t be the only thing on grand display at the Summer Olympics later this month as Paris plans to use the global spotlight to highlight its commitment to bicycle urbanism. (Momentum Mag)
Central city progress: PBOT’s Central City in Motion plan was adopted in 2018 and the city is half way through the list of projects. (OPB)
Deadly hoods: Science now confirms that cars, trucks, and SUVs with squared-off front hoods come with a significantly higher risk of killing someone as a result of a collision. (Journal of Safety Research)
Bike counters, assemble! It’s that time of year when volunteers with clipboards closely watch traffic and record the number of bicycle riders on hand-written forms that become part of the city’s official database. (OPB)
Climate obligation and cars: Victory in a lawsuit brought by Hawai’i teenagers will force that state’s DOT to a list of reforms that will require them to “decenter cars” in transportation planning. (Streetsblog USA)
Truck lobby opposes safety regulation: In wake of cyclist deaths that involved large trucks, a lobby group is pushing back against new safety equipment requirements that advocates say will save lives. (Boston Herald)
National urbanist platform: Author and great cities advocate Diana Lind thinks it’s time for a national political party formed around urbanism — or at least a powerful urbanist PAC to raise money for candidates that understand the importance of smart city policies. (Streetsblog USA)
Summary:
We are seeking a passionate and experienced Retail Manager who is also a dedicated bike enthusiast. As the Retail Manager, you will be responsible for leading our team, driving sales, maintaining excellent customer service standards, and creating an engaging environment for both staff and customers. Your in-depth knowledge of bikes and cycling accessories will enable you to provide expert guidance to customers while fostering a community-driven atmosphere within our store.
Responsibilities:
1. Leadership: Demonstrate exceptional leadership abilities by effectively managing and motivating team members to achieve sales targets and deliver outstanding customer experience.
2. Sales Management: Drive revenue growth through effective merchandising strategies, promotional campaigns, up-selling techniques, and inventory management.
3. Customer Service Excellence: Ensure a high level of customer satisfaction by providing personalized assistance based on each individual’s biking needs or preferences while maintaining positive relationships with long-term clients.
4. Product Knowledge: Possess extensive knowledge of various brands, models, features, benefits, components, accessories related to bicycles in order to advise customers effectively.
5. Staff Training: Develop training programs to continuously enhance the knowledge base of the staff ensuring they are equipped with necessary product information.
6. Community Engagement: Foster relationships within the local biking community through hosting events such as group rides or maintenance workshops that encourage participation from both existing customers as well as potential new ones.
7. Visual Merchandising: Oversee store layout and visual presentation standards ensuring products are well displayed while adhering to brand guidelines.
8. Inventory Management: Monitor stock levels accurately by conducting regular audits; collaborate with suppliers regarding replenishment orders; ensure availability of popular models/accessories keeping demand trends in mind.
Requirements:
1. Passion for Biking: A genuine love for cycling with comprehensive knowledge about bikes including different styles (road/mountain/hybrid), features/functions/components is essential.
2. Previous Retail Experience: Proven track record as a successful retail manager preferably within the bike industry or sporting goods sector would be advantageous but not mandatory
3.Critical Thinking Skills – Ability to analyze sales reports/data trends & utilize them effectively when making informed business decisions
4.Communication Skills – Excellent verbal & written communication skills along with strong interpersonal skills enabling effective collaborations internally & externally
5.Leadership Abilities – Demonstrated ability in leading teams towards achieving sales goals/ targets whilst boosting morale
6.Customer Focus – Strong commitment towards offering exceptional customer service experiences; ability recognize/anticipate customer needs and preferences, and act accordingly
7. Flexible Schedule – Willingness to work weekends, evenings, or holidays as per business requirements
8. Physical Stamina – Ability to stand for prolonged periods of time, lift/move heavy objects if necessary
If you meet these qualifications and are eager to take on a leadership role in a dynamic retail environment that celebrates the biking community, we encourage you to apply for this exciting opportunity!
Monday – Saturday schedule FT
Wage: $28 + DOE
Contact:
Zita Letts: zita@optistaffing.com 360.553.7223
Brian Robles: brobles@optistaffing.com 360.553.7219
How to Apply
Contact:
Zita Letts: zita@optistaffing.com 360.553.7223
Brian Robles: brobles@optistaffing.com 360.553.7219
Eva Frazier and I are back with another bit of banter from The BikePortland Shed.
Learn how Eva’s Garden Bike Tour in the heat wave turned out, what I thought of Bike Play, why I’ll miss all the Bike Summer rides this weekend (basketball!), what happened on City Cast PDX podcast today, why someone is really mad at Thursday Night Ride, the difference between a nice honk and a jerk honk, and much more.
Have a great weekend and I’ll be back here on Monday.
Noelle Eaton (as Patch Flatums) sings “All I Know is Bike” at Scott Elementary School. (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
The 15th annual Bike Play production opened Thursday night and it was another smash hit. A large and appreciative crowd cycled with the cast to scenes at several playgrounds and parks in northeast Portland. They all followed along on a journey through the “Game of Bike” a Jumanji-esque adventure where the cast faced a big, bad, Bike Demon and a group of devilish imps.
The production included a script filled with hilarious bike puns, original songs and dances, and enough creativity to tell an enjoyable story with props that could fit inside a bike trailer and costumes so spare the actors could ride in them.
Bike Play is a cherished tradition of Bike Summer’s Pedalpalooza festival. The 10 member cast from Working Theater Collective began rehearsing in April and their hard work clearly paid off. Ashley Hollingshead, who played Mr. Bikeside and an imp, shared in a pre-show interview that they were part of the first year cast. “I don’t know if we imagined it would go on this long, but we definitely felt after the first one like, ‘OK, that was good,’ we’re going to keep doing this.”
View photo gallery below (use arrows to cycle through):
Bike Play is mostly a labor of love, but has received grants (from Portland Film Office and Regional Arts and Culture Council) for the past two years (and they filled several helmets worth of cash from the audience after last night’s performance). But like almost everything in Portland’s vibrant bike scene, it’s not about the money.
There’s a joy that emanates from Bike Play performances that makes it feel like a gift to our community. I left last night thinking about how lucky I was to live in a place where it happens. It’s different than other outdoor theater because of the current of bike love that flows among the actors, the audience, and the group rides between scenes.
Game of Bike Director (and cast member) Hans Ellis said Bike Play pulls actors from Portland’s theater community, but it exists mostly outside of the local scene and tends to attract actors who understand what makes it special. “We’ve talked about how we can merge and be more involved [in the local theater community],” Ellis said. “But a lot of people who do Bike Play just want to do this one thing.”
“We have very sizable audiences,” added Hollingshead, “But much of the Portland theater community doesn’t really know about Bike Play.” That’s just fine in Hollingshead’s view, because for many people it’s the only theater they see each year. “So we’re that thing that people who like bikes see as far as theater goes.”
Another thing that sets Bike Play apart is the cast are bike lovers themselves, so the stories they share are infused with cycling. “We love biking in Portland. It is an important part of our lives. The format has changed over the years as we’ve figured out what works and what doesn’t, but it’s always been a celebration of biking in some way or another.”
“Biking is definitely in the DNA of the stories,” Ellis added.
Game of Bike continues that tradition.
The story revolves around three friends — Schrader (Scott Weidlich), Steph (Lisa Gilham), and Wyatt (Jenny Bunce) — who find themselves pulled into a deal with the devil and sucked into a real-life game. A band of bad little imps and the Bike Demon try to keep them trapped and off their bikes for good.
A highlight of the show is an original song performed by Noelle Eaton as Patch Flatums, a character who’s been trapped in the game for many years and ends up helping the newer trio. It’s called “All I Know is Bike” and here are a few of the lyrics:
I was just a kid Just a kid who wasn’t good at school I knew I weren’t smart I knew I wasn’t cool Then one shiny morn Something glimmered rolling past A wheel, a bell, a zounds, a spell was cast I cleared my head of everything That wasn’t about bike All I know is bike. All I need is bike. All I know is bike. All I need is bike. It’s my day and my night The best part of my life Is cutting through traffic like butter with a hot knife All I know is bike Bike! Bike! Bike!
The cast: Top: Hans Ellis, Kris Mahoney-Watson. Middle: Lisa Gilham, Jenny Bunce, Ashley Hollingshead, Lindsay Liden, Noelle Eaton, Haley Hessler. Bottom: Scott Weidlich, Emilie Weidlich.
Talk about knowing your audience! It was a wonderful moment that had the huge crowd smiling and singing along.
Will this love for cycling overcome the challenges faced by the game players? Or will the Bike Demon rule supreme? You’ll have to see it yourself at an upcoming performance.
Thanks to an expanded run this year (which they did to help spread out the size of the crowds) you’ll have more chances to attend than even before. Bike Play: Game of Bike continues tonight and through Sunday July 14th. It returns on Thursday the 18th and runs through July 20th (with an ASL interpreter on-hand July 19th). Check out Bike Play on Instagram for updates and more information and check tonight’s event listing on the Shift calendar for details.
“Speed kills” is such a well-known mantra in transportation advocacy circles it’s at risk of becoming trite. So how can activists find new ways to communicate the crucial linkage between speeding drivers and the fatal crashes they cause?
One answer to that question comes from a project by Portland Community College Student Jake Veto. Veto partnered with nonprofit group Oregon Walks to create an interactive map that illustrates pedestrian fatalities in Portland between 2017 and 2020. The 48 locations where people where struck and killed are marked on the map alongside colored street segments. The darker red the color, the higher percentage of speeding on that particular street segment.
The combination of speed data to street segments, combined with the location of the fatality, gives us a new context to understand why people on foot are more likely to be killed in certain places. Veto’s map also allows viewers to click on any marked segment and see the the posted speed limit and the percentage of drivers who disobey it.
Heat map of fatal pedestrian crashes.Map detailMap detail
The map uses crash data from the Oregon Department of Transportation and speed monitoring data from the Portland Bureau of Transportation.
One speeding hotspot with two “x” marks for deaths is SE Division between SE 122nd and 145th, where PBOT data shows people drive over the speed limit at a shocking rate of 75% to 83% of the time. The dark red intersection of SW Capitol Hwy and SW Terwilliger reveals that 95.5% of drivers speed through that location (according to 2021 data). I’ll remember that next time in biking or walking through. Yikes! (Note: It’s important to keep in mind that the speed monitoring data is often several years old, so it’s likely that speeds are lower today than what the map shows, since PBOT and other agencies redesign and update several roadways each year.)
Here’s an excerpt from Veto’s writeup of his methodology:
ODOT crash points were filtered to identify pedestrian fatalities within the Portland urban area. A case number field was added to the crash points attribute table for better identification. Manual matching of crash points to police reports was performed using date and cross streets to ensure accuracy. Each matched record was updated with its corresponding case number, and matched points were exported as a new dataset.
Finally, the data from the street sections that each crash was on was joined to the data from the crash points. This allows us to make statements about how often drivers tend to speed near where these crashes occured. Manual validation was performed on the points to make sure they were pulling data from the correct street segment. Many of the fatalities occured in intersections with different data for each of the cross streets, so best judgement and cross reference with the police reports was used to make sure that each point was correctly associated with the right street.
In addition to all the speed and fatality location data in the main map, Veto also created a general pedestrian fatality heat map. This map helps visualize which parts of the city’s road network people are most at risk of being hit and killed.
Veto’s work has illuminated what could be considered red zones for pedestrian safety. It should be a useful resource for planners, engineers, advocates, and anyone else who spends time on foot on Portland streets.
Painted mural on SE 6th outside Milagro Theater. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
I hope everyone is having fun on all the great rides going on. Remember that it’s Bike Summer / Pedalpalooza season so you’ll want to check the official calendar and/or grab the Bike Fun App (iPhones only) for all the ride options!
Check out my picks for the best things to do for bike lovers this weekend…
Saturday, July 13th
Good Dirt Ride – 9:00 am at Stub Stewart State Park (Buxton) Join the good folks from River City Bicycles and NW Trail Alliance for ride #3 in the Good Dirt series. Grab a solid mountain bike and ride trails with other dirt worshippers, then relive the fun at a tailgate sesh with food and drinks. More info here.
Scavenger Hunt – 10:00 am at Joe Bike (SE) Joe Bike and Portland Design Works have teamed up with bike industry partners on this family-friendly scavenger hunt ride that looks very promising. Show up at the shop and grab a map, then set out to find all the tokens. Kona will host an after-party in Laurelhurst park. Raffle tickets benefit Bikes for Humanity PDX. More info here.
Heavy Bike Hill Climb – 5:00 pm at Jamison Square Park (SW) Got a bike that’s 50+ pounds? As you a masochist? Or someone with very healthy knees? This is the ride for you! This 12th annual gathering will challenge you to a fun ride up to Pittock Mansion with your sturdy steed. More info here.
Bike Play – The Game of Bike – 7:00 pm at Wilshire Park (NE) 15th annual showing of what I’ve called the best event of Pedalpalooza. This is a real theatrical production with professional actors who lead a group bike ride to each scene. Truly a Portland classic and must-see event. First showing is tonight (Thursday, 7/11) but it runs through Sunday (7/14) and then again next week 7/18-7/20. Show up on 7/19 if you need an ASL interpreter. More info here.
Sunday, July 14th
Tour de France Watch Party – 7:30 am at Cyclepath Bike Shop (NE) Roll into the shop and watch the big race with fellow fans while you query experienced racer and cycling journalist Anne-Marije Rook. More info here.
Kidical Mass – 2:30 pm at Westmoreland Park (SE) Grab the little ones and get them some experience on the street in the safety of a large group. Expect a 1.5-mile park-to-park ride, 3.0 for the loop. More info here.
Bike 2 And Through Porch Fest – 4:30 pm at Piccolo Park (SE) Porch Fest is happening again in the Overlook neighborhood and it means dozens of bands and musicians playing live in front yards throughout the ‘hood! This ride will take you from southeast to North Portland so you can soak up all the sounds. More info here.
Breaking Away 45th Anniversary Screening Ride – 7:00 pm at Franklin HS (SE) The movie that started it all (for me at least!). Get to know the “Cutters” in this legendary bike film that captures the spirit of bike racing in a wonderful way. More info here.
— Did I miss your event? Please let me know by filling out our contact form, or just email me at maus.jonathan@gmail.com.
It’s gotten to the point where local transportation agencies need to have a summit to figure out best practices for keeping drivers off bike paths.
Yesterday I learned that a driver of a car managed to roll onto the bike path alongside I-5 north of Marine Drive. A video posted to Reddit shows the driver going northbound on the path over the Columbia River en route to Hayden Island. The video is accompanied by the caption, “They almost hit a bicyclist!” but I didn’t see any rider in the video. The person who shot the video shared with me that the driver and bike rider were headed straight towards each other, “and the car slowed down and the biker swerved then he yelled something at the car and the car sped up and continued on their merry way.”
Yikes. I’m glad no one was hurt; but the mental scars of incidents like this often last longer than physical injuries.
Looking north on the path where video shows the driver.Looking south on the path where video shows the driver.Looking north on the path where video shows the driver.(Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
And just this morning as I typed up this post, a reader told me she watched a driver turn onto the paths in Waterfront Park from Naito Parkway.
What would the response be if a freight train operator steered intentionally down a neighborhood arterial street? Or if an airline pilot tried used I-5 as a runway just for fun? Or heck, imagine the response if a bicycle rider felt like pedaling along at 12 mph on I-5 just because they could?
We need DOTs, parks bureaus, and any agencies that oversee multi-use paths to come together, trade notes, learn why this keeps happening, and devise a strategy to prevent it. Having drivers on spaces where people go to get away from them is an unacceptable outcome of a system that’s already way too tilted toward people in cars.
I-5 northbound onrampN Union Ct and I-5 northbound off-ramp near Delta Park.North Anchor Way (north of Marine Drive).From Marine Drive/I-5 ramp.
Whether it’s people who get confused and think it’s a legit lane, or folks who live along the path and are just driving “home”, pranksters who think it’s funny, or selfish scofflaws avoiding congestion — we need to make it more difficult for cars to enter these paths.
In this most recent example, there are several spots where a driver could easily roll off the street and enter the path system. I counted four places where a driver would encounter little to no resistance. Take a look at the photos below and you’ll see just how easy it is for someone to roll onto the bike path:
I sympathize with DOTs because they must balance access restrictions with making sure it’s still easy and safe to enter paths by bike or wheelchair or whatever other non-car vehicle someone has. We’ve seen clunky attempts to address this problem many times in the past with large gates and huge concrete barricades.
Surely there’s a better way to do this. But until these agencies coordinate and make an intentional, concerted effort to remedy the issue, we’ll continue to see breaches into these carfree spaces. And with each one, we further erode the trust and confidence of the non-driving public.
We must defend our carfree spaces from these dangerous interlopers, or risk losing these precious refuges forever.
UPDATE, July 12th, 8:30 am: A reader told me he reported a missing bollard onto this path (at Marine Drive and Union Court) to the Oregon Department of Transportation. According to an email from Katherine Wentzel from the Ask ODOT office on April 5th, 2023, “Maintenance staff shared they are having ongoing issues with the bollards being stolen or at times ran over. Staff is exploring options for better bollards or a fix to the problem and do not have plans to reinstall them at this time.”
One of the potential new trails would connect to this sidewalk at the southwest corner of McDaniel High School.
(Source: Portland Parks)
A lot has changed in just two months with the outlook of a major off-road trail project in northeast Portland. When we first reported on the Rose City Recreational Trail Project on May 3rd, we said the $4 million project, “Won’t be built with bicycle riding in mind.” That was based on a Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) survey and slide presentation that failed to even mention bicycling as a visitor option or project goal, and staff who replied with, “We’re not sure yet,” when asked about the potential for bike trails at the first public meeting.
At a meeting with the city’s Bicycle Advisory Committee (BAC) last night, Parks project managers acknowledged missteps in how the project was first presented to the community and said bicycling access to new trails is now firmly part of the plans. For a project that was initially framed as only including walking trails, it’s an important turnaround that bodes well for future Parks projects — and it validates the Off-Road Cycling Master Plan which recommends bike trails at this and many other urban parks around Portland.
(Source: Portland Parks)
At the BAC meeting last night, PP&R Project Manager Johnny Fain said they’ve completed initial site investigations at are now in the 30% schematic design phase while they continue to seek feedback from interested parties and prep for trail construction in 2026. Fain laid out the latest concepts for the three potential new trail segments that will be built in Rose City Park and Rose City Golf Course.
The “Primary Trail” would span the entire width of the parcel between NE 62nd Drive and the southwest corner of McDaniel High School on NE 82nd Ave. (Note: All trails would be natural surface, unpaved surfaces.) The alignment would cut through Rose City Park and then run along the southern edge of the golf course and NE Tillamook St.
Based in part on feedback they’ve heard from students at McDaniel who want a safe way to bike to school, PP&R plans to connect the eastern terminus of the trail directly to the sidewalk at the high school.
The “Green Bluff Trail & 72nd Connector” would split from the Primary Trail in Rose City Park near NE 62nd Dr and then run up the ridge onto the existing bluff trail along NE Sacramento Street where it would connect to a neighborhood greenway and safe route to McDaniel. It would also connect to 72nd Drive to create north-south access adjacent to the existing 70s greenway route.
Fain said he plans to meet on NE 72nd with “a bunch of folks from the cycling community” (probably members of NW Trail Alliance, who’ve been engaged with Parks on this project since May) tomorrow (Thursday, 7/11) at 4:00 pm. “We’re going to walk the site and get the cycling folks’ input on what they think we can do with this section of the sidewalk,” Fain said, referring to the existing dirt walkway adjacent to the paved road that bisects the park. “We’ve heard from a lot of people that even though PBOT has made a pedestrian-only lane here on the paved section, that a lot of folks would like to walk separately from bikers, or that even bikers would rather have a component of it be off-road. So we’re looking into those options, and we’d love to hear from you guys about that,” Fain added.
The “Yellow Back Nine Nature Trail” would access the northeast corner of the golf course. There would be a standard trail along the edge of the park as well as a “nature trail or single track hiking trail” (dashed yellow in graphic) that would dive down into the golf course through a stand of Douglas Fir trees.
“We’re thinking of that as more of a single, two-to-three foot wide natural surface pathway for walkers,” Fain said. “It could be for cyclists as well but what we’ve heard is a lot of the walkers would like to use that as a way to get away from cars.”
Parks Community Engagement Coordinator Jenna Stathopoulos said the initial survey was meant to be generic (it wasn’t, it included several specific potential activities, but not cycling) and that if they missed something, people could write it in the “other” box. She also said she was trying to “balance and be mindful of not serving people about things that are not possible in a project.” But in the end she told Stein, “You’re right, to have it explicitly laid out or not on the survey, I guess, does make a statement. We could be doing a better job of balancing those things.”
Project presentation slides show a very important change since April.
And Fain, the project manager, said he’s an “avid cyclist” and that, “the omission of cycling was an oversight on my part.” Then he added, “I’m trying to correct that within this project.” It was notable to me how Fain mentioned the project was initially handed to him, “as a pedestrian project,” suggesting that this entire kerfuffle originated from the manager level.
“It has been a process, and I do apologize for it being clunky, and I’m going to be better in the future,” Fain said. “But just know that there’s never been an anti-cycling thing from the beginning. That has literally never been our intention. I just want you to know that.”
Regardless of what happened at the outset, things have changed for the better and now this project is on track to fairly consider the inclusion of cycling access — just as our adopted city policies require. Stay tuned for another survey and other outreach opportunities. If you want to show up Thursday at 4:00 pm for the cycling-specific site visit on NE 72nd Drive, Fain said everyone is welcome.
Kids gotta’ get to the pool somehow. (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Allow me to disabuse you of the notion that an extreme heat event means no one will ride bikes. Despite 100-degree or so heat during this current wave of high temperatures, I was pleasantly surprised at how many folks were out biking around northeast Portland today.
I made a trip to the post office and brought along my camera in case I saw anyone out riding. Turns out, y’all are a hardy bunch! It wasn’t quite normal summer bike traffic volumes, but there were many more people than I expected. And there were folks in all sorts of outfits — from not wearing much at all, to being fully clothed as if it were just another 60-something degree Portland day.
I’ve also noticed that many of the Bike Summer Pedalpalooza rides in the past few days have been very well attended. So there! Biking and the people who do it are quite a resilient bunch and there’s almost no weather that will keep us from riding.
How has the heat been treating you? Are you staying off the streets during the day? Or just going about your business as usual?
Note: All photos in this gallery taken today between 3:15 and 3:55 pm.
Beaverton bike folks at BG Food Cartel in April 2023. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
I’m excited to share there’s a new Bike Happy Hour happening on the west side! Friends from Beaverton want in on the fun and they’ve planned an inaugural gathering for Monday, July 15th from 4:00 to 6:00 pm at BG Food Cartel.
“Hang out and have a beverage, some great food, and some bike talk! Let’s hang out and talk about… everything but mostly bikes!” reads the event description.
I’ve fielded several requests for more Bike Happy Hour events around town, so it’s really cool to see another one take shape. At the end of last month a reader named Rob Lewis reached out to BikePortland on Instagram. He wants better bicycling in the “west burbs” and thinks an event like Bike Happy Hour will raise the profile of the issue and help bike culture flourish. He’s right!
Rob connected with a few folks and I’m happy to say that Westside Bike Happy Hour will be hosted by Ride Westside and the Westside Wednesday ride — two groups that are doing great things for cycling in and around Beaverton.
You might recall Ride Westside from the ride I joined them on last year. There were just getting started back then and they’ve continued to meet and ride together since. You can learn more about them via Instagram. One of the founding members of the group is Tina Ricks, who has written a few articles recently as our Washington County correspondent. She will be there Monday and is one of the folks who helped make the event happen.
Westside Wednesday is the name of a group ride that happens every two weeks. This fun-loving, adventure-seeking group is in their fourth summer and they consistently pull in several dozen riders. All types of bikes and riders are welcome and they’ve established a great community. See what I mean by perusing their Instagram page.
Much thanks to Rob, Tina, and the Westside Wednesday crew for getting something on the calendar. One of my favorite maxims is that a revolution is only possible if you can get people to show up. I also know great things can begin when just a few people of like minds come together and meet face-to-face.
If you live, work, or ride in Washington County and want to hang with other bike-minded folks, show up next Monday night (7/15), 4:00 to 6:00 pm at BG Food Cartel and hang out with us. I can’t wait to see you! Who knows, maybe Mick (in “The Tron” hat in lead image) will gift you one of these rad stickers?!
