[Video and photos (see gallery below) by Jonathan Maus/BikePortland]
We talk a lot about safety when it comes to making cycling more attractive than driving. But convenience is probably a larger factor. That’s why so many Portlanders are intrigued by the possibility of updating Sandy Boulevard with bicycle facilities. After riding Sandy Boulevard this past Saturday, Portland City Council President Elana Pirtle-Guiney just might be among them.
Pedaling a vintage cyclocross bike made for her mother in the 1970s, Pirtle-Guiney showed up at Wilshire Park with a few dozen other folks for a ride organized by BikeLoud PDX. “I figured if I wanted to really understand the questions that are going to come up around biking on Sandy over the next two to three years, I ought to join this ride and see it for myself,” the council president said in her introduction to the group. “I think it’s really important for me to see what it looks like.”
BikeLoud has led a relatively quiet, behind the scenes campaign for bike facilities on Sandy since at least 2019. That’s when they pushed the City of Portland to upgrade Sandy’s official street classification in the Transportation System Plan from “City Bikeway” to “Major City Bikeway.” That means whenever a city agency does a project on Sandy, they must hold cycling in the highest regard and make sure plans encourage people to do it. The rub is, Sandy is a “Major” street for every mode (pedestrians, transit, freight, cars, and emergency response vehicles), so whatever the future holds, it will favor whoever gets organized and does their homework.
At Wilshire Park Saturday morning, the crowd of bicycle riders included folks of all ages. There was a babe in arms, retired folks, and everything in between. One by one, people introduced themselves and shared how much they enjoy cycling in Portland and how much better it would be if they could ride on Sandy without feeling.
One woman I met said she’d love to explore the shops along Sandy and that, “You’d learn [the street] better if you were on a bike, going slower.” Jade and Xavier, a young couple who I talked to after the ride, said they’d never bike it outside of a large group. “But if there were bike lanes, we definitely would.” They live in Kerns and love visiting the Hollywood District. “It would be great to just bike up Sandy, but we have to do this weird, roundabout way.” They were blown away at how easily they could get to the Hollywood Theater from their house via Sandy Blvd.
One of the ride organizers, Joe Perez with BikeLoud PDX said, “Portland is a really beautiful place to ride a bike. I moved here to ride a bike. I love living here, and I’m staying here. I’m fighting for more bike lanes, so this is why we’re riding on Sandy today.”
The City of Portland also sees a different future for Sandy. With major recent residential development, the road is growing into its “Main Street Civic Corridor” label in the city’s Comprehensive Plan. In 2020, the Portland Bureau of Transportation applied for a state grant that would have paid for a Sandy Boulevard Civic Corridor Plan. That plan (which I never heard about, so I assume it didn’t get funded), would have taken a close look at dedicated rapid transit on Sandy as well as the, “potential for bicycle facilities along the corridor.”
What makes Sandy such a jewel in the future bicycle network is its diagonal path. Another BikeLoud PDX leader at Saturday’s ride, Kiel Johnson, said it’s important because it offers unparalleled convenience and access between the central city and neighborhood destinations. Johnson, who lives in the Cully neighborhood said, “Right now, if I want to go downtown, I have to go down N Going and then take Vancouver-Williams. Sandy literally saves me 15 minutes.”
Johnson points to a 2016 Metro evaluation that found Sandy had a “high level of demand for bicycle trips and the potential to increase bicycle travel if improved.” And in 2024, a group of Portland State University Masters of Urban Planning students published a report that recommended bike lanes.
Adding to the inertia to take a serious look at a bikeway on Sandy is a spreadsheet shared at a 2022 meeting of the PBOT Bicycle Advisory Committee. The document lists all the projects on PBOT’s five-year paving list and the opportunity for upgrading bicycle facilities when the restriping is completed. A project slated to begin in 2026 that will repave Sandy between 14th to 27th is accompanied by a note that reads:
Volumes [of car traffic] are lower in this section of Sandy Blvd. Opportunity to add enhanced bike lanes through travel lane reallocation, but need to consider safety as well as impacts to transit and other modes. Needs extensive planning and project development. Consider extending west to 12th/Couch and east to 28th Ave to connect to rest of bike network.
And Council President Pirtle-Guiney must have gotten the memo. And/or she is sufficiently intrigued by BikeLoud’s vision that she devoted her Saturday morning to learning more about it.
As we waited at the signal on NE 12th, I asked Pirtle-Guiney how she felt riding on Sandy. “It was less scary than I thought,” she remarked. Would she consider doing it on her own, without the safety of a group, if there was a protected bike lane on it? The savvy politician didn’t directly answer (as if knowing a “yes” would be construed as her supporting a bike lane). “I still want to learn more,” she said. “I’m very open to what the future of Sandy is.”
At the end spot, I asked the councilor if anything changed in her mind after the ride. “That outside lane feels a lot wider than I expected it to,” she said, her mind perhaps already mulling future debates about potential cross-sections. “I think it would be interesting to try it without a group and just see how it feels,” she continued.
“If you ever want to ride to City Hall together one morning, just let me know,” I replied.
“Absolutely,” Pirtle-Guiney smiled back.
