Hi friends. Welcome to the week.
I’ve spent many hours thinking about how best to use BikePortland to help our community in this time of unprecedentedly reprehensible behavior from our national government and people who support it. I didn’t build this platform to stay in my lane when shit hits the fan. Sorry if this is off-topic for the Monday Roundup, but wanted you to know where my head has been lately. I’ll share more as the week goes on.
For now, below are the most notable stories folks shared with me and/or I stumbled on in the past seven days…
Wait! Before we get to it, this week’s Monday Roundup is sponsored by Nomad Cycles PDX. They’ve launched two locally-made e-bikes and you can order one and support them via their Kickstarter campaign.
Brooklyn bribery: We think backroom deals between a commissioner and business owners is shady? In Brooklyn they do straight-up cash payments to get rid of bikeways! (Streetsblog NYC)
Big housing win: “California lawmakers passed SB 79, a bill that would override local zoning laws to allow dense housing developments up to nine stories near transit hubs statewide.” (LA Times)
Don’t fall for it: Some Republicans are capitalizing on a horrible death that happened on a light rail train in Charlotte, NC as a way to further marginalize public transit and push the narrative that driving cars is the only answer. (The New Republic)
Historic protest: An immense crowd of Free Palestine supporters stopped the final stage of the Tour of Spain. The bike race has been held for 89 straight years, but it couldn’t withstand fierce protests by large, well-organized pro-Palestine groups who wanted more visibility for the cause and objected to the Israeli sponsorship of one of the teams. The UCI has condemned the protestors and says their actions violate the Olympic Charter. (AP)
Road rage in Bend: A grown man driving a truck was so triggered by a bicycle rider in the road that he decided to assault him, causing multiple serious injuries. Turns out the cyclist was just a teenager. Thankfully, police arrested the driver. (The Source)
Real talk about mopeds and e-motos: This article from the UK about the rise in injuries from collisions involving large, high-powered “e-bikes” is chilling and could probably be written about a city in the U.S. (BBC)
Wasted money?: “ODOT and WSDOT are proposing to spend as much as $10 billion to widen a roadway where traffic is declining, is less than it was twenty years ago, and shows no signs of ever reaching the levels claimed in the project’s modeling and environmental analysis.” (City Observatory)
Thread of the week: The Bluesky thread from Qagggy! about what Seattle could accomplish with a bold mayor is very solid and inspiring. Let’s expect more than the status quo from “bike friendly” mayors!
Thanks to everyone who sent in links this week. The Monday Roundup is a community effort, so please feel free to send us any great stories you come across.
