The regional network of paths and bikeways is directly related to the regional network of humans who dream, plan, and build them. That’s the idea behind the Policymakers Ride — an annual event that brings elected officials, agency staffers and advocates together for a full day of riding, learning; and most importantly, talking.
The first one was held in 2005 when former Oregonian columnist and Cycle Oregon co-founder Jonathan Nicholas led a group of folks on a ride that explored the Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway. I’d only been doing BikePortland for a few months when I tagged along on that ride! I loved riding with mayors, bureau leaders, and people whose names I’d only seen on websites.
Fast forward 20 years and this ride (sometimes called the Voyage of the Visionaries) remains an important date on the calendar — and Nicholas is still riding on it (see him in photo below). He was one of about 120 people who met at Level Beer on NE 148th Friday morning for the ride — a 19-mile loop (see route below) that would take us east along Marine Drive to the Sandy River, then through Troutdale and back via Wood Village, Fairview, and the Wilkes neighborhood.
Lead organizer of the ride is Steph Noll, executive director of nonprofit Oregon Trails Coalition. At the start, as participants gobbled up breakfast snacks, coffee, and ride fuel, Noll set the table for the day: “For some folks, this may be your very first Policymakers Ride, but others of you here today may have memories of formative rides from years ago that really made an impression, that really inspired you, where a new collaboration first sprouted, where you maybe made a connection that is still important today in your work or just to your personal sense of community, and that is a big part of what today’s ride is about.”
“The purpose is to build relationships,” Noll continued when I caught up with her afterward. “All while experiencing some great off-street trail infrastructure and multi-use paths; but also the challenging gaps in the network so that we can collaborate on fixing those gaps.”
While the route is planned long ahead of time, organizers don’t sugarcoat it. Right off the bat, as we rode a narrow bike lane next to car drivers on NE Airport Way and navigated an industrial park full of big trucks turning into big driveways, I’m sure some riders questioned their decision to attend.
Along with sharing the good, bad, and ugly of the regional bikeway network, the ride includes pre-planned stops where folks talk about projects and policies relevant to the stop location.
After riding along NE Marine Drive and experiencing its Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde personality of loud, dirty, white-knuckle, on-street bike lanes next to bucolic carfree paths along a perfectly calm Columbia River, we made our way into Chinook Landing Park (a gem of a spot just off Marine Drive at NE 223rd).
After welcoming us to his district, Metro Councilor Ashton Simpson told us about the work his agency is doing to cure Marine drive of its ills. “Metro is working with the City of Portland to close a gap on this trail between I-205 and NE 122nd, and once that project is completed, we will have just three gaps to close before there is a safe, comfortable, off-street passage the entire length of Marine Drive.”
As we pressed eastward I got to ride the (relatively new) Ch’ak Ch’ak Trail for the first time. Opened just last year, this three-mile paved path connects Chinook Landing Park and the Marine Drive Path to existing paved paths along the Columbia River and Sandy River Delta area — an expanse of biking and walking trails managed by the Port of Portland.
A highlight of the day came as we headed south along the Sandy toward downtown Troutdale. Our group was the first to ride a yet-to-be-open new path that will connect an existing path under I-84 to the Historic Columbia River Hwy. Named after a local journalist and historian, the Sharon Nesbit Heritage Park and Sandy Riverfront Trail are still under construction.
Gathered around a new stone overlook high above the Sandy River, we heard from Kristen Stallman, a former ODOT staffer who worked on the Historic Columbia River Highway and now works in the Federal Highway Administration’s Federal Lands Access Program. Stallman shared how she worked with Metro to create a vision of connected paths in the area and how it felt to see it all come together: “We all said we’d work together to make the vision a reality. And I’m floored. So I encourage you to think: what’s the next vision for the next 20 years,” she said.
The new elevated bike path isn’t quite completed yet, so we walked our bikes through the construction site. But the parts we did ride were enough to impress upon everyone that something special is brewing in Troutdale. Then I met City of Troutdale Economic Development Coordinator Marlee Boxler, whose comments really drove it all home.
“This is really exciting,” Boxler shared as we stood in the beautiful Mayor Square Park just off Troutdale’s main street. “Because the Ch’ak Ch’ak Trail is a brand new connection, and the Sharon Nesbit Heritage Park is about to open and it will be another connection in the 40-Mile Loop — along with the Sandy River Delta and Lewis and Clark State Park, and the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail.”
When I asked Boxler to paint a picture of the future, she said, “Troutdale is going to be a destination for cyclists.” “We’re going to see people coming from all over the world to cycle the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail,” she continued. “So we’re thinking into the future about what those amenities can look like. Can we have hotels that support cyclists when they come here? Can they start their journey right here in Troutdale and go out and enjoy the amazing scenery of the Gorge and also connect back in to Portland? Could someone land at the airport and ride a bike all the way here to Troutdale and then continue on the rest of the way? How can we make those pieces happen so that we’re known as a destination for cycling?”
On that high note it was time for lunch. The group was treated to a wonderful food cart buffet at The Highlands which overlooks the town and the river valley. As I looked at the crowd of bikes parked out front and the dozens of cyclists chatting inside, it was like looking into a crystal ball.
But after lunch, my dreamy bubble was popped by the roar of car engines and the sound of my heart racing as I pedaled along Halsey Street west of Troutdale near McMenamin’s Edgefield. Once again, we experienced the jarring highs and lows of an incomplete network — where one minute you’re on a path overlooking a river, and the next minute you’re shoulder-to-shoulder with a big rig.
It’s a good thing we were in a large group on Halsey, and despite hearing from a driver who yelled angrily and revved his engine because had to stop to let us all cross (something that happened several times throughout the day), everyone got to our next stop safely.
In front of Wood Village City Hall we heard from Multnomah County Commissioner Vince Jones-Dixon. “The thing that drew me to public office, has been community safety and economic empowerment,” he shared. “And one of the main connectors is being able to travel safely throughout communities… and we’re really looking at bike safety and roads and advocating for more investments here in East Multnomah County.”
One of those investments will be a complete transformation of the aforementioned Halsey Blvd. Sarah Selden, the community development director for the City of Fairview said their Main Streets on Halsey plan will turn that sketchy stretch of road into, “A community main street with clusters of commercial development and new housing connected by improved sidewalks, bike paths and crosswalks that feel safe and comfortable for everyone.” “Imagine in the future,” Selden continued. “Instead of biking along a narrow shoulder next to encroaching blackberries, you’re on a beautiful raised pathway at sidewalk level, traveling with other families up and down the Halsey Main Street.”
I can’t wait to return to a Policymakers Ride in a few years and see that vision realized!
After we left Wood Village City Hall, we were now in the westbound portion of our loop heading back to our starting point at Level Beer. We took a circuitous route through neighborhood streets between Halsey and Glisan and even went through a Target parking lot at one point. Just as I was about as lost as I was all day, we ended up rolling right into Salish Ponds Wetlands Park. It’s been years since I explored that place and I was really happy to be there. It was a welcome change from city streets as we pedaled dirt trails shrouded in sun-dappled trees and peered out onto the pond.
After a brief ride on the Gresham-Fairview Trail, we crossed Halsey and Sandy without incident thanks to a Gresham police officer who saw our group and escorted us for a few miles until we reached the safety of a carfree path. And it’s a good thing he did, because just before we rolled into a path along the Columbia Slough, another driver got mad at being delayed by our group. As our peloton strung out along NE 185th, a young woman in a sports car revved her engine and swerved out of her lane to pass us all. And guess who she found at the front of the line? That nice Gresham police officer. I didn’t stick around to see what happened next, but I’m sure the driver learned a memorable lesson.
At the end of a very nice bit of paved path along the Big Four Corners Natural Area, we were treated to cookies which paired well with information about how the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services worked to restore the area.
From there it was a quick jaunt along industrial-zoned roads mixed with old farmlands back to Level Beer where we were greeted into the parking lot by Multnomah County Transportation Planner MaryJo Andersen wearing an orange cone on her head.
As I watched everyone roll in with easy-going smiles and a familiarity that wasn’t there when we started first thing in the morning, I was reminded of a conversation I had with Oregon House Representative Willy Chotzen earlier in the day. When I asked him about the ride, he said:
“It’s kind of the best of all things Portland. And at the same time, I think in this moment right there’s a lot of dark stuff happening politically. The thing I’m telling everyone is community, community, community. That’s how we get through it. That’s how we survive it. That’s how we build back better. And this is just community in action right now, and quite literally in motion, which is pretty awesome to see.”
And before we ordered a beer and grabbed those final few business cards to follow-up with, event organizer Steph Noll left us with one parting thought: “We have the folks here, today, and in our networks, to really move the ball forward and make the future we want.”
— Full photo gallery here.
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