Portland’s grassroots response to the challenging problem of leaves in bike lanes continues to evolve. At a virtual meeting hosted by a local bike advocacy group tomorrow, folks will come together to brainstorm new ways to scale up the effort.
BikeLoud PDX is organizing the meeting and it comes after years of testing ways of empowering local cyclists to pick up leaves, gravel, and other debris themselves. While the City of Portland has improved their response to the annual slippery mess in recent years by purchasing smaller sweepers and investing in the staff to operate them, there are simply too many leaves for city workers to clean up. And the annual Leaf Day Pickup program has made the problem even more acute as hundreds of property owners intentionally blow and rake leaves into bike lanes in advance of pickup by city crews (despite education efforts by the transportation bureau).
To combat the problem, Portlanders have begun sweeping lanes themselves — and the technology and ingenuity have advanced considerably in the past few years. In 2018 BikePortland shared one local man’s invention that attached several swiveling brooms onto a bike trailer. It was a valiant prototype, but something with more sweeping power was needed.
Then in 2022 I highlighted an invention from Californian Pierre Lermant. He’d just completed a working prototype of his Bike Lane Sweeper product and he reached out to BikePortland to see if any local groups wanted to test one out. BikeLoud answered the call.
Fast forward three years and BikeLoud has worked closely with Lermant (and his partner Cedric Everleigh) to help push the design of the Bike Lane Sweeper forward. BikeLoud also loans out the sweeper and maintains an active online communication platform where volunteers coordinate locations and other details. Other local sweeping technology has evolved as well.
One year ago I introduced you to Michael Reiss, a BikeLoud volunteer who embraced the challenge and has been working on various sweeper prototypes of his own ever since. Reiss maintains a website for BikeLoud’s sweeping program that includes specifications of all the sweeping contraptions he’s built, a how-to guide for using the Bike Lane Sweeper, and a map where he marks off routes that have been swept.
With years of testing and use under their belts, BikeLoud and their amazing volunteers are confident the sweepers work. They also know there’s demand for them all over the city. All that’s missing are more volunteers and a sustainable budget to keep the wheels turning.
Tomorrow (Tuesday, November 25th), BikeLoud is hosting their first meeting, “to discuss a sweeper budget and ideas for increasing sweeping efficiency.” The goal is to inspire more folks to create sweeping devices of their own and/or to buy more bike lane sweepers.
This is an exciting niche in the bike advocacy world that’s really poised for growth. If you’re intrigued, attend tomorrow’s Sweeper Zoom, join BikeLoud’s Slack channel and/or stay tuned to BikePortland for updates.
Thanks for reading.
BikePortland has served this community with independent community journalism since 2005. We rely on subscriptions from readers like you to survive. Your financial support is vital in keeping this valuable resource alive and well.
Please subscribe today to strengthen and expand our work.
Considering the abysmal condition of many of our bike lanes I’d almost think the city does not take cycling quite as seriously as many of us think they do.
Considering the abysmal condition of many of our roads I’d almost think the city does not take safe transportation quite as seriously as many of us think they do.
Considering the abysmal condition of the buses, tracks, and trains I’d almost think the city does not take public transit as seriously as many of us think they do.
. . . and I’m sure we could think of many others in our dysfunctional city.
Yeah it was really great to see BikeLoudPDX out clearing Rosa Parks Way yesterday with their BikeLaneSweeper. It was a really satisfying moment. We got some great video that is also going viral which helps everyone involved.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DRagpzCE9sV/
That’s totally awesome!
Promising! Quick question though: do these bike-powered sweepers also handle the gravel PBOT lovingly distributes every time it snows? Because as soon as “slippery leaf season” ends, we enter “rapid wipeout gravel season,” and PBOT’s cleanup record there… let’s just say it leaves a few pebbles to be desired….
Yes they can work on gravel too. I’ve done several stories about that.
Would be hilarious if auto clubs had to band together to be sure roads had proper de-icing/drainage/pothole maintenance….but I guess as long as there’s billions to be made with all things “auto”….won’t ever be an issue
Well, if the No Gas Tax petition gets enough signatures and their ballot measure passes, we might just get to see some grassroots snow plowing in action.
The thing about clearing bike lanes is it’s hard to make things worse. Someone trying to patch potholes or plow a road by themselves can do some real damage to the pavement.
I disagree. I’ve developed outstanding pothole-patching skills, as have many of my neighbors out here in SW where we get no city services. Our pothole patches have held up really well over the years.
Years ago, I was doing a Rock Creek loop (headed north from Skyline) and came across some local residents patching holes in the Washington County portion of Rock Creek Rd that gets so terribly neglected.
If someone gave me ready access to a sweeper, you’d have a hard time keeping me away from sweeping bike lanes in my free time. This is very exciting to see progress.
Honestly, I think if specs were made freely and open source. People would be very willing to put in their bikes.
That is, I do the same loop everyday and wouldn’t care if it was just passively running.
Where do the leaves go after they’ve been swept up? Does the city remove them or do they get piled up somewhere?
I had the same question
Much of it goes to the Sunderland Yard I think. Many of the city gardens get compost from there, and you can also purchase it by the cubic yard.
The fact that volunteers have to take on this issue is yet another sign of our dysfunctional city.
Cities that ACTUALLY work – as opposed to one that SAYS it works – have enforcement officers who cite and fine property owners who sweep and blow leaves into streets. One letter to a property owner and a fine to hit his wallet and – bam! – problem solved. But in Portland we don’t do this b/c it’s mean, or something. We are pathetic.
One more question for the BP community and JM:
Has there been a story on BP about who is responsible for maintaining ROW in general – at all times and not just when leaves fall?
There are places all over SW where vegetation encroaches on bike lanes. Who is responsible for removing this vegetation? If it’s the property owner, does anyone from the city follow up to make sure it happens? (99.99% no, I would guess).
Recently I observed not one but TWO instances where people were cleaning the new bike/ped sidewalks on SW Capitol Hwy. It was so unusual to see anyone cleaning anything that I immediately wondered whether the city’s messaging to adjacent homeowners – that “You are responsible for keeping the new sidewalk / bikeway clean” – has resonance, and if it works there, why other bike lanes and sidewalks in SW are just left to rot.
I’m guessing it’s good samaritans volunteering to clean the bikeway (which is fantastic), there’s just no money.
“Challenge” only to the corrupt and inept city that needs millions and and Italian machine to do something an atv and a sweeper could do. Or a sweeper in the front of a bobcat. Last I checked bobcats were available every. Even Italy.
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/17ZHEMLGeE/?mibextid=wwXIfr