[Mayor Royce Pollard and Andy Clarke.] Last night, BTA Director Evan Manvel and I biked up to Vancouver to see League of American Bicyclists Head Honcho (and arbiter of coveted Platinum rankings) Andy Clarke award the Vancouver City Council a “Bronze” Bicycle Friendly Community Award.
The Oregon Department of Transportation released their 2005 crash statistics today and the numbers don’t look good for cyclists. In 2005 there were 802 total crashes involving bikes, including 11 fatalities and 779 injuries. That’s 100 more crashes and 100 more injuries than in 2004.
In response to the tragic death of local cyclist Eric Kautzky, State Representative Jerry Krummel (seen at right) plans to push for “Eric’ Law” in the 2007 legislative session. According to Krummel: “I plan to push legislation at the state level to encourage other counties to offer these memorial signs. We are also looking at … Read more
There’s an exciting program being developed in Portland that, if approved and funded, would allow bicyclists to attend a legal and safety class in order to avoid a conviction or to have their traffic fine lowered. This proposed class would only be available to first-time offenders of certain traffic violations.
The first ever Portland Bike Summit was an unequivocal success. At one point, while Congressman Earl Blumenauer addressed the 400 strong crowd, I stood with the mastermind of the day’s event, Linda Ginenthal. She was beaming like a mother watching her child star in the school play and she said, “This is so amazing, I … Read more
Cycling has reached a fever pitch here in Portland. We’re in the midst of the largest and craziest Pedalpalooza ever, we’re now a legit part of the economy, it’s the eve of our first-ever Bike Summit (with over 300 registered so far), and today the Oregonian is chock-full of bike coverage. The one article that … Read more
Bicycle boulevards are the Next Big Thing for Portland’s bike-friendliness. Both PDOT and the BTA are working on different projects to move the conversation and infrastructure forward. While PDOT is forging ahead on an infrastructure level (recently asking for over $5 million for bike boulevards) the BTA plans to focus their efforts in a more … Read more
[Hardly “better” access.] Noticed an article in the Oregonian yesterday about the upcoming 75th anniversary of the St. Johns Bridge in North Portland. Given the controversial recent history of this bridge, one paragraph jumped out at me: “In 2005, the Oregon Department of Transportation spent nearly $43 million to complete a major overhaul of the … Read more
[Jonathan Nicholas atlast year’s ride.] Last year Metro and Cycle Oregon teamed up to host a bike ride from the Eastbank Esplanade to Champoeg State Park. They informally called it the “Policymakers Ride”. It was an invite-only affair to showcase a future Portland-to-Champoeg leg of Oregon State Parks’ Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway Route. On the … Read more
Susan Otcenas has a keen eye for erratic drivers. She’s logged thousands of miles on her bike, riding between her business in Hillsboro and to meetings in and around Portland. Last Sunday night, while driving, she watched in horror as the car in front of her struck a cyclist riding in a bike lane on … Read more
The City of Portland Bureau of Development Services (BDS) has denied the development application of Shawn Karambelas and his company, SK Northwest (PDF of the official decision). SK’s application to build on the Willamette River became a big deal because they didn’t want to allow a trail to be built across their property, in spite … Read more
[Bike lanes coming soon!] As part of their Interstate 5/Delta Park widening project, ODOT allocated $1 million for “community enhancement projects.” Savvy activists Shamus Lynsky and Shayna Rehberg, working closely with Roger Geller and the Portland Bicycle Advisory Committee, applied for some of this funding and I’ve just gotten the word from ODOT that their … Read more