Iulia Hanczarek.
(Photo: Portland State University)

Iulia Hanczarek was coming into her prime as a chemist and researcher at Portland State University. She had dreams of a doctoral degree and missions to space. At just 39 years old, she had a lot of important discoveries ahead of her. Staff at the university describe her as “brilliant”.

But just after midnight on Tuesday her life was cut short when a man chose to drive his car while drunk and hit and killed her as she walked home in southwest Portland. According to police, Ivan Cam was driving approximately 50 miles per hour prior to hitting Hanczarek. Cam told crash investigators the window of his car “suddenly exploded” and he didn’t even know what he’d hit. He now faces charges of manslaughter, DUI, and reckless driving.[Read more…]

Not going to happen after all.

When a seven-page memo detailing changes to the Northwest in Motion plan was released late last month by the Portland Bureau of Transportation, many advocates were animated in their disapproval.

“All the ways in which Northwest in Motion is being watered down is so incredibly depressing,” NextPortland blogger and transportation reform activist Iain MacKenzie shared on Twitter.

NWIM is the city’s plan to dramatically increase biking, walking and transit use in the Northwest District. When we shared the draft plan back in November it came with an expectation that the projects would double bike use. In the past two years of planning, PBOT has identified a list of projects that are truly unprecedented for this part of town. From five new neighborhood greenways and a district-wide 20 mph speed limit zone, to carfree streets and 12 new diverters that are estimated to take 12,000 cars off the road every day.
[Read more…]

Yay!
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

That waiting game.

On my way to check out the new Gideon Overpass yesterday I passed an all too familiar sight: a freight train blocking people from crossing the tracks at SE 11th and Clinton. This issue torments many people and is a recurring mobility nightmare for anyone trying to get between the Brooklyn and Hosford-Abernethy neighborhoods. It’s so bad someone made one of those singularly-focused websites about it with the address of IsATrainBlocking11th.com.

Soon the wait will be over.

Construction crews are busy these days erecting a new bridge that will give people an option for getting around trains that doesn’t involve lifting bikes over stalled or slow-moving train cars (yes people do that). The new Gideon Overpass already stands tall above the tracks about 300 feet southeast of the Clinton St/SE 12th Ave MAX station.

With intense opposition from nearby business owners behind them, TriMet is on track to complete construction of the $15 million bridge by this fall. For bicycle riders, it will have a roll-on elevator just like the nearby Rhine-Lafayette Overpass. When the elevator is broken, a wheel gutter will help roll bikes up and down the stairway.

One business owner can’t wait for it to be done. Jarret Walker of Jarrett Walker + Associates calls the bridge a “game-changer for the area.” “My office is on the north side and I must plan my life as though 11th-12th is permanently blocked by freight trains,” he shared on Twitter this morning. “There are things on the other side I’d love to go to, but the risk of being stranded there is too great. Go TriMet and PBOT!”

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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Ramp is now closed to public use. Note the PBOT bikeway signage at the top, which demonstrates how this was a well-used bike route.
(Photos: Stephen Gardiner)

A property owner’s effort to curb crime has resulted in the loss of an access point to the Marine Drive bike path.[Read more…]