Screen grab from The Oregonian.

The Oregonian reported earlier this week that a jury has awarded more than $9 million to a couple who were hit by a truck driver while biking on I-84 in the Columbia River Gorge.

According to The O, the collision happened in 2016 when Eric Moutal and Andrea Newman (both from Vancouver, BC) were biking to Portland on the westbound shoulder of the Interstate about seven miles east of Cascade Locks (near Wyeth Trailhead at mile post 52). Eric suffered severe injuries to his leg.

When I read about this case, two big things stood out to me.
[Read more…]

Behold the future of bus travel in Portland.

The City of Portland has just released its vision for a new system of faster, more frequent bus service. The Rose Lane Vision debuted tonight to coincide with the first of three public open houses. [Read more…]

Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek at a City of Portland Freight Committee meeting last month.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

The Oregon Transportation Commission has reached a crossroads when it comes to the I-5 Rose Quarter megaproject.

The governing body of the Oregon Department of Transportation is poised to make a decision later this month about whether to drive ahead with the estimated $500 million project or whether to hit the brakes and perform a more thorough assessment of its environmental impacts.

Thus far, ODOT’s analysis of the project’s potential impact to the earth and to our community has been severely lacking. And that’s not just according to activists who oppose the project. Back in April, Metro’s senior planner described ODOT’s work on the project “inadequate and potentially misleading.”

In August, ODOT hinted that they’d heed the groundswell of community leaders and voices calling for a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) as part of the National Environmental Protection Act process they’re mandated to comply with. To date, ODOT has completed only an Environmental Assessment (EA) which is a less robust process.

As a decision from the OTC gets closer, pressure to slow down and do the EIS is building.[Read more…]

Cheap, fast, and effective.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

Amid all the talk about how to “fix congestion” there’s one cheap and relatively simple solution staring us in the face: dedicated lanes for efficient vehicles like bikes and buses.[Read more…]