[All signs point to more bike boulevards] In case anyone gets the wrong impression after my post about Berkeley’s bicycle boulevard efforts, I thought an update on Portland’s progress was in order. Here are a few things I’ve come across just in the past week or so. SE Foster Bypass Bicycle Boulevard With strong leadership … Read more
[Berkeley’s Bike Boulevards, by Clarence Eckerson (for StreetsBlog)]Length: 8 min. 12 sec. Clarence Eckerson’s latest StreetFilms piece focuses on Berkeley California’s bicycle boulevard network. It’s a great film and it shows that Berkeley is way ahead of Portland in creating slow, traffic-calmed streets that are safe and appealing for people (not just cars).
Several readers have written in complaining about gravel still left in many bike lanes throughout the city. It was initially spread to help with the ice and slick roads from our recent storm. One reader says,
[Sharrows in NW Portland.]Photo: Todd Boulanger At the recently completed annual meeting of the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (NCUTCD), they voted 35-0 to endorse shared lane markings (aka sharrows) and forward the recommendation to the Federal Highway Administration. From there, it is a small step into officialdom… inclusion in the next edition … Read more
[Detail of covered bike parking map.] Due to the behemoth Portland Bus Mall reconstruction project, downtown traffic is snarled and gnarled all over the place. For smart Portlanders this is a perfect time to consider biking into work. But no one wants to leave their bike out in the wet and cold…so what to do? … Read more
[Regular bike lanesdon’t always cut it.] As bicycle advocacy and ridership in America matures, new solutions and ideas for integrating bicycles onto our roadways must be seriously considered. For decades, we have been happy with conventional bike lanes, but as we get serious about reaching double-digit mode-splits, perhaps it’s time to go beyond a stripe … Read more
[npGreenway’s trail vision. Download the PDF(329KB).] npGreenway is a group of advocates working to build a trail that connects Cathedral Park in St. Johns to the terminus of the Eastbank Esplanade at the Steel Bridge. I was at their very first meeting back in November of 2005 and I have been watching their progress ever … Read more
[Proposed route of Sullivan’s Gulch Trail. The project led the way with positive public support in Metro’s MTIP planning process.] Just noticed that Metro has released the results of the 45-day public comment period on projects hoping to get funding through a big pot of dollars known as MTIP. The BTA’s Policy Director Scott Bricker … Read more
[33rd Ave. Bridge lookingNorth towards Marine Drive.]Photo: PDOT Easy access to the Marine Drive bike path has been restored with the completion of the refurbished 33rd Avenue bridge over NE Lombard Street. This means cyclists no longer have to take the tricky detour that I wrote about when the bridge was demolished back in March.
Yesterday I got a sneak peek at how bikes mix with the gleaming and futuristic new Portland Aerial Tram. Built by a cooperative effort between PDOT and OHSU, the new tram carries people from a new OHSU health center on the South Waterfront up to OHSU’s Kohler Pavillion. I was joined by PDOT … Read more
[One of ten blue bike lanes in Portland.] I recently got an email from a reader who was curious about Portland’s blue bike lanes. I did a little research and decided to share my findings with everyone. The City of Portland — with a grant from ODOT — first experimented with blue bike lanes back … Read more