Jonathan is on a well-earned family vacation. He may cover this in more depth later.

Photo of Samuel Chiriac from his gofundme memorial.

There was a traffic violence fatality on Mt. Scott over the holiday- Samuel Chiriac, 16, was a passenger in a car being driven by Seba Pop, 17. Seba Pop was driving in a three-car caravan, and “passed one of his friends in the oncoming lane and missed a sharp turn, driving off of the roadway and crashing. Dense fog may have played a factor in the crash.” (source: Portland Police)

This was a half mile away from where Karla DeBaillie was killed in August by Mary Dieter while DeBaillie was on a bicycle.
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Plenty of room for changes.
(Photo: Google Streetview)

The street that once ran along part of Portland’s eastern border is now one of its most important corridors, and it’s lined up for some changes — which may even include a new bikeway.

On Saturday, Oct. 10, the 82nd Avenue Improvement Coalition will host a community forum about the urban highway’s future. It’s convened by the Asian-Pacific American Network of Oregon, the force behind an effort to keep strengthening the identity of the Jade District near 82nd and Division; by state Sen. Michael Dembrow, one of the forces behind an effort to bring 82nd Avenue from state to local control; and by the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, which is updating its zoning maps in ways that could push the street away from its current highway-on-the-edge-of-town atmosphere.

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Lents here we come!
(Photo © J. Maus)

I’m very excited to announce that our monthly Get Together event is coming to Lents — the “crossroads of the Eastside.”

Join us at Lents Commons (9201 SE Foster Rd) on March 30th from 5:30 to 7:30. We’ll get to know what issues are on the minds of Lents residents and everyone who rides and works in nearby East Portland neighborhoods. From new neighborhood greenways and other projects in the works, to the East Portland in Motion effort being undertaking by the City of Portland — there’s no shortage of topics to discuss.[Read more…]

The great news we reported last month is now official: The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) announced yesterday that they’ve received $2.96 million from the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) for two projects that will vastly improve biking and walking conditions in North and East Portland.

The Portland projects are two out of 27 that the Oregon Transportation Commission (OTC) has decided to fund from a $20 million pot of federal “flexible funds” set aside specifically for non-highway projects. PBOT has received $2,090,372 for the Going to the River project and $870,000 for a project on SE 122nd Avenue.
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Open for business

New logo and wooden sign. – Gallery – (Photos © J. Maus)

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This corner building at SE 6th and Belmont
will soon be the River City Bicycles Outlet store.

River City Bicycles has purchased a new, 5,000 square foot building that will soon become a new outlet store selling discounted bikes and clothing just a few blocks from their existing location. The River City Bicycles Outlet is set to open for business in the next few weeks at 534 SE Belmont (the southwest corner of 6th and Belmont).
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At about 2:20 this afternoon, a woman attempting to cross E Burnside on SE 181st Avenue was hit by a MAX train. The woman remained conscious at the scene and sustained non life-threatening injuries (a possible broken leg).

According TriMet spokesperson Bekki Witt, they believe the woman on the bicycle was heading southbound when she heard the audible warnings going off and saw a westbound Blue Line MAX train pulling into its station to her right. When she proceeded forward through the intersection, she was struck by the eastbound train. “She thought it was the westbound train, but didn’t see the eastbound train coming,” said Witt, basing her information on witnesses and police interviews taken at the scene.[Read more…]

The Sellwood Bridge.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Members of the Oregon chapter of Americans for Prosperity, an anti-tax and limited government interest group founded by David Koch and Koch Industries, showed up in force on Thursday when the Clackamas County Board of Commissioners shared their plan to raise funds to help pay for the Sellwood Bridge. In order to raise $22 million of the estimated $300 million to replace the ailing bridge, Clackamas County wants to pass a new ordinance that would create a $5 per year vehicle registration fee.[Read more…]

Adams and the banner at this
morning’s event.
(Photos © J. Maus)

Portland Mayor Sam Adams led a press conference today to officially launch the Bureau of Transportation’s new High Crash Corridor Safety campaign. Standing under a newly unveiled banner that stretches all the way across SE Foster Road (one of the city’s most dangerous), Adams said, “This street functions in many ways like a freeway, but it’s not.”

The new “See Kids” banner, with the eyes of a small child staring down on traffic, is PBOT’s educational component of the new safety campaign that focuses on high speed arterials where there are a higher than average rate of fatal and injury crashes. “There are reasons why businesses use banners on busy streets like this,” Adams told the crowd, “Because it draws attention… and it works.” [Read more…]

Schekel memorial sculpture
at SE 37th and Taylor.
(Photo: City Repair)

Matt Schekel was 27 years old when he was struck and killed while riding his bike by someone operating a produce truck who ran a stop sign at SE 37th and Taylor. The year was 1997. This Thursday, August 19th, Schekel would have turned 40 and a Portland woman has planned a ride to remember him.

Kasandra Griffin says she didn’t know Matt, “but the crash made a big impact on me.”

In a search of The Oregonian archives I only find an obituary listing for Matt, which describes him as having been a bicycle messenger downtown. He also worked in the a/v department of Wieden + Kennedy and was a student at Portland Film Institute.
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