Transportation Commission says state can move forward with I-5 Rose Quarter project

View looking northeast at Broadway and Vancouver over I-5 from the Leftbank Building. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

The Oregon Transportation Commission has given the I-5 Rose Quarter project a lifeline. The five member, governor-appointed body faced a stark decision at their meeting this morning: proceed with the project, or pause and reassess. They chose to approve funding for a project while warning that there’s no more funding for the project.

Because of a series of significant setbacks around funding, lawsuits, and a staffing exodus in recent weeks, the Oregon Department of Transportation came to the OTC to make sure it was prudent for them to continue. A package of preliminary construction projects estimated to cost $75 million (of which $30 million comes from a federal grant already in the books) known as Phase 1A (see below) has been set to break ground on August 25th. But given the dire funding picture sharpened at the end of June when lawmakers failed to pass funding for the project, it became unclear if that groundbreaking should move forward.

While OTC commissioners expressed grave concerns about the funding picture for this $2 billion megaproject that aims to expand I-5 between I-405 and I-84, build caps over the freeway and invest in surface street safety improvements — they all voted to proceed.

The meeting began with a slew of public commenters that encouraged OTC to pause the project. The mood in the room swung when community and advocacy leaders that represent the Black community came up to the mic — all of whom strongly favored moving forward with the project in the name of economic development for the people who had their homes destroyed when I-5 was initially built.

“We have the opportunity to marry restorative justice wit restorative economics and restorative development. So we would ask that we look at this moment to begin to put shovels into the ground,” said James Posey, the leader of Portland Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Nate McCoy, executive director of National Association of Minority Contractors added that, “ODOT is in a place to really bring forward some opportunities in gentrified communities in northeast Portland by building I-5… Please, please, please, help us bring this project across the finish line.”

And arguably the most influential voice throughout debates around this project, Albina Vision Trust Director of Government Affairs JT Flowers, said, “I did not come here today to litigate with White environmentalists who have absolutely no connection to our people, our pain, or our collective struggle for progress… the reconnection of a community can and will not happen if we continue kicking the can down the road.” Flowers’ comment came after several advocates spoke in opposition to the project and recommended a pause.

Flowers’ powerful speech illustrated an important element in the debate around the project: The main organized opposition to the project (anti-freeway advocates and environmental justice nonprofit leaders) is almost all White. The most important supporting voice (Albina Vision Trust, racial justice and Albina community leaders, construction company owners, etc.) is almost all Black.

Prior to the vote, OTC Commissioner Lee Beyer asked ODOT Deputy Director of Finance Travis Brouwer what would happen after the OTC approves Phase 1A. ODOT would have $137.5 million in the bank to spend on the project after Phase 1A. Brouwer replied to Beyer that, “We have not gotten to the point where we can tell you what we could do with $137 million in terms of construction, or whether there are viable options for moving forward.”

There would need to be a design and re-scoping process to figure out what parts of the $2 billion project could be built with $137.5 million. At that point in the meeting, ODOT Urban Mobility Office Director Tiffani Penson interjected to clarify that, “$137 million is not enough money to start building the [I-5 freeway] cap… It’s to improve some safety things like ramps and some things like that that need to happen, but we will definitely need more money to start Phase 1.”

Phase 1A is a preliminary package of work that will make stormwater improvements (required by an EPA harbor settlement), and bridge preservation and seismic resiliency work near the I-5 and I-405 interchange, and signage for the highway cover safety and construction. The contractor who won the bid for the Phase 1A work has already hired workers and is ready to go. ODOT listed that contract as one of the risks of not moving forward.

Toward the end of the conversation, Deputy Director of I-5 Rose Quarter Project Monica Blanchard shared a powerful comment about what she feels is at stake with the decision:

“The cost of not [moving forward is that we] will be sued for being out of compliance for our harbor agreement. Will be sued by all the contractors that have incurred $4 million in bonds and hired all these people that could have been working on other jobs, that have been standing by waiting for this to happen because it’s supposed to go to construction in a couple weeks… There’s a cost to trust, and this is a cost that we’re passing on to every future project. So if we reneg on Phase 1A, how much does that really cost us? I don’t think we can even calculate that. So it’s not a it’s not a feasible option.”

Loud claps erupted in the room after Blanchard’s comment.

In the end, the OTC voted 5-0 to continue with the project and they once again chose to the can down the road when it comes to the larger — still unanswered — questions about how or if the project will ever find funding necessary for completion.

“I really feel strongly that we need to to move forward with Phase 1A,” said OTC Chair Julie Brown. “With that said, everyone in this room needs to understand that beyond that, there is no money… We are not saying that we are going to move forward with a complete Rose Quarter.”

Weekend Event Guide: Sunday Parkways, Naked Ride, immigrant solidarity, and more

2010 East Portland Sunday Parkways. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

Hi everyone. Hope you’ve had a good week. I’m leaving early Friday morning for a few days to celebrate my 25th wedding anniversary (I know, right?!!!), so I’ll be away from my desk and won’t be working as usual until Thursday morning.

Here are my picks for the weekend.

Saturday, July 26th

Ride Around Clark County – All day in Vancouver (WA)
It’s time for the 41st annual running of the RACC, a bucket-list ride if there ever was one. There are four routes from 18 to 100+ miles. More info here.

Indigenous Peoples Ride – 10:00 am at Cathedral Park (N)
“An exciting bike ride that celebrates the Indigenous Peoples from around the globe who have made their home right here in Portland.” More info here.

The Red Ride – 3:45 pm at Lone Fir Cemetery (SE)
Not to be outdone by the famous Teal Ride, now there’s a ride for everyone who wants to bask in the glory of the color red. More info here.

Portland World Naked Bike Ride – 8:30 pm at Grant Park (NE)
This is it folks! The biggest naked ride of the year. Whether you come to protest Big Oil or to just revel in the beauty of flesh-filled city streets, you don’t want to miss this quintessential Portland experience. More info here.

Sunday, July 20th

Bike Lane Sweeper Ride – 10:30 am at SW Nebraska & Terwilliger (SW)
Join nonprofit BikeLoud PDX for a ride with their very cool Bike Lane Sweeper machine as you learn about the ups-and-downs of DIY bike lane maintenance. There’s also a northeast version of this ride happening at the same time. More info here.

East Portland Sunday Parkways – 11:00 am to 4:00 pm in Southwest (E)
Enjoy carfree streets on a fun route that connects parks and fun activities from vendors with live music and other cool diversions. It’s Portland at its finest. More info here.

Immigrant Solidarity Ride – 2:00 pm at Colonel Summers Park (SE)
Join to show strength and resolve in the face of deportations and rising hate across the country. Ride is family-friendly and will raise funds for nonprofits that help families with immigrant rights and legal services. More info here.

Ride to Opera in the Park – 4:30 pm at Peninsula Park Rose Garden (N)
Cycling and opera in a park — what could be better on a Sunday afternoon in Portland? This will be a fun-loving loop that will start and end where the opera will perform. More info here.


— Did I miss your event? Please let me know by filling out our contact form, or just email me at maus.jonathan@gmail.com.

TriMet: Service cuts will start in November

(Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

TriMet says a lack of funding will lead to a reduction of service starting in November of this year.

“More cuts are being planned for March 2026 and after, with at least a 10% overall cut to service expected by August 2027,” the agency said in a statement today.

TriMet blamed their decision on the recent failure of the Oregon Legislature to pass a transportation funding package. One version of House Bill 2025 would have pumped $250 million into transit statewide in the coming years. TriMet’s approved 2026 budget includes $83.7 million in funding from the Statewide Transportation Improvement Fund (STIF), a revenue source with a very uncertain future*. (*See update at end of story.)

TriMet also blamed years of budget reductions and, “staggering cost increases in almost everything related to running the transit system, including labor, vehicles, facilities, contractors, equipment and software.”

The cuts announced today are being made to stave off more severe service cuts down the road, TriMet said, as they look to close a $300 million gap between their annual expenses and revenues.

The first cuts beginning in November will reduce frequencies on some lines. Then entire bus lines will be eliminated. If TriMet doesn’t find more revenue by fall 2027, further cuts will be coming.

A new TriMet webpage says starting November 30th, they’ll reduce some frequent service lines during evenings and mornings, cut nighttime service on the FX-2 Division line, and trim service on up to eight other lines.

TriMet will then propose further cuts starting in March 2026. Those cuts haven’t been made and the agency will ask for public feedback on how best to make them. Current proposals include:

  • Eliminating some low ridership bus lines
  • Eliminating evening service on lower ridership bus lines
  • Changing routes on some bus lines to increase efficiency
  • Reducing the MAX Green Line route. Green Line trains would only serve stations between Clackamas Town Center and Gateway Transit Center. Riders would need to transfer to other trains at Gateway Transit Center.

In total, if new funding is not found, TriMet says the system faces about an 18% overall reduction in MAX service — the largest light rail cut in TriMet history — and an 8% reduction in bus service — the third largest cut since 1986.

Oregon Governor Tina Kotek will reconvene the legislature for a special session next month in order to pass transportation funding. Details of the plan aren’t out yet, but there’s a chance TriMet could see new revenue.

Without it, Portland faces a significant transit service reduction.

In a post on social media Tuesday, Portland-based transit consultant Jarrett Walker predicted cuts like this are likely in cities across America. He said the best way to navigate these difficult times is for agencies to be clear and transparent with riders about how the cuts will impact them. “It’s understandable not to want to think about it,” Walker wrote, “But that has to be done now… To really motivate support, we must be very specific about consequences, and also name who has the power.”

With details about cuts coming to light and the legislature prepping for another session, transit riders and their advocates should have all the ammunition necessary for the coming battle.


UPDATE, 1:44 pm: TriMet has issued a clarification, saying that these cuts are needed even if the state legislature passes a proposed doubling of the payroll tax to fund transit. TriMet said they are planning for increased revenue through an upcoming fare increase and from state funding. “If those two actions do not happen, or do not equate to $48 million in increased revenue, we will need to make $48 million in additional spending/service cuts in fall 2027,” the agency said.

Pause or proceed? Commission weighs future of I-5 Rose Quarter project

I-5 looking north just past the Moda Center. (Photo: ODOT)

After years of dangling by a thread, the I-5 Rose Quarter project faces a moment of truth.

The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) project has lost several major battles in the past few weeks. It faced a setback in a lawsuit from a coalition of advocacy groups, it has lost vital federal and state funding, and two of the project’s most senior leaders have decided to walk away from it.

Now the Oregon Transportation Commission (OTC), the Governor-appointed board that oversees ODOT, will call the question at its meeting Thursday: Should ODOT keep driving this car down the road even as the wheels come off? Or is it time to pull over and reconsider if the trip is even worth taking? Agenda item F at tomorrow’s OTC meeting poses a stark decision for the body’s five members: “proceed as planned” or “pause to evaluate next steps.”

To prep for this important meeting, I’ve gathered some context on the lawsuit, the funding situation, the staff exodus, and the OTC’s decision below…

The lawsuit

ODOT officials were due in court Monday July 14th to defend a lawsuit filed by a coalition of advocacy groups led by No More Freeways. Their complaint alleges that ODOT’s I-5 Rose Quarter Project is incompatible with the City of Portland’s Comprehensive Plan and the Regional Transportation Plan because of its intention to expand a freeway, its failure to consider tolling, and its violation of environmental standards.

ODOT initially maintained that the project was compatible with those plans and the plaintiffs were ready to argue their case in court. But just 11 days before the trial was set to begin, ODOT officials changed their mind and formally withdrew their finding of compatibility.

“We think one of two things happened,” No More Freeways co-founder and and lawsuit plaintiff Chris Smith told BikePortland. “They realized we had some strong points and are going to attempt to rewrite the findings [which Smith doesn’t think will be successful], or they simply were not ready for trial and this is just a delay tactic.”

The trial is now scheduled for January.

The funding

One day after ODOT’s legal retreat, they learned Trump’s budget bill wiped $412.5 million of expected project grant funding off their books when it eliminated the Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods grant program and rescinded all unobligated funding. This was a massive blow to ODOT and the project’s already-grim funding prospects.

With the Oregon Legislature seen as ODOT’s last hope for good news, the demise of the transportation funding package at the end of June was another major blow. Keep in mind, this terrible funding news is not new for this project. For the past three years, OTC members have expressed deep skepticism about this project’s financial prospects.

In 2022, former OTC Chair Bob Van Brocklin said, “I don’t think this bridge gets built without being tolled… if we don’t have tolling… I don’t think we don’t have the resources to build the Rose Quarter project.” Then two years later, Governor Tina Kotek paused tolling.

At that same 2022 OTC meeting former OTC Commissioner Sharon Smith wondered aloud, “Is the Rose Quarter really where our state wants to spend the money?”

Then in 2023, OTC Commissioner Lee Beyer said, “Given what we all know about our financial picture at this point, I’m not sure how we finance this project.”

And in May 2024, OTC Chair Julie Brown admitted that, “From a business sense, it doesn’t make sense that you commit to something when you don’t know where you’re going to find the funding.” And Commissioner Jeff Baker added, “We’re in a pickle, because we’re spending more than we expected to spend, and we’ve probably got a real credibility problem around the state.” At that same meeting, even ODOT Director Kris Strickler acknowledged the project’s extreme funding challenge, saying that without broad partnerships and a state funding package, “I don’t see big projects like this going forward.”

And all that was before Trump’s assault on grant funding and the state legislative debacle.

The exodus

ODOT leaders establish their careers around major projects like the I-5 Rose Quarter. For young, up-and-coming managers, being assigned a leadership role on such a high-profile project is a dream come true, a chance to burnish a resume and build a legacy. So when two of ODOT’s rising stars opt to jump ship, it must be seen as a harbinger of demise.

ODOT Urban Mobility Office Director Brendan Finn left the agency back in November. His decision came a year after he walked out of an emotional project advisory committee meeting and came just months after Kotek put a pause on tolling.

I-5 Rose Quarter Project Director Megan Channell was named “Woman of the Year” by a professional development group for her leadership on this project earlier this year. At the awards gala, Channell would have announced that the project she dutifully led for six years was set to begin construction this summer.

But instead of celebrating the biggest moment of her career, Channell resigned before a single shovel hit the ground.

The decision

OTC members were skeptical about this project’s future before its latest funding setbacks, legal losses, and leadership exodus. At their emergency meeting Thursday, they’ll decide if the State of Oregon should continue to invest in a $2.0 billion project when a mere $303 million is available to spend.

Even if they decide to proceed, the immediate conversation about cost and scope reduction will not be pleasant. They’ve made commitments to their Historic Albina Advisory Board that are politically impossible to break, and the only elements of the project with broad public support in Portland have nothing to do with adding new lanes to I-5.

According to Thursday’s meeting documents, the pause option would allow ODOT and the OTC to, “Re-evaluate the project and determine if there is an opportunity to redesign the project in a way that reduces the cost, while still meeting the transportation safety, connectivity and growth needs of our state.”

That doesn’t sound fun either, especially since any major change in the project is likely to trigger another National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis and extend the timeline even further. And without expected maintenance that would have been completed with the project, ODOT would be on the hook for even costlier upkeep down the road.

Like I said in May 2024, the OTC faces no good options when it comes to resolving the problems with I-5 Rose Quarter. It’s almost as if these expansive (and expensive) freeway megaprojects are inherently flawed and we should start looking for different types of solutions in the future.

That’s what anti-freeway activists want. No More Freeways has launched a campaign aimed at asking the OTC to pause the project. “With ODOT poised to consider layoffs of hundreds of state employees and an enormous backlogged of deferred basic highway maintenance and street safety projects unfunded,” NMF’s website states, “the Oregon Transportation Commission must prioritize using our limited existing funding to preserve our existing transportation system…”

If you were an OTC member, what would you do?

Housing construction fee waiver comes at a cost for transportation infrastructure

Road users on N Vancouver Ave roll past a new apartment complex. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

Last week Portland City Council voted unanimously to give developers a three-year reprieve from paying system development charges (SDCs) on residential housing projects. SDCs are fees paid to city bureaus to help pay for infrastructure that supports new developments.

While councilors agreed the fee waiver would help boost badly needed construction of more residential units (Portland produced just 818 market rate units in 2024, the lowest total in 10 years), it’s worth noting that the move represents yet another loss of funding for the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT). The three-year SDC moratorium is estimated to cost the City of Portland about $63 million total.

According to a presentation from the Office of Community and Economic Development shared with City Council, the move will cost PBOT $10 million. This comes on top of a narrowly averted budget crisis, continued uncertainty with federal funding that has put $197 million in project grants in limbo, and an $11 million gap from the state due to the failure of HB 2025.

While 10 councilors (two were absent) voted to support the fee waiver ordinance with hopes it would boost production of 2,500 additional housing units (on top of estimated 2,500 for a total of 5,000), some expressed reservations.

“I’m worried about how much infrastructure funding where we can afford to lose,” said Councilor Candace Avalos, who represents east Portland.

Council President Elana Pirtle Guiney said, “I don’t take lightly the fact that we’re foregoing tens of millions of dollars of revenue for public infrastructure at a time when we have so many infrastructure needs. But I also know that right now, with the tools in our toolbox, this is the single most impactful thing that we can do this year to support housing development.”

The loudest and most eloquent supporter of the SDC waiver is District 4 Councilor Mitch Green. He told members of the PBOT’s Pedestrian Advisory Committee last week that he simply doesn’t like SDCs.

“Because however well-intentioned they are,” Green explained, “They only work when there’s development occurring and they are a marginal cost of development.” Green feels it’s already relatively expensive to develop land in Portland due to our labor and land-use laws, so anything that increases the cost of production just leads to less housing being built. “And if you get less of it, you don’t get as much of a resource for your infrastructure development, which means that latest development, or that last part of the city to come into the boundaries of the city just doesn’t get it, and then you have to compete for a small pool of money relative to the scale of the problem.”

Green sees infrastructure as a “collective problem” and a “public good that spans the whole city,” whereas SDCs only accrue in parts of the city lucky enough to see development. “The unintended consequence of it is you have a situation where neighborhoods have been brought into the city and just haven’t seen any infrastructure development on any meaningful time scale… if you have a family that moves to Hayhurst (in southwest), for instance, their kids are going to grow up and move away before they’re going to get a sidewalk to school. And that’s because we don’t have enough money in the bank for SDCs.”

Key to Green’s outlook on SDCs is that more housing units equals more taxpayers who can ultimately pay into a future PBOT funding pot. Green would rather see a more stable funding source for PBOT and he mentioned several times the city’s current effort to find one.

The ordinance that passed yesterday has set a goal of 5,000 housing units in the next three years. Expect City Council to monitor progress toward that goal and discuss the future of SDCs when — or if — it’s reached.

Kotek calls special session, pushes back layoffs (UPDATED)

(Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

Oregon Governor Tina Kotek has called a special session of the legislature to pass transportation funding legislation. In a statement released today, Kotek said the session will begin August 29th and lawmakers will work, “to pay for basic road maintenance and operations at ODOT, as well as address funding needs for local governments and transit districts.”

Along with the special session announcement, ODOT Director Kris Strickler told members of an employee union today that the effective date for layoffs has been pushed from July 31st to September 15th. Strickler received a letter from Governor Kotek on Monday stating that she’d been assured by legislative leaders that they’d fund the extension. “The commitment from legislative leaders to provide resources for this postponement should be taken for what it is,” Kotek wrote to Strickler. “A thin, timebound safety net to make sure that additional costs generated through the delay will not lead to deeper cuts in the second wave of reductions.”

The employment extension increases pressure on lawmakers to pass a funding package. In an email to staff sent today by Director Strickler, he wrote, “I’m heartened to see that a safety net has been proposed,” but added that, “a postponement will require the agency to incur additional costs for which we don’t have funds to cover.”

Today’s news means pending layoffs are halted and ODOT can maintain operation of 12 maintenance facilities that were prepping for closure.

The Governor gave only a few hints at what the new funding package will include. Rumors have swirled that it would be a basic six-cent gas tax increase aimed at staving off job cuts at ODOT and giving cities and counties a minimum handout from the State Highway Fund. But Kotek seems to have crafted a package that goes beyond that. The statement from her office released today says, “Her goal is to forestall immediate impacts to transit service through increasing the amount of funding available to the Statewide Transportation Improvement Fund (STIF).”

In addition to what sounds like an increase to the payroll tax that funds the STIF, the statement also said Kotek wants the package to include, “provisions related to ratepayer fairness, funding reliability, and agency accountability.”

Given how the regular session ended, it will be interesting to see how Kotek and Democratic leaders pull this off. The one thing that’s changed since sine die is the ratcheting-up of pressure on lawmakers from voters in their districts to save ODOT jobs and preserve basic road safety.

Whether that’s enough to overcome a deeply polarized legislature remains to be seen.


UPDATE, 7/23 at 1:00 pm: Various outlets are reporting that Governor Kotek has unveiled more details about the package she and legislative leaders will try to pass in the special session. According to The Oregonian:

Kotek is proposing that lawmakers raise the state’s 40 cents per gallon gas tax by 6 cents, increase car registration fees by $42, hike title fees by $139, implement a new $30 fee for electric vehicle users and double the state’s 0.1% payroll tax for transit.

The funding plan would provide just enough money to allow the state transportation agency to pay its bills and help local governments and public transit providers maintain their current service levels, Kotek said. Its proposed tax and fee hikes are lower than those included in comprehensive funding plans that Democrats proposed during the five-month session that would have boosted transportation services statewide.

The proposal also calls for more frequent audits and increased legislative oversight of the state transportation agency…

Monday Roundup: Protected intersections, fast e-scooters, and more

Hi friends (and everyone else).

Here are the most notable stories that came across my desk in the past seven days…

Been saying this for years: “While many people consider electric bicycles just another form of recreation, they’ve proven to be potent transportation alternatives after natural disasters worldwide.” (Electrek)

BikeTrailerTown: Montreal’s bike share system now offers trailers along with e-bikes, which greatly expands the utility of the vehicles and gives Portland another goal to shoot for. (Montreal Gazette)

Protection at intersections: This is a great deep-dive into the Dutch-style protected intersections and their potential here in the United States. These make so much sense and should be seen as a requisite complement to protected lanes. (Bloomberg)

Driver violence: A man accelerated his car into a crowd of people waiting outside a club in Los Angeles in what appeared to be an intentional act of violence. (NPR)

Faster e-scooters: I love that there’s a company pushing the boundaries of speed with electric scooters. We let automakers flaunt speed all the time and we too often look down on the same when it comes to micromobility vehicles. I’d love to see more fast scooters on the streets. And l et’s make more—and much wider—low-impact travel lanes to accomodate them. (Wired)

Taking up space: An entire block in Manhattan is being used to park electric delivery bikes, in what appears to be an unsanctioned parking lot for the vehicles that even has overnight security. “It’s not any more of an eyesore to me than a car is,” said one local resident. (NY Post)

All white men and no bikes: US DOT Sec. Sean Duffy appointed 12 new members of the US DOT Advisory Board and every one of them is a white man and none appear to be from bicycle-related businesses or advocacy orgs. Duffy says the group will return our country to the “Golden Age of transportation.” LOL. (US DOT Press Release)

Good news about e-cars: A new study shows that electric cars create much less brake dust (and just a bit more tire wear particles) than gas-powered cars, removing one of the central critiques of e-car skeptics. (Electrek)


Thanks to everyone who sent in links this week. The Monday Roundup is a community effort, so please feel free to send us any great stories you come across.

Local shop launches mutual aid program to help keep riders on the road

It started with this trailer and could become so much more. (Photo: Clever Cycles)

Local bike shop Clever Cycles has launched an interesting new customer service program based around mutual aid and an intriguing cargo trailer that looks like something from the Oregon Trail video game.

Shop co-owner Dean Mullin tells BikePortland the initial idea for “Clever Cares” was to help customers who couldn’t bring their bikes in for service. Since they first open their doors in 2007 as Portland’s original importer of Dutch cargo bikes and helped spark a national bike industry revolution, Clever Cycles has always stood for bikes as transportation. So when their customers’ bikes break down, it often means a household’s main form of mobility is gone. Clever Cares aims to make sure folks can still get to work, the doctor, the store, and so on — even if they can’t make it to the shop for repairs.

In order to make house calls and pick up what are often heavy and cumbersome bicycles without using a car or truck, the shop imported a trailer from Carla Cargo in Germany. Mullin added flair to the trailer with a cover and old-timey lettering. Combined with the wooden side panels, the trailer now looks like a classic covered wagon.

“Once the trailer was ready,” Mullin says, “it felt like it deserved a bigger purpose.”

That bigger purpose has expanded into a community support program aided by a volunteer network.

Mullin has expanded the program to not just offer free bicycle pickup and delivery, but also essential repairs to Portlanders who can’t make it into the shop for financial, physical, or logistical reasons.

And there’s another twist: This new service is funded through customer donations. “Clever Cares is made possible by a simple idea,” reads Clever’s website. “when one person buys a bike or gets theirs serviced, they can help someone else ride, too.”

During the checkout process, Clever Cycles customers are invited to pay it forward by adding a small donation—$5, $10, $25, or more—to support others who need help. (Mullin is exploring nonprofit options so donations can be tax deductible.) Then the shop matches donations in labor credit 1:1 up to a monthly cap.

Another part of the program is that customers can volunteer to drive the trailer and make bike deliveries:

“We’re building a network of volunteers to help us transport bikes to and from our shop using our covered wagon trailer—or your own cargo bike, trailer, or vehicle. No experience necessary—just a willingness to help someone keep rolling… your time can make a tangible difference in someone’s day-to-day life. It’s simple, direct, and incredibly appreciated.”

Mullin says, “The response so far has been amazing.” “Dozens of people have already signed up to be notified when we launch pickups and deliveries… And the City of Portland saw the trailer at Sunday Parkways and reached out to us about using them for maintenance work.”

“I never played Oregon Trail growing up, but the design somehow came together easily,” Mullin added. “Perhaps I missed my calling in covered wagon design.”


To find out more and learn how you can help make Clever Cares another bright spot in our amazing community, check out the official website.

CORRECTION, 7/22 at 8:58 am: This post originally said that Dean Mullin is the owner of Clever Cycles. That is incorrect. Dean is co-owner with Rae Mullin. I regret the error.

City will build new paved path into Kelley Point Park

Looking south from Kelley Point Park with Columbia Slough on the right and N Lombard St overhead. (Photo: Portland Parks)

One of my favorite cycling destinations is getting a big upgrade. Portland Parks and Recreation just announced that they are moving forward with the Kelley Point Park Trail Project, which will fill a gap in the bike path network and allow people to access the park without crossing N Lombard/N Marine Drive.

Kelley Point Park is a 105-acre oasis with a beach, wooded area, and large meadow at the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers. It’s also accessible from many north Portland neighborhoods via the carfree 40-Mile Loop, making it a perfect destination for all-ages cycling. But it could be better.

Currently a section of the 40-Mile Loop that leads into Kelley Point Park ends at N Marine Drive and requires you to cross the busy, high-speed freight route to access the park. Once inside the park, riders share the road with car users for the first few tenths of a mile before you’re able to hop on a paved bike path.

Many folks don’t realize it, but if you stay on the 40-Mile Loop path (named “Rivergate Trail” on Apple Maps) south of the Kelley Point Park entrance and go toward the Columbia Slough under N Lombard, you’ll come to the end of the paved path (red marks in map above). There’s room to enter the park there, but it’s dirt and has some rocks to get over. I typically go this way to avoid the Lombard/Marine Dr crossing.

(Source: Portland Parks)

This project will construct 1,400 feet of new, paved path that will connect to the existing path within the park. Parks says the path will be 10-feet wide with one-foot wide shoulders. According to a new map released by Parks, the path (circled in red above) will follow the road (unfortunate, but likely that alignment has less natural area impacts) for most of its length.

Funding for this $2.7 million project comes from a combination of $1.9 million from Metro in 2022 via their Parks and Nature Bond Measure awarded by Metro back in 2022 and $800,000 in Parks System Development Charges.

If all goes according to plan, Parks will break ground on the project this coming spring and open the new path in late fall 2026.

Learn more at the project website.

Weekend Event Guide: Larch Mountain, BMX Day, and more

It’s BMX Day at Gateway Green on Sunday! (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

Hi everyone. After what has felt like weeks without real progress, my knee is finally — maybe — showing signs of breaking through to a new stage of recovery. I’m still limping and I don’t feel like walking much, but I sense that in the next few days it’ll be feeling a lot better. I really miss covering all the cool rides and events I see on Instagram and can’t wait to get my cameras back in front of your faces. Hope you’ve had a good week and that you have fun weekend plans.

Here are a few cool things to do in the coming days…

Friday, July 18th

James Baldwin v Malcom X Ride – 5:00 pm at North Park Blocks (NW)
On the 100th birthday of James Baldwin, come and learn more about these titans of Black liberation and gain a deeper understanding of how each approached their work. More info here.

Saturday, July 19th

Larch Mountain Fixie Smash – 9:00 am at Vera Katz Statue on Esplanade (SE)
Not for the faint of heart, this 90-mile ride will blast off to the Gorge and then climb up the punishing, 14-mile ascent of Larch Mountain. Are you ready? More info here.

I-205 Path Cleanup – 10:00 am at Flipside Bar & Carts (SE)
Join SOLVE to clean up this popular section of the path in the Woodstock neighborhood. Cargo bikes encouraged since they can carry tools and trash bags. More info here.

Bike Kiosk Unveiling Celebration – 10:00 am at Willamette United Methodist Church (West Linn)
A new bike shelter and mural is coming to Willamette Falls Drive in West Linn and locals are celebrating with bike-related festivities and a bike parade! More info here.

Bike Play: Up Shift Creek – 6:45 pm at Gamman Park (N)
This is your final chance to see Bike Play, the wonderful outdoor theater production that is one of the highlights of Bike Summer. Follow the cast to the scenes by bike and prepared to be entertained with clever lines, beautiful songs, original dances, and more. More info here.

Sunday, July 20th

Larson’s Bakery Ride – 10:00 am at Wilshire Park (NE)
Join the Portland Bicycling Club for a jaunt across the river into Vancouver where the ride leader will take you to their fave bakery. Expect 32 miles of riding. More info here.

Bad Art Ride – 2:30 pm at Irving Park (NE)
Everyone is an artist, it’s just that some folks are better at it than others. Wherever you are at in your artistic journey, this ride is a chance for you to find a safe space where no one will smirk at your work. More info here.

Uke and Me Acoustic Jam Ride – 2:30 at Colonel Summers Park (SE)
Grab whatever instrument you’ve got and join this uke jam led by fun loving folks Avery and Lois. More info here.

BMX Day at Gateway Green – 4:00 to 8:00 pm at Gateway Green (NE)
Come out and connect with fellow BMXers. Youth session and prizes for biggest air and best tricks. More info here.

Zoobomb! – 8:00 pm at the Zoobomb Pyle (SW)
The tradition lives! Grab a bike and ride the MAX up to Washington Park, then prepare for a thrill ride as you “bomb” downhill with friends old and new. More info here.


— Did I miss your event? Please let me know by filling out our contact form, or just email me at maus.jonathan@gmail.com.

Councilor Mitch Green is Portland’s socialist transportation champion

City Councilor Mitch Green at a traffic safety rally in November 2024. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

How does being a socialist translate into local transportation policy? Thanks to Portland City Councilor Mitch Green’s political affiliation — he’s a member of Democratic Socialists of America — and his candor at a meeting of the city’s Pedestrian Advisory Committee Tuesday night, we now have a pretty good idea.

Green, who represents District 4 (Sellwood and the westside), is one of four socialists on Portland’s 12-member city council who are beginning to flex their muscle for the people. A cover story in the current issue of Willamette Week states, “Portland’s agenda and discourse is largely being driven by a cohesive bloc of leftists on the council—and at its heart are the socialists.”

Like the text on a huge banner that hung on City Hall during a rally Green attended last month, socialist policy often boils down to “tax the rich.” In transportation terms, at least the way Councilor Green talks about it, socialism means taxing everyone (especially car and truck drivers) a bit more for a road system that distributes more access to more people and offers a wider array of public benefits.

It also means; broadening the transportation tax base, charging the most privileged users (car drivers) more, using right-of-way for the public good (instead of favoring private transport), tying transportation directly to land use and housing goals, not catering to desires of rich and powerful City Hall interests, and going big for transit.

But that’s a too simple summary of Green’s extensive views on transportation. The professional economist and first-time council member who also sits on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee spent nearly an hour at a committee meeting Tuesday night and spoke on many topics — from parking pricing to zoning, and from superblocks to social housing. What follows is my recap of his comments at that meeting…

Green’s interest in transportation is animated by the current political tilt of City Council and how he believes it’s primed for big moves. “I believe that we’re in a pretty important historical moment in the city where we need to be building infrastructure, and we need to be building institutions that are broadly inclusive and unabashedly so,” Green said as he laid out his vision in an opening statement.

In standing up for people (he wants to make Portland a “refuge for people who look different”) and transportation issues (biking, transit, road taxes) that might be targeted by powerful interests (at the national or local levels), Green repeated several times that he will stand by his admittedly “controversial ideas.”

“For instance if we figure out an equitable pricing model for transportation,” Green said, “I want to be there to say ‘I’ll take the political hits for you, and I’ll champion this for you, because we need to do this to pay for our things.'”

Green knows pushback on higher road taxes and fees are coming, but he doesn’t want to waste time on those who don’t share his core values. “I don’t need to worry about reacting to every phone call from everyone who hates every little micro decision that we do,” he explained. “I have my values. I will communicate them clearly, and I’m going to stand by those.”

Green’s tenure on council has already included support for higher parking prices and rideshare trip fees. He admitted those stances aren’t politically popular. So why does he support them? Green feels like in many cases the critiques come from the few and the benefits are spread to the many. Here’s how he explained it Tuesday night:

“I think there’s enough people in Portland who want a world class transit system and a world class pedestrian infrastructure system, that they’re willing to pay a little bit more. They understand the relationship between paying for more and making sure that we are enabling our bureaus to do what they do best — which is stay the course on a good plan and not get derailed because somebody at the Benson Hotel called a commissioner.”

Later in the meeting, Green expanded on that last line (which is reference to the Broadway Bike Lane Scandal and former Commissioner Mingus Mapps):

“I think those [projects like SW Broadway and 4th Ave bikeways] are always under threat by the business lobby picking up the phone and saying, ‘I don’t like this, take it away.’ Or you can get a cranky condo owner who organizes a letter writing campaign and gets, like, a plaza taken away. I don’t like that. I’m willing to talk to those constituents and say, ‘No, this is a good thing to commit to.’ I’m going to defend it… The model that we’ve had in this city, where just a few connected people can pick up a phone and stop a good project has got to end. It must end, and that’s what I’m trying to do.”

Throughout his visit with the Pedestrian Advisory Committee, he made it clear he wants to be seen as a champion for walkers and transit users. “I want you guys to think of me as someone who’s willing to stick my neck out a little bit and try something in the hope that it improves the lives of people who are trying to move around this city more safely.”

Green, and fellow Democratic Socialist Councilor Angelita Morillo, at a meeting of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in February. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

So what exactly would Green like to do? It starts with a lot fewer cars on our roads:

“Anything we do that is not optimizing getting people out of cars and getting them to a bus stop, or allowing them to walk from their neighborhood to a school with their kids, or do a bike bus, or ride, walk and roll around our city — If we are not prioritizing that —then every other little piddly, marginal thing we do for the climate is much less important, because most of our emissions come from automobiles…

Maximizing opportunities for people get out of their cars is going to always be a priority for me, and I think it’ll save us money in the long run.”

Green also repeated his idea first shared back in February that Portland should ban cars altogether on some streets as a way to reduce ongoing maintenance liabilities. Since then, he’s fleshed that idea out and says he wants to create large superblocks (several blocks where driving is prohibited) in places that will see redevelopment thanks to newly formed tax increment financing (TIF) districts. “It’s a missed opportunity if we don’t see [TIF districts] as an opportunity to steer towards superblocks in east Portland, superblocks downtown and the like,” he said.

Green’s Chief of Staff (and former transportation planner) Maria Sipin chimed in to add that perhaps PBOT should test out a superblocks pilot during the Downtown Sunday Parkways in mid-September. “Why not try this out?” Sipin wondered out loud. “I think downtown Portland is a really good place to start.”

Populism is central to Green’s politics. He sees the idea of taking streets away from a few people driving private cars and giving them to many people with a diversity of uses and public benefits, as an obvious and necessary shift.

Just like his staffer’s “let’s try this out,” comment, Green mentioned last night how he’s “really moved by the tactical urbanism movement.” “Let’s just try some cheap stuff and see if it works,” he said. “And if it doesn’t work, jettison it. If it does work, great. Let’s build the program out of it, and then commit city resources to it.”

“If you’re going to drive a car across town to go to a Timbers game or a venue, you have the means to do so, right? Generally speaking. And you should have to pay some of the cost of the congestion that creates.”

In that spirit, Green threw out an idea for the forthcoming James Beard Public Market. Since the location is adjacent to busy streets like Alder and Morrison Bridge freeway ramps, Green suggested it might be a good location to test mechanical bollards that would keep drivers out and allow the city to test “carfree market days.” “And then just kind of see how people vibe with that kind of space,” he added.

Even the Sidewalk Improvement and Paving Program (SIPP) Green co-sponsored and shepherded through council back in May, is seen as something that can start small and then grow as it becomes more popular. While Green and Councilor Loretta Smith are pushing for $200 million in bonding authority to fund projects in the SIPP program, Green would support an even smaller bite at the apple in the interest of urgency, because he believes, “If we do some part of SIPP, it’s better than doing no part of SIPP, because my theory is that if you deliver meaningful benefits to peoples’ lives immediately, then they they grow their confidence in government.”

Green’s not impatient, he seems to have a calculated urgency borne from frustration with the status quo and traditional pace of change. “For me, the motivation behind SIPP,” he shared, “Was to say, ‘I’m just going to come in right away and see if I can accelerate investment of infrastructure in southwest Portland and figure out how that works politically’.”

He referred to it as “positive incremental progress.” But don’t mistake this for a fear of hooking much bigger fish. Green is a systems thinker. He sees transportation as a web of interconnected policies. Take his approach to parking pricing downtown. In the comments below, he talks about his belief that certain types of parking should be much more expensive, then he connects parking prices to the need to improve regional transit in order to lessen the cost burden on people who live far from the central city.


“My prerogative is that we lobby for the [transit] tunnel. Or we lobby for an elevated, downtown, grade-separated thing. Whatever it’ll take. I’ll take either.”

“I think that we need to invest in and be pretty aggressive on things like dynamic pricing for parking downtown,” Green explained. “Recently PBOT raised parking fees and we’ve already gotten a lot of pushback in our inboxes over that. But I’m going to hold the line for that, because there’s an ability-to-pay question: If you’re going to drive a car across town to go to a Timbers game or a venue, you have the means to do so, right? Generally speaking. And you should have to pay some of the cost of the congestion that creates.”

Green would then take the additional parking revenue (which he also referred to as “congestion pricing” and “scarcity pricing”) and use it to fund TriMet bus service expansions. “You pair pricing of parking and road use with subsidizing public transit — because it’s a long ways to ride a bike from outer east Portland into the westside, even if you have an e-bike, I recognize that — but we have an opportunity. We don’t have any money, but we have an opportunity politically, to steer TriMet priorities and the city’s land use priorities to building a proper regional [transit] system.”

Then Green connected the need for better regional transit to the larger issue of why the TriMet system is inherently inefficient for longer trips:

“Our system cannot support regional transit because we have at-grade light rail that goes through downtown and a hub-and-spoke model. You just simply cannot get from east Portland to anywhere on the westside in any meaningful amount of time. And that’s why people drive. My wife works at Nike, she would love to take the MAX, but if she was going take the MAX her commute would be an hour and a half one away with all the connections.”

How would Green help Portland make the MAX faster? He’d lobby for a transit tunnel under downtown and the Willamette River — a dream of transit reformers that would speed bus and light rail trips and alleviate the current bottleneck on the 113-year old Steel Bridge. But in true Green fashion, he didn’t just toss out this idea. He’s actually thought it through. “My expectation in the next [state] legislative session is that City Council sets the legislative agenda, not the mayor, which is what happened last time,” Green said. “And my prerogative is that we lobby for the tunnel. Or we lobby for an elevated, downtown, grade-separated thing. Whatever it’ll take. I’ll take either.”

To create space for the politics and free up funding for such a bold project idea, Green said when he and his council colleagues are able to influence Portland’s state legislative agenda, he would, “De-prioritize the big freeway expansion projects” and instead, “invest in updating and rationalizing the TriMet system, because then we get the TOD right.”

“TOD” is transit-oriented development, the idea that transit investments should focus on places with the commercial and housing density required to make transit successful. Going a step further, Green said he wants to pair transit-oriented development with social housing — a model popular in major European cities like Paris where housing is owned by the public and managed for community benefits over individual profits (back in April, Green and Councilor Candace Avalos sponsored a successful City Council resolution to study the idea). For Green, an added benefit of social housing near transit hubs is that it sets the table for a different paradigm for transportation revenue: one that relies less on people buy gas for cars and paying car-related fines and fees; and relies more on transportation as a basic city service akin to water, sewer, or electricity.

Green said he’s “Thinking about pairing social housing with transit-oriented development, with a growth policy that that enables us to to really spread the cost of our infrastructure of a larger base…we’re going to need a growing tax base, and you can only get that if you encourage development in the city.”

Green’s dream of city-owned apartment blocks adjacent to transit hubs could be years away, but a proposal for Portland to use a utility fee approach to road funding is likely coming soon. I’ve been tracking comments from councilors and transportation bureau staff in recent months and the idea keeps coming up. Green made it sound imminent on Tuesday night when he said, “There’s a proposal that is going to come out…. called the transportation utility fee, which is this idea of saying we need a stable revenue source.” “Let’s get rid of the gas tax, because it’s not stable anymore,” Green continued. “And let’s just add a constant fee that we spread out to as many ratepayers as possible to spread the burden out and that provides a steady flow of revenue to PBOT that if we’re willing to bond against it — which I think we should — you can really start to build some infrastructure.”

The arc of the case Green laid out Tuesday night demonstrates his ability to go from specific policy ideas (parking prices downtown) to higher-level problems (inefficient transit for longer trips), connect them to the systems level (land use and housing), then bring it back to a massive challenge (lack of transportation funding) and a way to solve it (a utility fee). It’s rare to have a local elected official who can so confidently connect the dots between these issues.

“It’s hard to turn a big ship on a dime,” Green said at the end of the meeting after describing how he wants to turn the vacant building at SW 4th and Washington into dense social housing. “But what I don’t want us to do is continue to defer and kick these good ideas down the road and pretend like they’re not urgent, because they are.”

Massive bike sale at Bike Tires Direct warehouse starts Friday

Summer in Portland is best enjoyed on a great road (like Dutch Canyon!) and on a great bike. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

Note: This post is part of a paid promotional campaign with Bike Tires Direct.

Starting tomorrow morning (Friday, July 18th), Portland-based Bike Tires Direct will host its first ever Summer Bike Sale. From 9:00 am to 6:00 pm Friday and Saturday they’ll open the doors of their massive warehouse in the Sumner neighborhood (5741 NE 87th Ave) and hand out unheard of deals on hundreds of high quality road and gravel bikes.

If you’re looking to make your hot cycling summer even better and finally ride the bike of your dreams, this is a great opportunity to save money.

The folks at Bike Tires Direct tell me they’ll offer up to 50% off on over 700 frames and complete bikes from brands like; Colnago, ENVE, Giant, Liv, Pinarello, and many more. Plus, you can save up to 25% on everything else under their roof. It’s your chance to upgrade your existing rig, add a new bike to your quiver, or have the pro mechanics at BTD put together a custom, frame-up dream build. If you’re on the fence about a purchase, this sale event is a great place to test ride a bunch of different bikes in one convenient location.

I asked the BTD crew to send me a few examples of the bikes they’ll have on super sale. Here are five they chose to feature (note that prices currently on the website are not the same as final prices at the big warehouse sale):





If you or a friend are remotely interested in a new bike, make time to roll out to the Bike Tires Direct Summer Bike Sale tomorrow or Saturday. They’ll have free snacks and drinks from Skratch Labs and Nossa Familia Coffee, the Tour de France will be streaming on the big screen and there will be ample amounts of nerding out for anyone who loves cool bikes.


Bike Tires Direct Summer Bike Sale
July 18-19, 9:00 am to 6:00 pm
BTD Warehouse (5741 NE 87th Ave)
More info here