BikePortland

How to build the world’s longest bike touring route: 8 questions for Jean-Francois Pronovost

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Quebec’s Route Verte. (click to enlarge)

Portland has a network of neighborhood greenways, and they’re great. But Jean-Francois Pronovost’s is 3,100 miles long.

That’s approximately the distance from Portland to Nicaragua.

The Greenway (Route Verte in Pronovost’s native French) is a bike route network running all over the Canadian province of Quebec. On Monday, the vice president for development and public affairs at advocacy group Vélo Québec visits Portland to share lessons from this project and others in the first annual Ann Niles Transportation Lecture, a major new series produced by Portland State University’s Institute for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation.

The event is free, though space is limited to 240. I spoke with Pronovost Thursday to learn more about his life’s work, the best parts of Quebec bike touring and how his hometown of Montreal managed to replace 320 auto parking spaces with a downtown protected lane that carries 9,000 bikes per day. (When you read his responses, be sure to imagine them in a dignified French-Canadian accent.)

Portland Transportation Commissioner
Steve Novick wants to hear from
“suburban car commuters” before
proposing a road diet on SW
Barbur Blvd.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland)

After yet another tragedy on SW Barbur Blvd last week, people are once again trying to push officials to make it safer.

So far, most of the attention has been focused on the Oregon Department of Transportation because they own and manage Barbur (except for the portions adjacent to downtown Portland) and they’ve been reluctant to significantly improve safety on it. But while ODOT has final say, the City of Portland can play an important role in this discussion. If the Portland Bureau of Transportation and/or Transportation Commissioner Novick and Mayor Charlie Hales wanted to, they could increase pressure on ODOT to move forward with a road diet or other measures that would have a dramatic impact on safety.

We haven’t asked Mayor Hales for a comment about Barbur yet; but we have reached out and gotten replies from Commissioner Novick and PBOT.

I initially asked PBOT for a comment from new Bureau Director Leah Treat. When I heard back from spokesperson Diane Dulken, Dulken made it clear that the comment was, “from PBOT, not specifically from Director Treat.” (Perhaps Director Treat still isn’t well-versed enough in local transportation issues to weigh in.) Unfortunately, the PBOT statement was really more of a non-statement. Here’s what they said:

A photo shared on Twitter the other day by London-based bicycling advocate and blogger Mark Treasure threw the differences between us and the Dutch into stark relief.

Mark pointed out how road designers in Utrecht (in the Netherlands) handled a situation where a road and its bicycle paths went under an overpass. The photo showed clearly how the quality and width of the bike paths were maintained — while the roadway was narrowed.

Here’s the photo:

New and smooth.
(Photos: Joe Hamilton)

Thanks to a newly built undercrossing of SE Division, people on bikes have one less stop to make while riding on the I-205 path. ODOT put the finishing touches on their $750,000 I-205 Shared-Use Path Division Undercrossing Project earlier this month and they’re hosting a “celebratory gathering” this morning to show it off.

As we shared back in October 2012, the new path takes riders and walkers down near the MAX light rail tracks under Division Street. South of division, the path begins at the MAX station and it re-joins the I-205 path at the intersection of SE Caruthers and 93rd. The project was originally planned for 2009 to coincide with the construction of TriMet’s Green Line MAX project. ODOT received a federal stimulus grant for path improvements but the funding ran out before the undercrossing was completed.

Reader Joe Hamilton sent us some photos of the new path…

This just in from the PPB:

PORTLAND POLICE DONATING BICYCLES FOR WEST AFRICAN VILLAGES

On Thursday August 22, 2013, at 10:30 a.m., the Portland Police Bureau will be donating approximately 100 bicycles to Alaffia’s Bicycles for Education Project.

This event will be held at and in partnership with Whole Foods Market Hollywood, located at 4301 Northeast Sandy Boulevard. Members of the media are invited to attend.

Members of the community may also donate adult sized bicycles in any condition at this location from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. All donations are tax deductible.

Speakers will include Portland Police Bureau Assistant Chief Donna Henderson and Alaffia Founder Olowo-n’djo Tchala (pronounced “Olo-Wanjoe Chala”)

The donated bicycles are from the Portland Police Property and Evidence Division and are unclaimed or disposed of property no longer needed.

Read more

Police (finally) issue statement on Barbur hit-and-run case – UPDATED

Police are looking for a Subaru like this one.
(Photo: PPB)

The Portland Police Bureau just released a media statement about a serious injury hit-and-run that occurred on Friday, August 16th on SW Barbur Blvd. The collision left 20-year old Henry Schmidt with multiple injuries including shattered bones, damaged organs, and extensive road rash. Since first reported by KATU-TV, the PPB has come under fire from friends of the victim and other people in the community for their handling of the crime scene and a lack of urgency around their investigation.

Dave Cassidy, a close friend of the Schmidt family, has been sending emails to local media describing his concerns about the PPB’s lack of attention to Schmidt’s case. Here’s an excerpt from an email Cassidy sent to local media outlets yesterday:

Advocates want a safer and more pleasant way
to ride along Lower River Road.
(Photos: Todd Bachmann)

This story was written by our Vancouver correspondent, Madeleine von Laue.

Bicycle activists in Vancouver are organizing a ride with elected officials along Lower River Road this Friday (8/23). The ride is an attempt to raise support for a project that would complete the path along the high-speed road that connects downtown with popular recreation areas west of town such as Vancouver Lake and Frenchman’s Bar along the Columbia River. The Port of Vancouver recently received a federal grant to construct one segment of the path, and advocates want to build on that momentum.

Sorry. This job has been filled.

Job Title
SoupCycler Extraordinaire

Company/Organization
SoupCycle

Job Description
Do you get excited by the challenge of working on your bike, pulling a hefty trailer and delivering awesome organic foods? We’re a small Portland company that makes and delivers organic soups using local ingredients. Each week we cook three different soups (meaty, veggie, and vegan) and then deliver them to the masses of Portland by bicycle. So far we’ve done 97,000 bicycle deliveries and we’re hiring a new SoupCycler. Are you our SoupCycling match made in heaven?

We have a great crew of people who are passionate about bicycle delivery. We’re looking for an energetic, upbeat and strong-legged person who can brave the winter rains of Portland and still be smiling when they deliver soup to customers. This position is pretty rad if we do say so ourselves. It’s a combination of working in the kitchen one day each week and delivering soups two days/week. One lucky candidate will be chosen for this position.

Here’s what we’re looking for:
-An authentic people-person. There’ll be a lot of customer interaction while you deliver and strong customer service is a must.
-A safe cyclist (uses hand-signals, wears helmet, respects drivers, etc)
-Excitement about food and sharing that with customers during deliveries.
-Ability to commit to working with SoupCycle for a one-year minimum
-Excitement to work with a small, local business.
-Ability to wield a kitchen knife and chop vegetables like it’s nobody’s business.
-Physically able to lift 75 lbs and pedal a bike trailer carrying up to 215 lbs.
-A sturdy bike to attach to our soup trailer for deliveries (you get to use your bike, we provide the trailer).
-Other business skills are a major plus, including sales and kitchen experience.

The position:
22-26 hours per week split Mondays-Wednesday, with most of your time out on the bike and part in the kitchen.

Approximate hours are…
Mondays (kitchen): 8am-6pm
Tuesdays (deliveries): 8am-4pm
Wednesdays (deliveries): 8am-4pm

If you’re interested in being an integral part of a bicycle-based business then jump aboard our soupy sailboat.

Compensation
$10.00/hour
Monthly bike upkeep stipend
Vacation benefits and accident insurance after one year
The ability to work for a mission-driven company with passionate coworkers
Generous soup allowance

How to Apply
Send an email to yesplease@soupcycle.com, with 2-3 paragraphs telling us why you’re interested in working for SoupCycle, your bicycling background and all relevant skills.

Happy Slurping!
The SoupCycle Crew

Two stolen bike recovery stories (because we can’t get enough of them)

Because we can never get enough of hearing about how people get their stolen bikes back, we present you two more stories of stolen bike recovery success.

But before getting into some good news, we have some not-so-good news about our Stolen Bike Listings. Due to a software issue that’s causing duplicate postings, I’ve decided to disable the listings until we can get it fixed. Sorry about that. Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming…

Our first story comes from Vancouver resident Branden Shelby. You might recall that Branden was the subject of one of our Ride Alongs back in April. A few months after our story, the same bike he rode with me that morning, a LeMond Poprad, was stolen from his side yard. Branden had put a lot of love into his bike, upgrading it over the years with a green Brooks saddle, green BMX pedals, and other nice touches. Unfortunately, he posted it to our Stolen Bike Listings on July 23rd with a $100 reward.

Oregon Walks, a non-profit advocacy group that works to improve walking conditions around the state, has announced that Executive Director Steph Routh will resign in October.

Routh became the organization’s first full-time staffer when she was named to the position in May 2009. In the ensuing years, Routh helped transform Oregon Walks (formerly known as the Willamette Pedestrian Coalition) by making what was traditionally a quiet, behind-the-scenes organization into a public force to be reckoned with. Just months after taking the job, she asked the community to think hard about the state of walking advocacy in Oregon — a movement that has lacked the spark of and cultural identity evident in the local bicycle scene.

Routh’s personal dedication to the task, professional creativity, and natural charisma drew people to her organization and her cause.

How to build the world’s longest bike touring route: 8 questions for Jean-Francois Pronovost

Commissioner Novick, PBOT respond to SW Barbur hit-and-run

Bikeways at overpasses: Utrecht vs. Portland

Photos of ODOT’s new Division Street undercrossing on I-205 path

BikePortland Podcast: Is carnage worth coverage?

Portland Police donating bicycles for West African villages

Police (finally) issue statement on Barbur hit-and-run case – UPDATED

Vancouver advocates plan ride to push timetable on Lower River Road project

Job: SoupCycler Extraordinaire – SoupCycle – FILLED

Two stolen bike recovery stories (because we can’t get enough of them)

Steph Routh announces resignation from Oregon Walks

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