BikePortland

Regional mayors look to neuter Metro’s Regional Active Transportation Plan

Will it be rendered powerless?
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

Mayors from 22 of the 25 cities represented by Metro are pushing to make the Regional Active Transportation Plan (ATP) relatively powerless. The plan has been in the making for over two years, and Metro has been showing off the 70-page review draft via public open houses since May.

Lake McTighe, the Metro project manager in charge of the ATP, had planned to have a resolution pass by Metro Council by next month that would have moved the plan to its next step toward implementation. However, a power struggle between Metro and regional mayors became evident last month as they feared the plan would give Metro too much power and would force their hand in implementing new bicycle pathways, walking facilities, and other active transportation projects.

German product veloSTRAIL might offer promise
for safer urban rail crossings.
(Image from Strail.de.)

Twelve years after Portland Streetcar added its rails to city streets, it’s still a Portland rite of passage to crash your bike on its tracks — and it’s still a maddening problem for the handful of people trying to solve it.

“I just can’t believe that in a place like Amsterdam or any number of European cities where they have had girder rail — I can’t believe that somebody hasn’t figured this out,” Portland Streetcar consultant Carter MacNichol said in an interview Wednesday. “But apparently they haven’t.”

MacNichol, who occasionally researches the issue on his own time, said he’s currently hoping for an email reply from veloSTRAIL, a German company that makes plastic inserts for urban rail crossings designed to collapse beneath a streetcar wheel but not beneath a bike. But veloSTRAIL, he said, seems to be designed for T-shaped ballasted tracks — not the C-shaped girder rail used by Streetcar.

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Job Title
Mechanic, Salesperson, Bar Tender

Company/Organization
Velo Cult Bicycle Shop and Tavern

Job Description
Velo Cult is looking for full time and part time Mechanics, Salespeople and Bar Tenders. Bike shop and/or Bar experience is a big plus.

We are also looking for someone with inventory experience.

If you feel like you would be a good fit please email us your resume.

Velo Cult Bicycle Shop and Tavern
1969 NE 42nd Ave
Portland, OR 97213
www.velocult.com
info@velocult.com

How to Apply
Please email your resume to info@velocult.com

Want wider shoulders on Hwy 26? ODOT seeks feedback on Mt. Hood area projects

ODOT has created an interactive map of the projects.

The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) has revealed their list of projects that could get funding through their Mt. Hood Multimodal Transportation Plan (MHMTP). Along with the list is an online survey where you can tell them which of the 40 projects you think are most important.

As we first covered back in March ODOT is putting a renewed focus on the highways that lead up to Mt. Hood (US 26/OR 35 between Sandy and Hood River) in an effort to improve safety and give people more options for traveling to and around the popular recreation area. This Multimodal Plan is a $650,000 effort to plan and then implement a number of small-scale projects that will make transit, walking, biking, and driving easier and safer.

This just in from our Vancouver, Washington correspondent Madeleine von Laue:

If you’re suffering from Sunday Parkways withdrawal, relief is in sight. Vancouver is hosting its first open streets event this coming Sun, August 18, 11am-4pm. Sunday Streets Alive will open up the downtown, Officers Row through the National Historic Reserve, streets by Marshall Center and Clark College and the uptown neighborhood. The route goes near a lively Farmers’ Market, and fun activities are planned in parks along the way – Zumba, circus classes, pet shows stilt walking, disc golf. Music of course will waft through the air, and food booths will feed hungry participants.

The route and one of the activity centers are just a short five blocks from the I-5 bridge. Vancouver is also served by public transportation; the yellow line Max stop at Delta park has a C-TRAN bus connection to downtown Vancouver.

Organizers still need volunteers to make the event a success. In addition to providing critical support, volunteers will of course also have time to enjoy the fun! To find out how to volunteer or get more information about the event, visit www.sundaystreetsalive.org.

Friends of Barbur asks for signatures to support fixing narrow bridges

When are two auto lanes not two auto lanes?
(Image by Friends of Barbur)

If you want to understand how two key bridge crossings on Southwest Barbur Boulevard are working today, take a look at the screen capture to the right.

Or even better, see the stretch in action at 0:55 of the short video below. The shots show why Barbur Boulevard is arguably the most nerve-wracking of Portland’s major bike routes.

Bike staples at the North Williams and Fremont
New Seasons were torn up so they could
be moved further from the wall.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

It’s always nice to see a retailer going the extra mile to improve their bike-friendliness, and for us, it’s even nicer when the business was alerted to the problem by BikePortland commenters.

In this case, the action is coming from grocer New Seasons, which is tearing up and reinstalling a set of bike staples that turned out to be too close to its new building on North Williams.

“Your blog commenters were right on so we asked the architect/builder to review the install of the racks,” New Seasons spokeswoman Elizabeth Nardi wrote in an email Tuesday morning. “The person installing the staples had them too close to the building. They needed to get new hardware, but they will be reinstalled shortly at the correct distance from the building. Pretty incredible your readers were able to spot that mistake from the picture.”

Some commuters and exercisers used the upper
sidewalk of the Steel Bridge Tuesday morning.
(Photo: M.Andersen/BikePortland)

Update 3:59 pm: The bridge lower deck is now open, and the city’s Diane Dulken writes to confirm that the city, not Union Pacific Railroad, is responsible for the lower-deck cameras related to this closure.

Portlanders’ unscheduled trip into the 90s extended into its fourth day Tuesday as the lower deck of the Steel Bridge, built for $10 million in 2001, remained closed due to a camera failure.

City spokeswoman Diane Dulken said Monday that Union Pacific Railroad runs the cameras, and that the problem is UP’s. The next morning, UP’s California-based spokesman Aaron Hunt said that this was not true, and that the city has been working to repair them. Update: Dulken confirmed, late Tuesday afternoon, that the railroad was correct, and the cameras are the city’s responsibility.

Dulken said Tuesday that she had no information about whether Union Pacific had been in contact with the city. She said she wasn’t aware of detour signs other than the ones at the Steel Bridge’s lower-deck gates themselves.

Year: 2011
Brand: Kona
Model: Honky Tonk
Color:Blue
Size:56cm
Serial:F1109C1549
Stolen in Portland, OR 97202
Stolen:2013-08-12
Stolen From: Subway at 45th and Woodstock
Neighborhood: Wodostock
Owner: Nathan Frechen
OwnerEmail: nathanfrechen@yahoo.com
Reward: yes
Description: SRAM Rival/Force drivetrain
Shimano crankset
Shimano 105/CXP33 wheelset GatorHardshell tires
Garmin 800 GPS light
Serfas TSL-500 light
Thomson seatpost
Brake levers reversed (right = front)
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: 13-155738
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

A gravel riding goldmine in eastern Oregon

Year: 2012
Brand: Specialized
Model: Hotrock
Color:black with white and yellow
Size:24 – kids
Serial: WSBC500094073f
Photo: http://www.bikepedia.com/quickbike/BikeSpecs.aspx?year=2012&brand=Specialized&model=Hotrock+24+21-speed+Boys
Stolen in Portland, OR 97203
Stolen:2013-08-12
Stolen From: 4930 N Princeton
Neighborhood: university
Owner: Maria Sosnowski
OwnerEmail: maria(at sign)silentdragon.com
Reward: $50
Description: The bike had a bike computer and water bottle.
Police record with: portland PD
Police reference#: 1367280
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

‘Tour of Aufderheide’ shows Oakridge area not just for mountain biking

Oakridge might be one of the premiere mountain biking destinations in the country; but did you know that there’s also lots of fun to be had on a road bike in that neck of the woods?

On Saturday, I joined about 100 other lucky riders for the first-ever Tour of Aufderheide, an event that took full advantage of one of the most spectacular roads in Oregon – Aufderheide Forest Drive.

Tour of Auderheide is the work of Eugene-based event promoter and owner of dark30 Sports, Steve Cash. After 30 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, Cash’s new focus is on using bicycle events to give an economic energy boost to small Oregon towns. “This is about economic development in these small towns,” he shared with me after Saturday’s ride which started and ended at the quaint Westfir Lodge, “They have great attributes for cycling and a lot of potential to bring cyclists in.”

Regional mayors look to neuter Metro’s Regional Active Transportation Plan

Will Portland Streetcar ever find a way to prevent bike-rail crashes?

Job: Mechanic, Salesperson, Bar Tender – Velo Cult Bicycle Shop and Tavern

Want wider shoulders on Hwy 26? ODOT seeks feedback on Mt. Hood area projects

‘Sunday Streets Alive’ is this weekend in Vancouver

Friends of Barbur asks for signatures to support fixing narrow bridges

Williams Avenue New Seasons moves staples to improve bike parking

After much finger-pointing, the Steel Bridge’s lower deck reopens – UPDATED

Blue Kona Honky Tonk 2011

A gravel riding goldmine in eastern Oregon

black with white and yellow Specialized Hotrock 2012

‘Tour of Aufderheide’ shows Oakridge area not just for mountain biking

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