BikePortland

Bike ride for Mark Bosworth planned for this Saturday

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

The family of Mark Bosworth has just announced a bike ride this Saturday to raise awareness of his disappearance.

Bosworth has been missing since Friday, September 16th and a massive effort to find him has been underway ever since. Mark’s wife Julie Bosworth hopes the ride leads to even more visibility of Mark’s disappearance. She says Mark loves to ride to Kelley Point Park from North Portland, a popular loop that also passes over the Columbia Slough and the Smith and Bybee Lakes natural area (you might recall that I recently shared photos and ride report of a very similar loop).

Here’s more from a statement about the ride:

“The family feels the ride is a perfect way for people to show support for Mark, an avid bike rider who often bought his family bikes and biking paraphenalia for birthdays and special occassions. In fact, the family of four has 14 bikes in their garage these days.”

Year: 2009
Brand: Trek
Model: 7.2 FX Hybrid
Color:Dark Blue
Serial: WTU167C0292D
Stolen in Portland, OR 97206
Stolen:2011-09-27
Stolen From: Creative Science School
Neighborhood: SE
Owner: Tim White
OwnerEmail: doppelganger_prime@yahoo.com
Reward: 100
Description: Rechargeable headlight, black fenders, adn campus pedals.
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: T11006891
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

The Advocacy Roundup

PBOT and ODOT want to widen I-5
through the Rose Quarter.
Think they should? Attend
a meeting about it Thursday.
(Photo © J. Maus)

[Note from Publisher: Welcome to The Advocacy Roundup, a list of transportation planning and policy events in the Portland area this week. It was put together by uber-activist and Active Right of Way volunteer Ted Buehler. I hope to publish something similar every Monday or Tuesday from here on out. The goal is to get more people involved in plans, policies, and decisions that impact our transportation system. Drop me a line with any feedback or event suggestions. Thanks — Jonathan Maus]

Tuesday, September 27th

Public Open House for the 2011 Transportation System Plan Technical Amendment
The City’s Transportation System Plan TSP is Portland’s master plan for transportation. It is amended every few years, and on this go-round the Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030 will be incorporated into the overall plan. Open House in at City Hall, 1121 SW 5th Ave, Lovejoy Room from 5:30 to 7:30 pm.

A new plan by PBOT would convert
the auto parking on this stretch
of Holladay into a 10-foot
wide shared auto/bike lane.
(Photo © J. Maus)

The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) has released a new plan for how to turn NE Holladay Street into a major, two-way bikeway from the Rose Quarter Transit Center to Holladay Park in the Lloyd District.

Advocates initially pushed to make Holladay completely carfree; but that idea was off the table by the time PBOT began an official public process for the project back in December 2010. Then, real estate developers, various Lloyd District stakeholders, and even the Portland Development Commission piled on with objections to the “loss” of any parking on NE Holladay — an element of the project that’s considered imperative to make the required space for a comfortable bikeway.

Year: 1999
Brand: Lemond
Color:RED
Stolen in Portland, OR 97209
Stolen:2011-09-25
Stolen From: 1631 NW Everett
Neighborhood: Pearl
OwnerEmail: lane.musgrave@wk.com
Reward: 50
Description: Red lemond road bike with a red SUPREME sticker on the top bar
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: T11006889
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Volunteers gather to grow local bike train movement

Volunteers gather at the
Bike Train Meet Up last night.
(Photos © J. Maus)

Portland’s grassroots movement to get kids and families to hop aboard school “bike trains” continues to grow. Last night 15 schools were represented at the second annual Bike Train Meet Up. That’s quite a jump from the four schools that were a part of a similar gathering last year.

The growth in bike trains is music to the ears of Kiel Johnson, the 24-year-old who has spearheaded the movement in Portland. Last night Johnson told the crowd of over 30 moms, dads, kids, teachers and other interested folks, that he was inspired to get more kids riding to school after seeing a video of a typical ride to a school in the Netherlands.

Following an injury collision involving a Multnomah County Judge last month, the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) has re-striped the intersection of SW Terwilliger and SW Condor.

Here’s how the intersection looked prior to the new treatment:

(Photo: PPB)

And here’s how it looks now (photo sent in by reader):

The Bosworth family at a news conference yesterday.
(Photo: FindMark.org)

It’s been a while since I shared any news about Mark Bosworth, the 54-year-old man who went missing from a Cycle Oregon campsite in Riddle on September 16th. While there are no solid leads or major developments to share at this time; there are several updates about the case that are worth your attention.

Since the search shifted gears and left the Riddle area, family and friends of Mark’s have launched a massive online effort to spread word of his disappearance far and wide. There’s a new website, FindMark.org, a very active Facebook page, and a Twitter account at @findmarkb.

Media coverage of the disappearance has continued and noted bicycle racing legends Greg LeMond and Lance Armstrong have both shared links about Mark’s search with their hundreds of thousands of followers.

“This project is very risky. We shouldn’t gamble by skipping the steps provided by Oregon’s land use process.”
— Mara Gross, Coalition for a Livable Future

This morning the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods (NECN) and the Coalition for a Livable Future (CLF) announced an appeal of Metro’s decision last month to pass the project’s Land Use Final Order (LUFO).

According to Metro, the LUFO, “is a remarkably streamlined bit of Oregon land use law, making it easier for a project to move past inevitable land use appeals.” It was originally created for a light rail project, say its critics, not a massive highway expansion and bridge project.

Here’s why the NECN and CLF are opposed to it (from their statement):

This tire and many others were
flatted last week due to two separate
tack incidents on the popular
Vancouver/Williams bikeways.
(Photo: @seniortrio/Twitter)

A Portland resident concerned about the recent incidents of tacks being thrown into bikeways on N Williams and Vancouver Avenues, has announced a $500 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible.

Mark Allyn, who works at Intel in Hillsboro and rides his bike each day from Southeast Portland, has retained local lawyer Ray Thomas of downtown Portland-based Swanson, Thomas and Coon to handle all the inquiries and to answer any questions about the reward.

Here’s a snip from an email Allyn just sent out:

Year: 1997
Brand: Schwinn
Model: Moab
Color:Black/Red
Size:21 inch
Stolen in Portland, OR
Stolen:2011-09-16
Stolen From: Outside of Speakeasy Bar: 609 South East TAYLOR Street, PORTLAND, OR
Neighborhood: Inner SE
Owner: Gus Goodbody
OwnerEmail: gus_goodbody@yahoo.com
Description: Heavily used and not well maintained very tall bike with full fenders and rear rack. Mostly black with greenish bumper sticker around down tube that says “yo protego la lapa verde, y usted?”
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: 11-155129
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

New report shows regional paths are key bicycle transportation corridors

Metro has released its “2011 Trail Use Snapshot” report. The report (PDF here) is an analysis of local trail usage data complied by the National Bicycle and Pedestrian Documentation Project from 2008 to 2010.

Among the 25 multi-use paths (I prefer that term to trails) that were part of the analysis, several of them are key transportation routes for bicycling in and around Portland. In fact, the survey data (gleaned from 3,012 completed forms) makes a compelling case that paths like the Eastbank Esplanade, the Springwater on the Willamette, and the Waterfront Path are crucial bicycle transportation corridors.

Bike ride for Mark Bosworth planned for this Saturday

Dark Blue Trek 7.2 FX Hybrid 2009

The Advocacy Roundup

Tuesday, September 27th

PBOT’s new plan for Holladay St bikeway includes auto parking swap

RED Lemond 1999

Volunteers gather to grow local bike train movement

PBOT adds caution striping at dangerous SW Terwilliger intersection

Mark Bosworth is still missing: Updates on the search

Legal challenge against CRC will be heard Thursday in Salem

$500 reward offered in Vancouver/Williams tack incidents

Black/Red Schwinn Moab 1997

New report shows regional paths are key bicycle transportation corridors

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