🚨 Please note: BikePortland is currently on hiatus and only publishing guest articles. Learn more here. Thank you. - Jonathan 🙏

Biking to Obama? Check the Lloyd District Bike Parking Map

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Detail from map showing bike parking
locations around Convention Center.

As we mentioned yesterday, the Oregon Convention Center is not likely to be able to provide enough bike parking for the Barack Obama visit today (latest news is that he’ll speak at 6:45).

That being said, we forgot to mention an awesome resource for finding bike parking in the Lloyd District. Our friends at the Lloyd District TMA reminded us about their Interactive Bike Parking Map. Check it out below…

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Citizen activist releases “Boatload of Questions” CRC video

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Citizen uber-activist and professional animator Spencer Boomhower has released a thoughtful new video on the Columbia River Crossing Project. You might remember Boomhower as the guy who created the Idaho Stop Law animation that spread nationwide and has since been viewed over 44,000 times.

Boomhower says he put out his latest video on the CRC project because he wanted people to know more about the project in advance of a crucial vote for Metro President. One candidate in that race, Tom Hughes, supports the project. The other, Bob Stacey, opposes it (the two were separated by only a few percentage points in the primary).

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How’d Oregon do in TIGER II?

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This morning the U.S. Department of Transportation released a full list of award announcements for their TIGER II grants. More than 70 projects — split between 42 capital construction projects and 33 planning projects — worth $600 million were funded.

Oregon received three grant awards, two for construction projects and one for planning.

Washington County nabbed $1.5 million for their “Livable Community Plan” (total cost $3.065 million) that will help the region plan for upcoming growth — and will include a biking and walking plan — in Aloha (“unincorporated urban area between Hillsboro and Beaverton”). Here’s more from the USDOT project description:

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Metro unveils task force that will help recommend $24 million in projects

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Metro has unveiled the list of “regional experts” that will sit on a task force to make recommendations on how the agency should dole out about $24 million in federal transportation dollars.

Back in July, there was a heated debate at Metro’s Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation over how best to divide up those funds. The debate came after active transportation advocates lined up on one side and freight advocates lined up on the other. With both sides pulling at the committee, the vote was very close.

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Oaks Bottom project delay will postpone Springwater Trail closure

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“We wish this were not the case, however, it will give the City an additional year to hopefully implement bike detour safety treatments in anticipation of the Springwater Corridor trail closure.”
— Anne Nelson, Bureau of Environmental Services

A project by the City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services on the 170-acre Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge that was going to close a popular section of the Springwater Corridor Trail for up to four months next summer has been postponed.

In an email to stakeholders this morning, BES staffer Anne Nelson said the project will be delayed until summer of 2012 due to “funding issues”:

“While this is not our preference, it is the reality of the situation. As we are receiving a significant portion of the funding from the Army Corps of Engineers, the project must align with the Corps’ process and timeline, which is unable to align with our planned 2011 construction window.”

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Bike parking will be at a premium for tomorrow’s Obama visit

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BTA Bike Commute Challenge Party-2

Temporary bike parking like this will
be used at the Convention Center tomorrow.
(Photos © J. Maus)

President Obama arrives in Portland tomorrow to stump for gubernatorial candidate John Kitzhaber at the Oregon Convention Center. The event starts at 5:00 p.m., at the peak of evening rush hour and in a part of town that is — thanks to streetcar and other construction projects — already quite traffic-snarled. The roads will be a complete mess.

Getting there by bike (or MAX) will be much easier; but if you go by bike, will there be a place to park?

Back in 2008, during the North American Handmade Bike Show, huge crowds quickly overflowed the Convention Center’s bike racks (and 500 indoor spaces that were made available especially for the show). When people started locking up to nearby railings, Convention Center security guards cut the locks and started impounding bikes.

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Silver & Black Trek 7000 2008

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Year: 2008
Brand: Trek
Model: 7000
Color:Silver & Black
Size:15
Serial:WTU 2950 01480
Stolen in Portland, OR 97212
Stolen:2010-10-15
Stolen From: Grant High School
Neighborhood: Grant
Owner: Chase Mattsson
OwnerEmail: stmattsson@aol.com
Reward: $50.00
Description: Rack, Fenders, Broken Kick-Stand
Police record with: Portland
Police reference#: 10-154927
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

White MBC Essex 2011

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Year: 2011
Brand: MBC
Model: Essex
Color:White
Size:Blue
Serial: wtu171po177f
Stolen in Fairview, OR 97024
Stolen:2010-10-18
Stolen From: It was stolen from Reynolds high school in front of the art building in troutdale Oregon
Neighborhood: Cherry park road at reynolds high’s art buliding.
Owner: Ryan RedFord
OwnerEmail: ryan1hos91@yahoo.com
Description: It’s a white frame, white seat, white chain, and white hand grips. The rims are a outer blue with black in spokes. There is a miss mark on left side by Pedal. Hand bars a also blue. And there is a white and blue sticker on the handle bars
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Railvolution panel asks, “Is BOD the New TOD?”

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Williams Avenue-3

Lots of development has followed
a boring, cheap and narrow bike lane
on Williams Ave in North Portland.
(Photo © J. Maus)

The Railvolution conference kicked off this morning in Portland. About 1,000 transportation professionals, politicians, and other bigwigs are expected to take part in a dizzying array of workshops, networking sessions, and panel discussions. The event is designed to tease out the latest and greatest thinking on the who, what, why and how of transit planning

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Newswire: ‘Reel Live Cities’ film fest at Bagdad Theater tomorrow

MEDIA ADVISORY:
Film festival is Tues. night at Bagdad, part of Rail~Volution conference

WHAT
REEL.LIVE.CITIES. is an evening of films, entertainment, food and drink that is open to the public and organized by the New Rail~Volutionaries, a group of new Rail~Volution conference attendees from the Portland area. More than 300 tickets have already been purchased and organizers are expecting a sellout event.

The evening will consist of an opening reception, short films with speakers highlighting issues and successes related to multimodal transportation, and an after-party. Admission is $10 at the door and food and beverages are available for purchase.

The Rail~Volution conference will be in Portland from October 18 to 21 and is expected to draw more than one-thousand attendees. The conference began in Portland as a summit in 1991 and is returning to its hometown for the first time. Rail~Volution 2010 will showcase why the Portland area has become a national model for land use and transportation planning, regional partnerships, transit-oriented development, bike infrastructure and walkable neighborhoods.

WHEN
The event is Tuesday, October 19, with doors opening at 6 p.m., films starting at 7 p.m. and after-party at 9 p.m.

WHO
The event is hosted by the New Rail~Volutionaries, a group of young and new professionals to the transportation, and land-use planning fields from the Portland area. Speakers include Clarence Eckerson, Steph Routh, Kelley Roy, James McGrath, and Dan Haneckow. REEL.LIVE.CITIES. is open to all ages.

WHERE
The Bagdad Theatre is at 3702 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd., Portland, OR 97214 and the after-party will be held at the Back Stage Bar around the corner. More information is at www.railvolution.com. Event flyer and program are attached.

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