BikePortland

Build It Rally at City Hall – Slideshow and recap

Build It!
– Slideshow below –
(Photos © J. Maus)

The “Build It” rally outside City Hall in support of the 2030 Bike Plan just finished up and now folks are settling in for the big hearing.

The rally was an informal affair with many supporters (150-200?) holding signs. They all sang Devo’s “Whip It,” substituting “Build It” at the appropriate time. There were a lot of very enthusiastic supporters of the plan. Bike Gallery owner and Bike Plan Steering Committee Co-Chair Jay Graves told me he is “Cautiously optimistic” about how it will go inside Council Chambers. “With all the negative media coverage… But this is Portland, I’m hopeful.”

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

The Portland Business Alliance released their letter on the Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030 today.

The six-page letter signed by CEO Sandra McDonough on behalf of 1,400 businesses expresses support “of the overall goal” of the plan but also calls out some concerns and offers several suggestions.

The PBA (download PDF here) calls the plan’s goal of 25% bike usage “unrealistically high” and questions the wisdom of emulating cities like Amsterdam and Copenhagen.

I thought it’d be fun to take a quick look at what you might hear from Mayor Adams and his colleagues on City Council at the 2030 Bike Plan hearing today. It’s sort of a foregone conclusion that they will all vote in support of the plan, but with politics, you just never know.

Here goes…

Today’s headlines:

Riding into the future
on two (expensive) wheels

City council to vote
on $600 million 20-year
bike plan

Portland’s $1 Million a Mile
Bike Lanes: Vehicle Owners
Get the Bill

Today is the Big Day for Portlanders — the day City Council holds a special hearing on the Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030. We’ll have lots of coverage to come, both live from City Hall today and plenty of analysis tomorrow. For now, let me direct you to the conversation in greater Portland being furthered with help from our local media outlets.

Overnight there was a lot more coverage of the plan that I want to bring your attention to.

According to a story in The Oregonian, Joe and Hau Hagedorn have settled a lawsuit brought against them when a man on a bicycle crashed into a dirt pile left out in front of their house. The pile-up happened at around 2:00 am in July of 2007 on SE 20th just south of Division.

From The Oregonian, here’s what happened:

“Jeremy Hooton was pedaling in the dark along 21st Avenue near Division Street at 2 a.m. when he hit the pile, causing him to fly over his handlebars and slam into the street, according to his Multnomah County Circuit Court complaint.”

Got some hot socks? Yep, there’s a ride for that.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Lots of great rides and events happening in the next few days. Check out the listings below to plan your weekend adventures.

Friday, February 5th

6:00 pm: Monthly Vegan Dinner Bike Ride
You don’t have to be vegan to join this fun social ride (but please don’t bring meat!). Follow @veganride on Twitter for the latest.

We had a great evening with Ginny Sullivan tonight. The room was packed and we had about 9,000 viewers online (according to our web/audio guy Dan Kaufman from Crank My Chain). We chatted about the U.S. Bike Route System, mingled with friends, enjoyed some fine food and beverage, gave away some raffle prizes, and fielded some excellent questions from the audience (including one from a woman in Sacramento watching online!).

Check the video below for the full show (the video isn’t great, but the audio is fine!):

Poyourow at Build It launch.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Portland Mercury News Editor Matt Davis reported last night that Michelle Poyourow of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance is rumored to be leaving the organization soon.

Here’s the opening of that story:

“Rumors are swirling that the lead local advocate for the Bicycle Transportation Alliance will soon announce her resignation—possibly over the next week.”

When asked about the rumor, BTA Communications Coordinator Margaux Mennesson said, “We are really focusing on the [Build It] rally right now and so I have no comment on the Michelle Poyourow rumor… We’ll be happy to talk to you Friday about it.”

Obama’s rail vision: Any room for bikes?

With the Obama Administration’s announcement of $8 billion for high-speed rail projects across America, I wondered if any of that money might help bolster our country’s trail network.

The Rails to Trails Conservancy seemed like a natural place to start, but it turns out that the development of new high-speed rail corridors involves a different set of players than the conversion of old railroad lines into bike trails (which is RTC’s specialty).

Today’s front page.

The Oregonian published a front page story today on the 2030 bike plan titled, Two-wheeled vision carries hefty price tag .

In my opinion, the article (which was also sold to the Associated Press and is being picked up nationwide) frames the plan as a massive expenditure that’s being shoved down the throat of Portlanders by Orwellian city officials with the full support of Mayor Adams.

Instead of helping to foster civil public discourse about a very important plan for our city’s future, I’m afraid this story will only serve to intensify the “bicyclist” versus “motorist” sensationalism that The Oregonian has admitted to “overplaying” in the past.

The eBike Store in North Portland has become the first dealer in the country to stock the Self-Balancing Unicycle — a.k.a. SBU. The SBU is an electric-assisted unicycle with “advanced angle sensing electronics and software” that allows it to balance and “pedal” for you.

The SBU was invented by engineer Daniel Wood of Camas, Washington-based Focus Designs. I met Wood last week for an up-close look at his amazing invention.

[Note: Based on the large number of helpful responses to a reader’s request for help back in December, I thought I’d make this a more regular feature. I’ll try to do an “Ask BikePortland” post at least once a month. If you have a burning bike question — whether it has to do with product recommendations or legal advice — drop us a line. Between myself and this excellent community of readers, I’m sure we can get you an answer.]

This one comes from reader N.M., who was unfortunately the victim of a dooring on N. Williams:

Build It Rally at City Hall – Slideshow and recap

Bike Plan: The Portland Business Alliance weighs in

Bike Plan: What to expect from City Council

Bike Plan: Media spin round-up

Dirt pile collision costs homeowners $50,000 in settlement

Your Bike-tastic Weekend Guide!

Friday, February 5th

An Evening with Ginny Sullivan – Watch the video

BTA: No comment on Poyourow resignation rumor

How ’bout some trails with those high-speed rails?

My opinion on The Oregonian’s front page bike plan article

Local shop first in nation to sell Self-Balancing Unicycle

Ask BikePortland: Hit by a car door — help!

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