BikePortland

Weekend Event Guide

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Here’s the scoop on weekend events. Feel free to add your own and discuss your plans in the comments.

Thursday, January 21

5:00pm – 7:00pm: Portland Car-Free Happy Hour
Car-free by chance or choice? Professionally involved in transportation and livability? Just want to meet people? All are welcome to meet up at this monthly informal social gathering. Floyd’s Coffeeshop, 118 NW Couch.

6:30pm – 8:30pm: East Portland Action Plan Bike Subcommittee Meeting
East Portlanders, time to get your activism on. Meets at Muchas Gracias,1307 NE 102nd.

BTA Advocacy Director
Michelle Poyouorow at the
campaign launch.
(Photo © J. Maus)

The Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) has launched a new campaign to hasten progress on the Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030. The campaign is called “Build It,” and with an emphasis on social media and a new blog at PortlandBikeNetwork.org, the BTA hopes it will put pressure on city leaders to build out the bike plan once it’s adopted on February 4th.

Speaking at a press conference this morning, BTA Advocacy Director Michelle Poyourow said,

“This plan can make Portland America’s most healthy city, but only if it is adopted and built… Most plans sit on a shelf… But this plan will be different; it will be built and it will be built quickly. This plan will not sit on the shelf…

So today, the BTA is calling on the City of Portland to take the Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030 and build it!”

[Publisher’s note: This op-ed was written the staff and board of directors of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance to kick off their new “Build It” campaign that was launched this morning in downtown Portland (stay tuned for more coverage).]

Official campaign logo

For years the momentum has been growing. There have been more bikes  on the road, more representation at city hall and in Salem. And from  all walks of life, there has been a growing movement of cyclists.   Or more specifically, people who ride bikes.   For the last two years, the City of Portland has been crafting their  Bike Master Plan, which would point the way to increased facilities  and funding for cycling. We came together once as a community when  the plan itself was at risk. But now, the plan is up for a vote, and  we are poised for a major victory in the national cycling movement. 

That’s right. A national victory.  

“The biking community is so strong that motorists sometimes feel discriminated against in Portland.”
— Finding from a report authored by White Horse Consulting

“Bikers are the single most active online group discussing Portland city government” — That’s one of the findings by White Horse Consulting, a company the City of Portland hired to analyze online conversations about City services. The “Social Media Conversation Audit” was done as part of an effort to update the City’s official website, PortlandOnline.com.

As reported in today’s Portland Mercury, the audit found that “blogs” are where all the action is when it comes to discussing city government.

Fourth Annual Walking and Biking Summit Slated for January 23
The 4th Annual Walking and Biking Summit will be held Saturday, January 23, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Sheldon Community Center, 2445 Willakenzie Road. Doors will be open at 8:30 a.m. for registration.

This year the summit will help kick off Eugene’s new pedestrian and bicycle master planning process. Families are encouraged to come and give input on ways to make safer routes to and from school a priority in our cities infrastructure.

Speakers for the event include Mayor Piercy, pedestrian expert Ellen Vanderslice with Willamette Pedestrian Coalition, and Bill Nesper of the League of American Bicyclists. Nesper also will present Mayor Piercy and the city with the Bicycle Friendly Community – Gold Level Award.

A fun fashion show will highlight family friendly walking, biking and skating gear and clothing. Many area organizations and businesses will be on hand to showcase their goods and information. Free childcare will be provided for children over 2 ½ years old (please RSVP with Tracy at 541-682-5291). Free valet bike parking will be provided on site along with breakfast and light refreshments for all participants. For more information please see www.eugene-or.gov/walkbike or contact Safe Routes to School Program Manager, Shane Rhodes at rhodes_sh@4j.lane.edu or 541-556-3553.

Join us for an evening with Adventure Cycling’s Ginny Sullivan

Poster Sessions at Pro Walk-Pro Bike-29.jpg

Ginny Sullivan at Pro Walk/Pro Bike last year.
(Photo © J. Maus)

We’re excited to announce the latest event in our “An Evening With…” series of live interviews. On Wednesday, February 3rd, I’ll sit down for an in-depth conversation with Ginny Sullivan from the Adventure Cycling Association.

Ms. Sullivan is the coordinator of Adventure Cycling’s ambitious effort to create the United Bicycle Route System, a national network of bicycle routes they describe as “the largest official cycling network in the world.”

SE 52nd Avenue — soon to be bike boulevard-ized.
(Photo: PBOT)

This morning, Portland City Council formally accepted a $1.3 million grant for the 50s Bikeway, a project that was first identified as a priority in Portland’s 1996 Bike Master Plan. Today’s acceptance of the grant is a procedural formality (technically, it’s the signing of an Inter-Governmental Agreement between PBOT and the Oregon Department of Transportation), but it also allows PBOT to begin the final planning and outreach stages of the project.

Once complete, the 50s Bikeway will be a 6.7 mile mix of bike lanes (some exist already) and bike boulevard treatments (like medians and other traffic calming elements). The planned route begins in Northeast Portland at 57th and Thompson and goes south on 53rd Avenue to cross I-84. The route then jogs to 52nd and continues south to Woodstock Blvd.

Portland Mayor Sam Adams and Metro President David Bragdon have been joined by two leaders from Vancouver in their disdain for the current state of the Columbia River Crossing project.

Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt

Clark County Commissioner Steve Stuart

(Photos © J. Maus)

Great poster!

At an event later this month, the slew of candidates looking to unseat City Commissioner Dan Saltzman (and maybe even Saltzman himself) will face off in a “meet the candidates” forum hosted by The Portland Mercury and The Bus Project.

“Candidate Olympiad” organizers have decided on three lines of questioning they’ll use to tease out which candidate deserves your vote (or signature, since the event will be held the night before candidates must turn in 1,000 signatures if they want public campaign financing). The topics are:

Michelle Obama could help bring
Safe Routes to Schools to the table.
(Photo: White House on Flickr)

America has a long legacy of First Ladies who have used their diplomatic profile to further specific causes, so I was very pleased to learn that Michelle Obama’s focus would be obesity.

Anyone who has spent time in the bike advocacy world knows that the obesity epidemic is often thrown around as a key reason why our country needs to put a higher priority on biking. So, is the First Lady’s focus on obesity and “healthy families” something to get excited about?

Year: 2007
Brand: Hufnagel
Color:yellow
Size:43cm
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bikeportland/1978564445/in/set-72157603102390034/
Stolen in Portland, OR 97214
Stolen:2009-12-22
Stolen From: inside food fight grocery at SE stark and 12th ave. the store got broken into and it was taken.
Neighborhood: Buckman
Owner: Emiko Badillo
OwnerEmail: broken_hipster@hotmail.com
Description: the bike is built for wheels that are called 650c, and is a 43cm.
It had Miche brand cranks, hubs, and headset. Nitto stem and handle bars, american classic seatpost, EAI rims, and a WTB seat.
Police record with: Craig Gervais
Police reference#: 09-113276 and T10000168
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Horse to bike officer transfer would save PPB $585,000 per year

The Portland Police Bureau (PPB) could save $585,000 per year if they were to make good on a proposal to dismantle their Mounted Patrol Unit and transfer four officers to downtown bike detail. The savings would come from reducing the number of employees from seven (currently on mounted patrol) to four (that would be put on bike detail).

Since our story on this last Wednesday, The Oregonian and KGW have picked up on the news.

Police Chief Rosie Sizer told KGW that replacing horses with bikes is “an effective strategy.” From KGW:

Weekend Event Guide

Thursday, January 21

BTA launches “Build It” social media campaign

Guest Editorial from the BTA: Together, we can get this thing built

City-funded audit: Blogs and “bikers” rule the web

Newswire: Walking and Biking Summit in Eugene this Saturday

Join us for an evening with Adventure Cycling’s Ginny Sullivan

13 years later, 50s bikeway project finally gets rolling

Vancouver leaders join local chorus of CRC concerns

Bikes, CRC will be hot topics at candidate debate

Will Mrs. Obama’s obesity focus boost Safe Routes to School efforts?

yellow Hufnagel 2007

Horse to bike officer transfer would save PPB $585,000 per year

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