BikePortland

Dispatch from Walla Walla, Washington

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

[News intern Alaya Wyndham-Price spent the recent holiday in Walla Walla, Washington. She checked in on the local bike scene and shares her report below.]

Reggie Gonzales at the Bicycle Barn.
(Photo: Alaya Wyndham-Price)

Like Portland, it snowed in Walla Walla during the holidays, about four inches of the white stuff fell and then slightly froze to the ground — typical weather for this small valley town in the foothills of the Blue Mountains, about 250 miles from Portland. The town of about 58,000 is best known for farming, college, and wine.

I’ve been visiting Walla Walla for seven years now, and riding around the area, particularly on the trails outside the town proper. But it wasn’t till this trip that I realized how invested in cycling the community is here.

This week’s job openings feature two exciting opportunities…

Salesperson/Mechanic Extraordinaire — Renovo Hardwood Bicycles
Temporary Seasonal Consumer Service Rep (Full-Time) — Yakima Products, Inc.

Year: 2007?
Brand: Giant
Model: Cyclocross
Color:Blue
Size:White
Stolen in Portland, OR 97219
Stolen:2010-01-7
Stolen From: Capital Hwy and California
Owner: Alex Accetta
OwnerEmail: alexaccetta@hotmail.com
Description: Blue and White Giant with Blue handlebar tape and Beer sticker I believe. Stolen from my garage in SW Portland in early am on 1/7/10. Also stole red/black Giant at same time the buggers.
This registrant does not have proof of ownership of this bike

Red/Black Giant TCR 2 2006

Year: 2006
Brand: Giant
Model: TCR 2
Color:Red/Black
Size:54 or 56
Photo: http://archive.giant-bicycles.com/uk/030.000.000/030.010.000.asp?year=2006&model=10276
Stolen in Portland, OR 97219
Stolen:2010-01-7
Stolen From: SW Portland – Capital Highway and California
Neighborhood: Multnomah
Owner: Alex Accetta
OwnerEmail: alexaccetta@hotmail.com
Reward: Undying Loyalty and Beer
Description: Red/Black Giant TCR 2 with PSU sticker on seatpost and Team Beer sticker on fork and Team Forte saddle I think
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Black Gary Fisher HiFi Pro 2008

Year: 2008
Brand: Gary Fisher
Model: HiFi Pro
Color:Black
Size:SM
Serial: I’m traveling and don’t have paper work… waiting to have it faxed
Stolen in Portland, OR
Stolen:2010-01-7
Stolen From: Cascade Station near the Portland Airport in the Ikea parking lot.
Owner: Debbie Laxague
OwnerEmail: dlaxague@earthlink.net
Reward: A case of tasty beer (if you’re old enough)
Description: Black Full suspension Gary Fisher HiFi Pro, platform pedals, most components are bontrager stock, WTB she speed saddle. If you have any info please call me or email me 530.859.3021
Police record with: Still working on filing a police report
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

Weekend Event Guide

Yes, you really can move anything by bike.
Photo by portlandpedalworks in our Flickr group.

There’s a full lineup of really fun events this weekend. Weather forecast inconclusive — whatever you do, stay warm and safe and enjoy yourself!

Joanna Agee hopes The Leftbank
Building can help spur traffic safety
improvements.
(Photos © J. Maus)

The fast and busy Broadway and Weidler avenues between the Broadway Bridge and Interstate 5 are like two fast-moving rivers that pose a formidable challenge to anyone who dares cross them. These are multi-lane arterials that funnel onto the freeway and the traffic after major events at the Rose Garden is a nightmare.

Smack dab in the middle of that traffic tempest is a calm oasis, a cluster of buildings known as The Leftbank Project. The Leftbank is, on a map, one of the most accessible and central locations in the entire city. Several major bikeways intersect there. But instead of a hub where people gather, the daunting traffic makes it nothing but a blur to passersby.

No paint, no (legal) protection?
(Photo © J. Maus)

When bike lane striping disappears through an intersection, does the legal standing of a person operating a bicycle in that lane also vanish?

Last month, Multnomah County traffic court judge Michael Zusman ruled that it does and the decision has left many people confused and concerned. We checked in with Zusman, the woman who was hit (City of Portland employee Carmen Piekarski), and a bike law expert to get an update.

(Photo © J. Maus)

Yesterday the Bureau of Transportation released the final version of the Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030. This version reflects many changes — some large, some small — to the public comment draft released back in October. Meanwhile, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance and a new activism group, TransConPDX are gearing up for a final push to raise awareness about the plan before it’s adopted by Portland City Council on February 4th.

Along with the final plan, PBOT released a seven-page list of all the changes (PDF download here) they made in response to community feedback.

Next week at the Capitol Building in Salem, the Senate and House Interim Judiciary Committees will hold a joint hearing. Part of the informational meeting will include “invited testimony” on the concept of Vehicular Homicide.

Invited to be at the hearing are Bicycle Transportation Alliance board member Doug Parrow will be there, as will Portland lawyer Ray Thomas. Thomas tells us he plans to bring several of his former clients who have lost loved ones in traffic crashes to testify.

The Oregon Legislature meets for full sessions only every other year, with the off years (of which 2010 is one) only for emergency or high-priority actions. While the meeting is meant as an informational session, Thomas says he’s hopeful that something more substantial will come out of it.

The City of Portland and BTA have worked for years to pass a strong vehicular homicide law but Oregon has yet to pass one. As far back as 2006, traffic safety staffers at PBOT have considered potential options for such a law. In the 2007 legislative session, in the wake of a crash that killed Tim O’Donnell while he rode on a rural road in Washington County, the BTA introduced a vehicular homicide bill.

Last week I shared a story about Jesse Cornett, the former PSU staffer who’s making a run to fill Dan Saltzman’s seat on Portland City Council. I met Cornett on an organized bike ride (a common place to meet council candidates these days), but I also heard through the grapevine that he was highly savvy and sympathetic to the idea of using bicycles as transportation.

But what I didn’t mention was that Cornett’s main opponent in the race, Mary Volm, also has some major bike-oriented credentials. The main thing we’ve heard so far about Volm is that she was behind the failed attempt to recall Portland’s bike-loving Mayor Sam Adams. But what some may not realize is that Volm had a 20-year career with the City of Portland and was one of the key figures promoting bicycles during Portland’s biking golden age of the early-mid 1990s.

Love the shadow.
(Photo: Eric Deady)

Portland’s Sellwood neighborhood is on a roll. Their new bike boulevard opened last month (although it’s not 100% done yet) and now a new bike shop, Bike Commuter, is set to open this Friday.

Bike Commuter is located at 8315 SE 13th Street, just south of Umatilla, which is the cut-through street for the popular Springwater Corridor Trail

The shop is owned by husband and wife team of Eric and Naihma Deady (pronounced Dee-dee). The Deadys live right around the corner from the shop with their two kids, ages 10 and five months. We caught Eric on the phone this morning between hanging photos and building up bikes in preparation for opening day.

Dispatch from Walla Walla, Washington

Jobs of the Week

Blue Giant Cyclocross 2007?

Red/Black Giant TCR 2 2006

Black Gary Fisher HiFi Pro 2008

Weekend Event Guide

Leftbank hopes to spur action on traffic woes

Update on disappearing bike lane case: Judge, victim, lawyer respond

2030 Bike Plan: Final version released; activists chart course

Oregon House, Senate Committees will hold hearing on Vehicular Homicide

Cornett not the only Council candidate with bike cred

New bike shop in Sellwood opens Friday

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From the Archives

The 10 busiest bicycling spots in Portland