The City of Portland Bureau of Transportation has released a new, 3 1/2 minute animated film about Oregon crosswalk laws.
The film, “Every Corner is a Crosswalk” was created to help educate Portlanders about their responsibilities when driving and walking. According to PBOT, 72% of pedestrian collisions in the Central Business District are a result of driver error and 49% of pedestrian injuries happen in a crosswalk.
Warm weather has buoyed the collective mood of riders throughout the Portland area in recent weeks. But for some, thoughts unfortunately have turned to friends and riding partners involved in a spate of recent crashes.
I’m not sure if there have been more crashes this year than in previous years, or if I’m just hearing about more of them. Either way, I feel the need to share a few of the more serious ones if for nothing else than to rally our good thoughts for their quick and full recoveries.
Author and reporter Jeff Mapes is living the first-time authors’ dream. His book, Pedaling Revolution, is winning popular and critical acclaim, he has become a sought-after speaker, and it is selling at an unexpectedly brisk pace.
Last week, the book found its way into the prestigious Sunday Book Review of the New York Times where it was reviewed by none other than bike-lover and musician David Byrne (who’s coming out with his own bike book this fall). Byrne, not surprisingly, sang the book’s praises.
After just three months since it was released, the book’s publisher, Oregon State University Press, is already calling it “a smashing success.” OSU Press Associate Director Tom Booth told me yesterday that the book is their fastest-selling title ever.
Last weekend, the Urban Assault Ride rolled into town. Honestly, this type of event isn’t my usual thing, but with Jonathan’s prodding, I decided to give it a shot. (Check out my photo essay after the jump.)
Continuing a campaign they began last year, the City of Portland’s Water Bureau will hold a bike/truck safety event this Saturday.
The Water Bureau says this ongoing effort to improve safety was prompted by a number of near collisions over the years (mostly at the infamous NE Broadway and NE Flint Street intersection, which is close to one of their facilities).
The event will be held in outer Southeast Portland and, like last year, attendees will be able to jump up in to a truck driver’s seat for a first-hand look at blind spots and the dangers of riding near large vehicles.
I know there are a lot more important things to consider when picking a potential Supreme Court Justice, but the fact that Judge Sonia Sotomayor rides a bike is kind of cool.
Check out this snip from a story that went out on the AP wire yesterday (emphasis mine):
“Where humanizing was needed, Democrat Chuck Schumer, the senior senator from Sotomayor’s home state and by tradition her sponsor, was on the job.
“She’s a very human person,” Schumer told reporters after their meeting. They talked New York, he said. “She’s a bicycle rider, I’m a bicycle rider. We talked a little bit about our favorite routes.”
There was also a fair bit of substance discussed during the meetings…”
“Interim trail use will provide a broad range of community benefits, including:… giving the downtown an economic stimulus by providing a new off-street transportation route to downtown businesses of all kinds…”
— from a resolution to create a new rail-trail in Tigard
On Tuesday, June 9th, Tigard City Council will vote on whether or not they should assume responsibility for an abandoned railroad line and convert it a non-motorized trail.
The nearly one-mile, 50-foot wide stretch of rail line is adjacent to Tigard Street and extends between Tiedeman and Main Streets (see map below/link here).
According to Duane Roberts at the City of Tigard, Portland & Western is in the process of relinquishing its rights to the line. This is a federal legal process that must be done with the oversight of the Surface Transportation Board (STB). As part of that process, “interested parties” (in this case the City of Tigard) have the opportunity to negotiate right-of-way agreements so the area can be used for public use.
In recent years, Kruger’s Farm on Sauvie Island has hosted many popular cyclocross and mountain bike events. The events have drawn thousands of Portlanders and their families who take part in the fun and soak up the welcoming farm atmosphere just a few miles outside the city.
But now those events are in jeopardy as Kruger’s Farm faces a permitting hurdle with Multnomah County’s land use planning department. The County is making Kruger apply for a new permit (that would allow the events) after a complaint was filed by one of Kruger’s neighbors. The County confirms this complaint, saying that it alleges Kruger is guilty of “non-permitted commercial uses and non-permitted construction of structures.”
The City of Portland’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability is working on a package of eco-friendly building code changes that, if passed, would include an improvement to bike parking at apartments and condominiums.
The package of new code regulations — which also removes barriers to installing water-harvesting rain barrels, wind turbines, solar panels, and more — are part of the City’s Regulatory Improvement Workplan.
Currently, “multi-unit residential buildings” have a zoning code exemption that allows them to opt out of providing secure, long-term bike parking. This means residents and visitors have to find parking inside the units, on balconies, or near the building in potentially unsecure locations.
For the second year in a row, The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (St. Mary’s) in Northwest Portland will host a Blessing of the Bikes — and it couldn’t come at a better time.
With summer bike traffic heating up, I’ve been getting a noticeable increase in emails and phone calls about bike-car, bike-bike, and bike-pedestrian collisions. It’s also a busy time for bike racers, who face perils of their own. And it goes without saying that June has by far the highest number of bike-related events of any month in the year.
A bill introduced by the United States House of Representatives in April would allow Americans to spend up to $1,000 in pre-tax dollars in a “flex-spend” account for the purchase of “qualified sports and fitness expenses.”
The Public Health Investment Today (PHIT) Act of 2009 (H.R. 2105, cleverly known as the “fit” bill) was introduced by Congressman Ron Kind (D-WI) and lists 12 co-sponsors, including Portland’s own Rep. Earl Blumenauer.
According to Rep. Kind’s Press Secretary Leah Hunter, up to $250 of the purchase of a new bicycle would qualify for the deduction.
This just in from the Bicycle Transportation Alliance:
Children and Families Walk + Bike to Baseball to Celebrate a Month of Sustainable Success!
Monday, June 1, 2009 – The Bicycle Transportation Alliance announces the close of a very successful Walk + Bike to School Challenge Month which will be celebrated at PGE Park on June 12th with Walk + Bike to Baseball. Seventy-nine elementary and middle schools participated across the state with an estimated 6,000+ students and parents choosing active transportation to and from school in the month of May. Eight Portland-area colleges and universities also participated in a version of the Walk + Bike Challenge Month called the Bike To Campus Challenge.