BikePortland

Water Bureau Bike/Truck Safety Event

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

The Portland Water Bureau will host a three-hour event to spotlight safety concerns of bicycles and large trucks sharing the road.

The event will take place in the parking lot at the Safeway Supermarket, 16409 SE Division Street and SE 162nd Avenue, from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm.

The public will have an opportunity to see the view from a dump truck driver’s seat, and learn more about blind spots and other dangers of riding near large vehicles. The Water Bureau will also display information about its Powell Butte Reservoir 2 construction project, scheduled to start this summer.

Be an “Intersection Superhero” at Sunday Parkways

The new Sunday Parkways bandanna.
I know you want one.
(Photos © J. Maus)

The first of three Sunday Parkways events is right around the corner and the City of Portland is looking for a few good “Intersection Superheroes” to make sure everything goes smoothly.

At the North Portland event on June 21st the City will open up 7.5 miles of streets for the community to enjoy. The route — A 3.2-mile loop through Kenton and Arbor Lodge neighborhoods and a 4.5-mile loop connecting Arbor Lodge and Piedmont neighborhoods — will be completely carfree from 9am to 4 pm.

Free beer, schwag, bikes, music. Dang. This sounds like a great event. Here’s the scoop direct from Wend (notice bold text for bike-specific awesomeness):

Join Wend magazine and Lizard Lounge for a benefit ping pong tournament and party to celebrate the release of Wend’s spring issue. Ten bucks gets you into the ping pong tournament, and all proceeds will go to the World Bicycle Relief (a national non-profit that brings bikes to developing countries).

We’ll be giving away two gift certificates to Lizard Lounge as well as a NAU jacket to the evening’s ping pong masters. Oh, and we’ll also raffle off a bunch of sweet bike swag from Surly, Planet Bike, Timbuk2, Chris King, Keen, Ortlieb, Teko and others.

Arrive on two wheels and score a voucher for 20% off your next regular price purchase at Lizard Lounge.

Also on deck is the Bike Lounge, where we’ll be showcasing the work of some of the finest frame builders and designers in Portland. Support green, independent media, and help raise money for a great cause. Free beer from Deschutes Brewery. DJ beats will make for booty shaking into the evening.

Note: to sign up for the ping pong tournament, send an email to anna@wendmag.com. We’ll be keeping a few spots open for signup on the night of the event, first come first serve. Please RSVP to anna@wendmag.com

What: Wend’s Bicycle Bash
When: Friday June 12, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Where: 525 NW 10th Ave, PDX
(Between Hoyt & Glisan on 10th)

May 2009 site stats and top stories

Here are BikePortland’s traffic stats from the month of May:

Visits – 162,464
Average visit length – 00:03:19
Pages viewed – 370,073
Stories posted – 88 (front page only)

Top Five Stories (*In terms of pageviews analyzed by Google Analytics):

1. Rush hour crash on Hawthorne Bridge raises questions about bike traffic
2. Fatal bike/car crash on NE Prescott at 57th
3. Hawthorne Bridge rider comes forward to correct “inaccurate depiction of events”
4. Rider injured on Hawthorne Bridge shares her side of story
5. In-depth: Could Portland be America’s bike manufacturing hub?

Check out our past traffic stats and top stories here.

PBOT film reminds road users that “Every corner is a crosswalk”

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.

At PIR last night, teammates of
Kristin McCarthy rode two laps
in her honor.
(Photo: Pat Malach/Oregon Cycling Action)

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.

Mapes, seen here at the ’07
National Bike Summit, spent
four years working on the book.
(Photos © J. Maus)

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.)

Water Bureau Director David
Shaff at last year’s event.
(Photos © J. Maus)

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.

Judge Sotomayor, “bicycle rider”.
(Photo: Stacey Ilys/WhiteHouse.gov)

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.”

Water Bureau Bike/Truck Safety Event

Be an “Intersection Superhero” at Sunday Parkways

Wend Magazine bash will benefit World Bicycle Relief fund

May 2009 site stats and top stories

PBOT film reminds road users that “Every corner is a crosswalk”

Community rallies for fallen riders

Mapes rolls with success of ‘Pedaling Revolution’

A legal (and fun) ‘Assault’ on the streets of Portland

Water Bureau event will focus on bike/truck safety

A Supreme Court Justice who rides a bike?

City of Tigard gets chance at new rail-trail

Popular Sauvie Island event site could be in jeopardy

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