4/25: Hello readers and friends. I'm still recovering from a surgery I had on 4/11, so I'm unable to attend events and do typical coverage. See this post for the latest update. I'll work as I can and I'm improving every day! Thanks for all your support 🙏. - Jonathan Maus, BikePortland Publisher and Editor
The locally owned and operated Jimmy John’s in NE Portland (Lloyd District) is looking for Bike Delivery Drivers with a sense of urgency and a GREAT personality. Come ride with us!
1130 NE Broadway St
Portland, OR 97232
(503) 719-7774
We have many shifts available:
M-F lunch rush shifts: We have 1, 2, 3 & 4 hour shifts…so If you have 1 or 2 hours a day during our lunch rush (11:00am-1:00pm), we always need that type of help.
All days: 3pm to 7:30pm (Covid-19 hours)
5pm to 9:30pm (Normal hours)
M-F: Lunch Rush (1,2,3 and some 4 hour shifts)…so if you have an hour or two between 11:00am and 2:00pm…we need a little bit of everything.
Weekends: Lunch and Evening shifts
This is a part time position.
Duties and Responsibilities:
• Take phone orders and complete delivery tickets in a courteous and timely manner
• Deliver sandwich orders to customers in a safe, courteous and timely manner in established delivery area only
• Accepts payment from customers for orders
• Works with management at the end of the shift to reconcile cash from delivery sales
• Makes fast, accurate and consistent sandwiches
• Maintains cleanliness and sanitation of the restaurant including all tables, floors, windows, beverage station, restroom, etc
• Greets customers and takes orders – operates cash register – collects payment from customer and makes change
• Treats everyone they encounter with respect.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
Position requires bending, standing, lots of pedaling and walking the entire workday. Must be at least 18 years of age, own a bike, have an approved helmet, working brakes, safety lights & must follow all bicycle traffic laws of the city of Portland, OR.
Characteristics we’re looking for:
Outgoing & positive personality
A sense of urgency in everything you do
Lead by example
Self-Motivated
Left to right: Mingus Mapps, Chloe Eudaly, Seth Woolley, Sam Adams, Keith Wilson. (Photos: Respective campaigns)
It’s been a tough pill for me to swallow, but the truth is cycling just doesn’t command the same attention in local political circles that it used to. With so many people struggling to put a roof over their head and all the systemic injustice and inequality that has become even more glaring in recent years, it’s understandable that personal mobility doesn’t merit as much attention as it did a decade ago.
But that doesn’t mean we can’t ask candidates for local office what they think about it!
One of Portland’s most dangerous roads is finally getting safety upgrades that include new sidewalks, better bike lanes and upgraded crossings from SE 122nd to 136th.
Powell Blvd. improvements have been a high priority for residents since this section of southeast Portland was annexed into the city over 25 years ago… It’s great to see some new concrete on the ground!
I’ve had some time on my hands and decided to scope out the project during construction.
The Oregon Department of Transportation’s Outer Powell Safety Project aims to rebuild the dangerous arterial from I-205 to the Gresham city limits. Initial elements of the project were first proposed in 2012 with $5.5 million in state funding. Unfortunately the project’s cost soared to $11 million and no other funding was available. It was decided to apply the secured funds to repave the Outer Powell corridor from 99th to 174th and widen the pavement another 4-5 feet on either side to afford people on foot something other than gravel and potholes to walk through. Previously the pavement ended on the inside white line of the bike lanes. ODOT also built four new signalized crossings.
While the 2012 project was useful for people who along the corridor to stay out of the mud, it also generated enough pavement for automobile users to pass on the right to avoid waiting for other drivers who were stopped attempting a left turn. There are presently no left turn lanes on this portion of Powell. A dangerous, unforeseen trade-off.
Looking west at the start of the eastbound raised bike lane.
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North side sidewalks and bike lane (concrete). Stormwater management/planter in between.
Thanks to then state representative and now Secretary of State candidate Shemia Fagan, $17 million was secured in 2015 to rebuild Powell from 122nd to 136th. That’s the segment under construction now. The City of Portland also contributed another $3 million for design and engineering for this section. The HB 2017 transportation bill passed by the Oregon Legislature funneled another $110 million to Powell and the rest of the project remains in the design and engineering phase with construction to begin about 2023. (Note: As per HB 2017, once these updates are complete ODOT will transfer ownership of the road to the Portland Bureau of Transportation.)
The north-south 130s, 100s and 150s neighborhood greenways will all cross Powell Blvd. The City of Portland is still working on the 130s bikeway and we’re waiting for the crossing at Powell to be constructed to complete it. Because the 130s bikeway has been delayed for almost six years, ODOT will be constructing the crossing with their own design during the construction of the safety project so two separate crews don’t interfere with each other. The remaining bikeway crossings will also need to be addressed and coordinated for possible conflicts during construction.
Jim Chasse. (Photo: Michael Andersen)
One of the most exciting things about this new Outer Powell project was the inclusion of a segment of raised bike lanes on the south side from 134th to 136th. While it’s only a small portion, it may have a significant impact on bikeway design for the remaining three segments of the Outer Powell Blvd. Conceptual Design Plan. Businesses along Powell will benefit from the active transportation improvements because people will be able to walk, bike, or scoot to their destination. Families with children will also benefit because they’ll now have safe way to get their kids to school. Hopefully it reduces auto traffic in the mornings and afternoons for drop-offs and pick-ups.
Powell Blvd. Improvements have been a high priority for residents since this section of southeast Portland was annexed into the city over 25 years ago. It was one of the neighborhood association’s highest priorities for transportation improvements in the Powellhurst-Gilbert Neighborhood Plan approved by council in 1994. While residential infill has continued over the years, transportation infrastructure improvements have languished. It’s great to see some new concrete on the ground!
In very unsurprising news, the Portland Bureau of Transportation announced yesterday that the May and June editions of Sunday Parkways will not take place. At least not in their usual, party-in-the-streets format.
“We cannot gather on our streets right now, but we’re not giving up on this tradition!” Commissioner Chloe Eudaly said in a statement. The plan is to experiment with an all-digital event that, “maintains the community connection and active spirit that defines Sunday Parkways.”
Skateboarders and bicycle riders have a lot in common. (Photos by J. Maus/BikePortland)
As Portland’s transportation thinkers look to a new post-pandemic mobility paradigm, there’s one type of vehicle that just can’t seem to break into the conversation: skateboards.
Despite sharing many of the same benefits as bicycling and walking, there are no skateboard advocates on the city’s various modal committees. PBOT has advisory committees devoted to bicycle users, walkers, wheelchair users and freight haulers — and none of them include a voice for skateboarding. As vulnerable road users that fight for space on the roadways and often face hostility from other road users (as we saw Wednesday when a skateboarder was killed after being allegedly run over by a driver in a Vancouver, Washington parking lot), a skateboarding advocate thinks it’s time to embrace this form of transportation.
Police decoy crossing SE Foster Road with a classic, “You better stop,” glare. (Photo: Portland Police Bureau)
What does it take for people to stop when someone’s trying to cross the road?
How about being on a commercial corridor full of shops? Maybe crosswalks with median islands and flashing lights? Perhaps a pandemic that asks everyone to lighten the load of first responders and hospitals? How about the presence of police officers – one of whom is acting as a decoy?
It seems not even these things work for some people who are so selfish and rude they ignore Oregon law and put innocent lives at risk.
An oasis for many riders in our community. (Photos: Eric Thornburg/No Lens Cap)
Bike Farm in northeast Portland is based on a simple tenet: be open to everyone regardless of what they look like, what they believe, or how how much money they have. That’s why it’s been such a difficult blow to the organization and the people they serve to have been closed for over a month due to coronavirus concerns.
If you’re lucky enough to have a repair stand and tools at home (and the skills to use them), or if you can confidently stride into your local bike shop and get the service you need, you might not understand the value of a place like Bike Farm. This nonprofit, volunteer-run cooperative is a welcoming place full of used parts, tools anyone can use, and people eager to help you use them. They demystify bike repair and create self-reliant riders who are the backbone of our resilient transportation system.
Leaders of Bike Farm made the decision to close on March 13th, 10 days before Governor Kate Brown issued the “Stay Home” order. The plan was to re-open two weeks later, but ongoing virus fears have kept their doors locked. With no source of income during these warmer spring days when they usually get swamped with volunteers and customers, the outlook for them to keep up with rent and other operational expenses gets more ominous with each passing week.
Memorial for Fallon Smart in August 2016. (Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)
The family of a 15-year-old Cleveland High School student who was killed while crossing Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard in 2016 will be paid $395,000 by the City of Portland. The settlement comes from a lawsuit filed by the Estate of Fallon Smart. The suit alleged wrongful death and negligence from the Portland Bureau of Transportation based on conditions at the intersection of Hawthorne and SE 43rd.
The tragic death of this young Portlander and the maddening circumstances surrounding the man who killed her are blights our city will never fully recover from; but this relatively rare and large payment by PBOT could be a positive sign that road agencies will take more responsibility to keep our streets safe.
