🚨 Please note: BikePortland is currently on hiatus and only publishing guest articles. Learn more here. Thank you. - Jonathan 🙏
Folks:
This is not in Portland, but in Bellingham, but I want to point out the good news for you is that in the fourteen years I was in Portland, I have not seen anything as bad as this one. The location is Meridian and I/5 for those of you familiar with Bellingham, Washington.
It’s time to think about plans for the weekend.
Hopefully you’re able to enjoy something bike-related. The flowering trees and warmth make pedaling around town a pure joy. If you need tips on things to do, we’ve got some recommendations below…
The latest installment of our Ask BikePortland column comes from a woman named Sabrina S. I’ve changed her name at her request.
Here’s what she asked via email earlier this week:
“Hi – I was hoping someone at BikePortland could give advice on getting help from the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) when confronted by dangerous drivers.
I was riding on Southeast Division Street with a friend. We were looking for a restaurant (which we couldn’t find) before heading over to the Clinton greenway. As we were on Division, a car came up behind us then went around us (plenty of room, not a problem). But then the driver started screamed profanities at us to get off the road. We continued on (legally riding on the street, well to the side) when the driver stopped, screamed, “You wanna fight, punk?” and then more profanities as we ignored him to continue on to our destination.
2019 is going to be a big year for gravel. And it starts in The Dalles this weekend.
Jillian Detweiler is the executive director of The Street Trust.
“The successful candidate should value all modes of transportation.”
So reads the disappointing job description for the next leader of the Portland Bureau of Transportation.
The Street Trust hoped the recruitment would elevate the exciting and pressing challenge that awaits the new PBOT Director: leading and accelerating significant improvements in alternatives to driving alone. That certainly was the consensus of transportation activists invited to meet with a City Human Resources representative who gathered stakeholder input prior to producing the job description.
Keyholder/Sales and Installation Associate
Rack Attack Portland
This job contributes to the success of Rack Attack by ensuring that company policies
and procedures are being followed and Rack Attack customer service standards are
met. You will be responsible for the following duties:
Main Duties
Ability to open/close/cashout location.
Items receipts for all brands and hitches except Thule/Yakima.
Hitch ordering
Workshop supplies ordering and inventory, drill bits, plusnuts, silicone and
consumables.
Shopatron bidding
Check throughout the day that all store emails, issues and mailorder
customers are being helped in a timely manner.
Post craigslist adverts for all open box, MOR and not sold 365 products.
Maintain and renew adverts regularly.
Expectations of a Keyholder
You set an example for the other staff in your work ethic, habits, and
appearance;
Staff morale is strong and positive, with a focus on team-work;
You will excel from an administrative standpoint, and make daily use of an
electronic task list;
You will respond to requests from Head Office the same day, and complete all
assigned tasks or projects on-time
All staff are clearly viewed by customers as the most knowledgeable and
trustworthy in the market;
Customer service will be such that Rack Attack is clearly recognized by
consumers in the market as ‘the best’;
Provide complete customer service, putting customer needs ahead of your
own;
Sales and installation of the products and services we sell;
Set a good example for other staff in manner, dress, work ethic and
professionalism;
Assist in the training of new staff (if requested);
Maintain store product displays and other merchandising activities;
Maintain store cleanliness;
Read “To do” lists daily and complete any tasks assigned to you in a prompt
and effective manner;
Keep appropriately busy at all times;
Maintain accurate store records: invoices, sales receipts, purchase orders,
receiving products into inventory, appointment bookings, special requests,
hold tags, phone messages, inventory transfers and cash out etc;
Be professional on the phone with customers, vendors and other staff
members.
Hours of Work
Our stores are open seven days per week, and you may be scheduled to work any
day of the week, including weekends, we understand you must alternate these
weekends to allow for family commitments. Store hours of operation vary, but the
normal hours are from 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM. During the summer months and
December you are expected to arrive, and be ready for work at least 15 minutes
prior to your store opening. You should expect to work 40 – 55 hours per week,
depending on the season.
Travel Requirements
As part of this position you may be required to travel to other Rack Attack
stores (we have three locations in Portland), trade shows, training sessions, and be away from home.
Email Resume and Cover Letter to:
bhalay@rackattack.com
tsmith@rackattack.com
mbrinkmeier@rackattack.com
brafalski@rackattack.com
The Portland Bureau of Transportation wants to make intersections safer by slowing down drivers making left turns. To accomplish this, PBOT is testing the use of modular speed bumps. The bumps act as curbs that encourage people to take more angular turns instead of cutting them at high speeds.
The bumps are made out of a composite material and are screwed into the pavement. Yesterday PBOT staff installed two different version of them in the Albina Yard maintenance facility and rode over them with a bicycle, a truck, and a motorcycle. They also sprayed them down with water to see if they got slippery.
According to posts on social media, PBOT says they, “Wanted to see what these bumps felt like for bike riders of both variety, particularly if the had enough traction when hit at an angle, when wet.”
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New York City already uses them extensively as a method of “left turn calming”.
And as you can see in the example above from New York City (which PBOT linked to), the bumps could be placed directly in the path of a bicycle rider. In a post yesterday, PBOT wrote, “These bumps are placed so bikes won’t have to ride over them much, but we know there may be times a cyclist has to go over one, so we want to make sure the design we choose is safe.”
These speed bumps appeal to PBOT not only as a speed and dangerous turn deterrent, but because they could be installed relatively quickly.
Of the two designs under consideration; one is wider with more aggressive treads, and the other is narrower with fewer tread lines. Once a style is chosen, they plan to use them at high crash intersections with a history of collisions involving bicycle riders and walkers.
Stay tuned for more on these if PBOT hosts a test that’s open to the public. Once they are in the wild we’ll give them a closer look.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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Portland State University will create a carfree plaza on the block of Southwest Montgomery Street between Broadway and 6th avenues. The plaza will be installed for the month of May and if all goes well, school officials hope it becomes permanent.
In yet another piece of very good news for people who are concerned about the Oregon Department of Transportation’s plans to expand Interstate 5 through the Rose Quarter, Portland City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly released a pointed statement via Facebook about the project on Tuesday evening.
Eudaly said she’s joining the Portland Public Schools Board, Albina Vision, and other groups in calling for a more thorough analysis of the project’s impacts to the community. “I believe it’s more than called for,” she wrote, referring to her belief that ODOT should complete a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) instead of just an Environmental Assessment (EA, learn more about the differences between the two here).
A reader shared a Reddit post with us that underscores the poor conditions bicycle riders face on the St. Johns Bridge.
From leaves in fall and gravel in winter, to nails and illegally parked cars and delivery trucks — it sometimes feels like we face a constant barrage of hazards while biking around Portland.
That being said, it’s nice to know people care enough to take matters into their own hands and clean things up.
The Bureau of Environmental Services needs to do a sewer repair project that will close Better Naito for a week starting next Monday (4/9).
Below is the official notice from BES:
The closure will be in effect 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each weekday. The project is slated to be complete on Friday, April 13. Work crews will not know the extent of damage until they excavate the area under the street and there is a possibility the time frame will be extended.
Environmental Services has determined that a sewer pipe under the road surface is severely deteriorated and at risk of failure. The repair will protect public health and the environment by reducing the possibility of a sewage release to the park and street.
The work zone is centered around a manhole on the west side of Salmon Springs in Waterfront Park. Crews will use the manhole to reach and repair the sewer pipe which extends from the manhole west along SW Salmon Street. The section needing repair is directly under Better Naito.
People traveling along the Better Naito bicycle and pedestrian lane will be detoured to Waterfront Park:
— Northbound travelers will be routed to Waterfront Park at SW Main Street, then along the Waterfront Park trail, and back to Better Naito on SW Yamhill Street.
— Southbound travelers will be routed to Waterfront Park on SW Yamhill Street, then along Waterfront Park, and back to Better Naito at SW Main Street.People traveling by bicycle on SW Salmon Street will have the option of merging with northbound auto traffic for about a block before returning to Better Naito.
Environmental Services asks all travelers to be patient and use caution, and for people on bicycles to travel slowly and watch out for pedestrians on the Waterfront Park trail.
In related news a two-month closure of a popular section of the Eastbank Esplanade between Hawthorne and Steel Bridges is over! The path is open and the new pavement is nice and smooooth.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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“The sooner this happens, the better. This crossing is currently a major obstacle to even the most dedicated bike commuter.”
— Carl Alviani
At their meeting tomorrow, Portland City Council will formally accept a $1.68 million grant from the Oregon Department of Transportation for the I-205 Undercrossing project.
This project is a key link to several projects in east Portland and will help create access to the bike park at Gateway Green as well existing and future neighborhood greenways, paths, and bikeways. The proposed project will create the first section of the long-awaited Sullivan’s Gulch path. It will build a new path connecting the I-205 path at Gateway Green on the east side of 205 to NE Hancock Drive on the west side of the freeway. The plan is to go under the I-84 westbound on-ramp and use a mix of railroad and vacant ODOT highway right-of-way.