🚨 Please note: BikePortland is currently on hiatus and only publishing guest articles. Learn more here. Thank you. - Jonathan 🙏

Commissioner Eudaly pushes tolls instead of new lanes on I-5 through Rose Quarter

PBOT Commissioner Chloe Eudaly.
(Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

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).

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Man nets big haul of nails and screws on a walk across the St. Johns Bridge

Part of the haul. See more below.
(Photo: Imgur via Reddit)

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.

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Route Advisory: Sewer work will close Better Naito for one week

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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PBOT moves forward with I-205 path undercrossing project

Proposed alignment in red. (Graphic: PBOT)

“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.

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Job: Customer Experience Champion – Kenton Cycle Repair

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Job Title

Customer Experience Champion

Company / Organization

Kenton Cycle Repair

Job Description

Customer Experience Champion

No mechanical experience with bicycles required
You just need to believe you are the best at customer service

Required Qualifications:
Driven to craft friendly and authentic customer interactions from start to finish
Comfortable and confident in managing customers on a busy sales floor
Computer savvy with POS experience (we use Lightspeed)
Enthusiasm for using bicycles as transportation
Expert in time management
Advocate for communicating in an inclusive manner

Preferred additional skills:
Experience working in a bicycle shop.
Knowledge and opinions about new bicycles and accessories
Ability to advise customers who are new to bicycling
Social media savvy
Ability to create digital and printed signs and marketing materials
Massive attention to detail and relentless follow thru

Primary Responsibilities:
Evaluate customer needs and advocate choosing the rightest products
Create a friendly atmosphere for every single customer
Assist customers in navigating the process of selecting and buying a new bicycle
Assist customers in selecting helmets, lights, locks and other accessories
Direct customers in need of repairs to mechanics
Assist in opening and closing procedures

Hours/Schedule:
Must be available to work Saturdays and Sundays thru summer.
32-40 per week April – September.
Potential for year round employment

Benefits:
Competitive wages based on experience
Employee purchase pricing on bicycles and parts
Working with rad people who love bicycles
Working with dorky bike nerds
Working with a team that will empower you to be your best
Opportunity to learn bicycle mechanic skills

How to apply:
Individuals who identify as people of color, women, trans, and/or non-binary are strongly encouraged to apply.

Resume and cover letter accepted in person or via email at info@kentoncyclepdx.com

How to Apply

Resume and cover letter accepted in person or via email at info@kentoncyclepdx.com

Family Biking: Here’s how to bike to the cherry trees in Waterfront Park

Visiting the cherry blossoms by bike on Sunday.
(Photos: Madi Carlson)

On Sunday, my boys and I had the same idea as a lot of other Portlanders: visit the cherry blossoms in the Japanese American Historical Plaza. Then while biking home I realized Waterfront Park is incredibly family-friendly to reach by bike from the deepish southeast these days.

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Albina Vision Trust adds voice to growing concerns over ODOT’s I-5 project with call for full EIS

Rukaiyah Adams, Albina Vision Trust. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

As the clock ticks ever closer to the end of the official comment period for the I-5 Rose Quarter project Environmental Assessment, another major voice of concern has been raised.

Today Albina Vision Trust Board Chair Rukaiyah Adams sent a letter (PDF) to the Oregon Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration requesting a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Adams faults ODOT faulty freeway lid plans and says the agency has not gone far enough to assure the community that past injustices wrought by the construction of I-5 won’t be repeated this time around.

The letter was addressed to ODOT’s Major Projects Manager Megan Channell and FHWA Acting Environmental Manager Emily Cline.

Here’s the text of the letter:

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The Street Trust is ‘alarmed’ by I-5 Rose Quarter project, joins calls for expanded environmental analysis

Oregon’s largest active transportation advocacy group is the latest to request that the Oregon Department of Transportation complete a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for their I-5 Rose Quarter project.

In a letter dated today, The Street Trust’s Executive Director Jillian Detweiler says an EIS is needed, “So that project impacts and mitigation can be better developed and understood by the public.”

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Friday Opinion: Biketown hasn’t taken over Portland like I’d hoped. And that’s OK

(Photo: PBOT 2018 Biketown Annual Report)

So far, Biketown hasn’t turned out to be the ubiquitous presence or dominant travel mode I hoped it would be. Instead it’s a (mostly) reliable, well-run, affordable and accessible transportation option for people who need it most.

That’s what I came away thinking after I read the 2018 Biketown Annual Report (PDF) recently adopted by Portland City Council.

When Biketown launched in July 2016, I was eager to finally have a bike share system. Even though Portland was late to the party, I assumed the orange bikes would a vast impact on how we get around. Inspired by the systems I’d used and seen flourish in Washington D.C. and New York City, I envisioned orange bikes everywhere. And with bikes everywhere we’d have bike riders everywhere and we’d have bike infrastructure everywhere and my dreams of a cycling city would finally be realized.

But that’s not how things have gone.

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