BikePortland

PBOT shares updated plans for North Rosa Parks Way protected bike lanes

PBOT plans call for a transit median island in this location with the bikeway running (curbside) behind it.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

The redesign of North Rosa Parks Way now includes a bike-only signal, wider bikeways (and narrower lanes for driving), a safer crossing, and a floating transit island. These changes (and a few other tweaks) have been made in the month since the Portland Bureau of Transportation first launched the project back in February.

This key neighborhood collector street will see major striping changes from North Willamette to Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. The biggest change is a “parking-protected bikeway” (almost) the entire length of the project — and a buffer stripe with intermittent plastic delineator wands for added ~~protection~~ separation. Instead of on-street parking, PBOT will use the curb lane for a bike-only lane. In the process, PBOT will significantly decrease the amount of parking overall.

Going from west (Willamette Blvd) to east (Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd), here’s how the project has changed in the past month…

The ODOT Files is an occasional series that shares strange-but-true stories about how our state transportation agency is falling down on the job.

How bad have things gotten at the Oregon Department of Transportation? How about a letter admonishing the agency signed by every major elected office holder in the Portland region?

I’m going to try something different this week. I’d love to hear from you:

Our Family Biking column is sponsored by Clever Cycles.

➤ Read past entries here.

If you don’t bike with your young children, why not?

I’ve often wondered what (or if) my family biking experience would have been like had I lived in Seattle before having kids. I moved to Seattle with an 18-month-old I’d already been biking with for six months on quiet Las Vegas trails and streets. Our Seattle house was one block from Green Lake and its lakeside multi-use path so it was easy to stick to routes that felt sufficiently safe as I explored our new neighborhood. I ever so gradually increased my range, not even discovering the Burke-Gilman Trail, a terrific multi-use path, for months.

As Portland’s Off-road Cycling Master Plan (ORCMP) rolls ever closer to its big date at City Council, interest groups throughout the city are taking notice.

The usual opposition to better bike access on dirt trails in Portland is very well-known. But I’ve noticed something new in the past few weeks: Advocates for local parks who oppose parts of it based on fears that anything that attracts more off-road bikers will negatively impact the park and its current users.

I find this reflexive opposition very unfortunate.

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Job Title

Bike Tour Guide/ Shop Staff

Company / Organization

Cycle Portland

Job Description

Status: Full Time, Year Round (Minimum of 35 hours/wk required during training, 30-40 hours available weekly after completed training depending w/semi flexible scheduling)

Compensation: $13/hr starting, with possibility of performance raise based on 30-day evaluation

Location: Portland, Oregon

Who We Are
Cycle Portland works to support and inspire visiting cyclists and local commuters alike though quality repairs, guided bike tours, and affordable well maintained bike rentals. We continue this mission today as we look for tour guides interested in showcasing the city we love. As part of our small team, you’ll have the opportunity to advise travelers about your favorite local attractions and hotspots, lead guests around town as part of our easy-going cycling excursions, and lend a hand a the shop as we continue our goal of providing excellent service to our community through our full-service bike shop in downtown Portland, OR.

While primarily focused on tour guiding, this position is multidisciplinary by nature. This position encompasses guiding up to two tours per day (4-5 hours of outdoor time) on our Foodie, Brewery, or City excursions. During time at the shop you’ll help guide clients through our bike rental process, answer general questions about the products and services we offer, and assist in keeping the shop running smoothly. You’ll also get the opportunity to dive deep into the history our our city in both past, present, and future as we work to keep our tours engaging, fun, and informative.

Knowledge and skill in the following areas is preferred (but not required), and represents core strengths as part of this position.
Genuine desire to work with and listen to the public both as a tour guide, and as part of our shop staff to meet client where they’re at with their needs
Excellent public speaking skills and comfortability working with and projecting to audiences of up to 12 individuals at a time
Strong verbal and written communication skills
Curiosity! We love learning about Portland, and sharing that passion with others as the stories of our city, and our region evolve
Ability to focus in and knock out smaller projects while keeping in mind larger cycles that occur throughout the course of our operations
Self motivated and comfortable asking for support when needed
Ability to lift bicycles and other objects up to 55 pounds on a regular basis, however reasonable accomodations can be made for qualified applicants
Experience in the performance arts, previous bike shops, and tour guiding while not required, is a plus

This position is suited to individuals who are objective oriented and enjoy sharing their knowledge and experience with others. Our tour guides interface directly with the public, and comfort with giving directions, route assistance, and helping clients plan their visit to Portland is highly valued. While we’re sometimes known as a tour & rental shop, we deeply appreciate our connections to our local riders, friends, and commuters formed over the last 10 years. In this position you’ll get to continue those relationships with our cycling community, while forming many new ones as we meet a host of amazing travelers looking to learn more about the city we call home.

How to Apply

Cycle Portland is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

As part of your resume please include a brief paragraph about why you'd be a good fit for this position, and your weekday availabilies. This is a full time position, however part time can be considered based on merit.

Email to: portlandbicycle@gmail.com (or)
Drop off: Cycle Portland 117 NW 2nd Ave, Portland, OR

Great news: The Portland Business Alliance has picked a new president and CEO

The Portland Business Alliance (PBA) will have a new leader by this summer. Andrew Hoan has been hired to take over the reins from current PBA President Sandra McDonough, who has held the position for 14 years.

Hoan is currently head of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce in New York City. He’s set to take over for McDonough in Portland effective June 18th

The departure of McDonough and the hiring of someone with a clean slate is big news for transportation reformers and safe streets advocates. The PBA under McDonough has long been a thorn in the side of progress for active transportation. Much of their influence takes place behind closed doors and never becomes public, but when they have taken stands, they have not been supportive of significant cycling-related projects.

Here are the most noteworthy stories we came across last week…

Uber’s epic fail: There was a ton of great reporting and hot takes on Uber’s Tempe tragedy last week. The most interesting piece we came across was this in-depth analysis from an AV expert who said, “This will set Uber’s efforts back considerably, and that may very well be the best thing.”

Car vending machine: Ford is behind a cat-themed machine in China that allows people to walk up and buy a car.

Bike summit recap: We didn’t make it to the National Bike Summit in Washington D.C. this year, so we were happy to find this short-but-sweet recap from Bicycle Times Magazine.

The Audubon Society of Portland and OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon want to make sure the Oregon Department of Transportation doesn’t short-change the environment as they plan to add and expand lanes on Interstate 5 through the Rose Quarter.

A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request was formally made today by the Crag Law Center on behalf of both organizations.

According to the letter, Audubon Society and OPAL want to see, “all documents relating to the question of whether FHWA [Federal Highway Administration] and ODOT intend to prepare initially an environmental assessment (“EA”) as opposed to a more thorough environmental impact statement (“EIS”) for the I-5 Rose Quarter Improvement Project. Documents subject to this request include, without limitation, electronic mail, text messages, web-based content, all writings, letters, memoranda, notes wherever they are found, summaries, working papers, schedules, draft documents, correspondence, documentation of meetings, minutes from meetings, data, graphs, charts, photos, and/or maps.”

Peter Stark at a Central City in Motion project design charrette on March 16th.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

As the City of Portland looks to create a usable, low-stress cycling network in the central city, one of the toughest places to make it a reality will be the Central Eastside Industrial District. An area hemmed in by massive freeway infrastructure with a legacy of heavy industry and freight-dependent businesses, the CEID is in many ways the lynchpin of the Central City in Motion project.

One of the people standing in the middle of discussions about how to plan for the future of this district is Peter Stark.

Stark is a licensed architect who owns his own design and planning firm. He’s also one of Portland’s most well-known activists. Stark’s many civic endeavors include a position on the board of Portland Streetcar Inc., and he’s the founder and board chair of the Cornell Road Sustainability Coalition. In the Central Eastside, Stark has been a key player for over 17 years. He’s a past president of the Central Eastside Industrial Council and currently on the board as well as being the executive director of the CEIC’s Transportation Policy Advisory Committee.

I caught up with Stark after a meeting of the Central City in Motion in project last week to ask him about how he sees the future of bikes and freight in the Central Eastside.

As we reported back in January, the Oregon Department of Transportation is currently working on a much-needed update to the Coast Bike Route plan.

“With the changes in bicycle infrastructure standards, and the growth of bike tourism destinations and travel options both nationally and along U.S. 101,” an ODOT spokesperson told us in January, “the time was right to closely examine and identify opportunities to increase safety, accessibility and enjoyment for both local community members and travelers on the Oregon Coast Bike Route.”

As part of that work they have released a survey. If you’ve ridden the route — or if you’ve wanted to but are just too afraid (something I hear from a lot of people) — please take a few minutes and do the survey.

An advisory committee meeting for the plan in March 2017.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

In case you haven’t read or heard yet, it’s crunch time for the City of Portland’s Off-road Cycling Master Plan.

After years of meetings and planning, advocates are making their final arguments, a draft version is being reviewed by the influential Portland Parks Board, and a date at City Council for final adoption is likely this summer.

Everyone agrees this is a plan our city needs; but it’s less clear if this is the plan our city wants.

I was at the March 12th Parks Board meeting and shared a snapshot of how Mayor Ted Wheeler and a few advocates are feeling about the plan. Earlier this week I shared a guest post from Daniel Greenstadt, an advocate who has followed the plan’s development very closely and has participated in several of the planning meetings.

Those two stories, along with a search of our archives on terms like “forest park singletrack” and “off-road cycling master plan” should give you plenty of background information to understand this issue and make an informed opinion about it. (We’ve covered every twist-and-turn of this issue for over a decade, so there’s a clear historical thread that can be easily woven by anyone with the energy and interest. If you have a question about the plan, the process, or the politics, feel free to ask in the comments!)

PBOT shares updated plans for North Rosa Parks Way protected bike lanes

The ODOT Files: Regional electeds lambaste the agency for ‘lack of stewardship’ on 82nd Ave

What prevents you from biking with your young children?

Editorial: Portland’s irrational fear of off-road cycling

Job: Bike Tour Guide/ Shop Staff – Cycle Portland

Job Title

Company / Organization

Job Description

How to Apply

Great news: The Portland Business Alliance has picked a new president and CEO

The Monday Roundup: A car vending machine, pro bike x-rays, a very strong woman, and more

Audubon Society and OPAL file FOIA request on I-5 Rose Quarter project

Freight, bikes, and the Central Eastside: An interview with Peter Stark

Don’t forget to take ODOT’s Oregon Coast Bike Route survey

Crunch time for off-road cycling plan with all eyes on Portland Parks Board meeting

Latest Headlines

Why did Oregon lower the legal age for e-bike riding?

Jobs of the Week: Mokwheel, eLock, Go By Bike, Velofix, Northwest Hub

Robotaxis will need to jump through these hoops before operating on Portland streets

Here’s the new ‘complete street’ coming to Cully Blvd

From the Archives

With six kids and no car, this mom does it all by bike