A developer has offered to pitch in $250,000 toward a significant upgrade to the bikeway and sidewalk on NW 14th between Kearney and Lovejoy.
Developer ready to pay for one block of protected bike lane on NW 14th
Oregon Walks ED to Mayor Wheeler: ‘We need urgency to save lives on our streets’
On the same day that 60-year-old Elizabeth Meyers became the 20th person to die while walking on Portland streets this year (the most since 2003), Oregon Walks Executive Director Noel Mickelberry penned a letter to Mayor Ted Wheeler and City Council imploring them to do more — faster — to make our streets more livable.
Here’s the text of Noel’s letter (with her formatting/emphases):
Mayor Wheeler & Portland City Council,
Portland is experiencing a livability crisis in our streets. Today, the 20th person this year was killed while walking. This makes 2017 the deadliest year on record for pedestrians since 2003. Last week, Multnomah County published a new report showing that 80 people died last year while living outside on the streets of Portland. We believe these issues are interconnected and the approach to solving them must take into account numerous factors critical to Portlanders’ safety.
Woman killed on NE Sandy Blvd is 20th traffic death while walking this year
Something is wrong with Portland’s traffic safety efforts. While ostensibility dedicated to a Vision Zero Action Plan with a clear goal of zero traffic deaths by 2025, the fatality statistics are going in the wrong direction.
This morning just after 7:00 am, a woman was killed while walking across NE Sandy Blvd. It happened between NE 78th and 79th Avenues. The Portland Police Bureau hasn’t released details of the crash and is currently doing an investigation.
This woman was the 20th person to die while walking in 2017 — that’s the highest toll in over 20 years. The furthest back our immediately available data goes is 1996. That year 17 people died while walking.
A closer look at PBOT’s SW 1st and Main project
The view of the new striping from SW 1st and Main.
(Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
(Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
The City of Portland has completed a project on SW Main that repaved and restriped the road between 1st and 3rd Avenues. The project illustrates how the Bureau of Transportation is often limited in what they can accomplish with a paving project, and how those constraints frustrate advocates who want better bus and bike access.
Framebuilders expand as Breadwinner Cafe opens for business
Customers sit at the bar of Breadwinner Cafe with the framebuilding workshop visible through a big window.
(Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
(Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
The story behind the new Breadwinner Cafe is Portland at its best.
The two guys behind it — Tony Pereira and Ira Ryan — started over a decade ago as bicycle builders toiling in their garages on frames bearing their own names (Pereira Cycles and Ira Ryan Cycles respectively). Then in 2013 they joined forces to form Breadwinner Cycles. That brand and business has matured nicely over the years; but the duo was still cramped for space. Last spring they leased a building on North Williams Avenue and Page Street and have been working all year to renovate the space.
Today they took a huge step forward with the opening of Breadwinner Cafe, which is directly adjacent to the workshop where they build the 10 different models they currently offer. Tony and Ira have gone from framebuilders to community builders.
Job: Sales Associate – Trisports
Job Title *
Sales Associate
Company/Organization *
Trisports
Job Description *
Trisports is hiring. Trisports is Portland Oregon’s premier Triathlon and Bicycle store located just of I-5. We are a full service Swim, Bike and Run shop dedicated to service the endurance athlete, weekend warrior and beginner enthusiast. Trisports is a division of Velotech Inc.
We are currently looking for a full time Sales Associate to work with our very active customer base.
JOB OVERVIEW: The Sales Associate position handles and learns day-to-day processes in bicycle retail at Trisports – keying transactions, returns and exchanges, and handling escalated issues. This role is responsible for treating both their coworkers and customers using the following standards: identifying their goals, finding solutions to help them achieve those goals, and owning their experience from first contact through the resolution of that goal.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO:
• Operate store Point of Sale equipment
• Assist customers with product selection by spending the time to learn about the customer’s needs and then suggesting appropriate product to satisfy those requirements. This will extend (but not be limited) to bicycle selection and sizing, nutrition selection, and accessory selection
• Provide higher than expected (by the customer) customer service including but not limited to assisting with removal of bicycles from their vehicle, searching all possible avenues for special order or out of stock product, expediting all service and transactions as much as possible, and hand writing thank you cards
• Prepare the retail store for normal operations at opening time (lights, signage, setup PCs, etc) and handle End of Day procedures
• Assist with the setup and teardown of marketing events at the store (movie premieres, vendor presentations, etc)
• Work on receiving, placing product on the floor, store cleanliness, etc. at the discretion of the store manager
• Answer incoming phone calls and respond to incoming customer email
MINIMUM JOB REQUIREMENTS:
• No specific formal education is required
• A bicycle background is great
• Must be computer literate
• This position would include weekend work
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, & ABILITIES:
• Excellent communication and organizational skills
• Knowledge of cycling products
• Strong interpersonal, written, and oral communication
• Ability to work independently or with others to manage multiple task with minimal supervision.
• Ability to spend time talking to people about bicycles and all store products.
.
How to Apply *
Please apply by clicking on the link below:
Springwater path is one of Strava’s top ten segments in the U.S.
Riders on the Springwater at Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge during the The Street Trust’s New Year’s Day ride in 2010.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)
One of Portland’s most iconic paths has made it on the list of Strava’s all-time busiest bikeways. Referred to as “segments” by the popular ride-logging app, a 1.6 mile section of the Springwater Corridor between the Ross Island Bridge and Oaks Bottom Park in Westmoreland has been ridden 144,392 times by 11,878 people (as of this morning).
Vera got stuff done: Lessons in leadership for a changing Portland
(Portland State University Library Special Collections)
Sarah Iannarone is the associate director of First Stop Portland and a former candidate for Portland Mayor. She lives in east Portland.
Former Portland Mayor Vera Katz died last week at age 84. Three time Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives who went on to serve three terms as Portland Mayor, Katz’s reach was extensive. Part legacy leaver, part urban legend, Katz’s persona looms as large in Portland’s civic imagination as her accomplishments.
As someone born the year Katz was first elected and somewhat removed from state and local politics during her tenure, I’m not suited to eulogize her. Rather, I offer a few lessons gleaned from her leadership and thoughts how we might apply them today.
When I arrived in Portland in 1998 — one of those twenty-somethings allegedly looking to retire — Katz was just beginning her second term as Portland mayor. I’d rented a one-bedroom basement apartment in the Historic Alphabet District for $500 (remember those?) and my living room windows looked directly onto the front stoop of Katz’s 1890 Victorian. At the crack of dawn on workdays (which included many Saturdays and even some Sundays), her distinctive voice would ring across the yard with a warm greeting to her driver followed by a quickly barked roadmap of the morning’s activities. She wouldn’t get home until usually well after dark. I didn’t know then why my neighbor with the New York accent had no time for small talk on that stoop; I knew only that she seemed important and powerful, a bit of workaholic even, and that she never drove herself anywhere.
Job: Retail Manager – Community Cycling Center
Job Title *
Retail Manager
Company/Organization *
Community Cycling Center
Job Description *
The Retail Manager is responsible for planning, organizing, and supporting the inventory and retail operations of the Community Cycling Center bike shop. With the support of the shop Leadership Team, the Retail Manager will lead shop staff in the delivery of excellent customer service and work with the Communication and Marketing Manager to guide and implement marketing in the shop. This position will require a team-focused approach, the capacity to anticipate demands, and the ability to provide coaching and feedback to ensure staff is supported in the delivery of objectives. Experience in a high-volume retail environment, attention to detail, and the ability to innovate and develop systems will be expected of this position.
Reports to: General Manager
Status: Full Time, Permanent
Location: Portland, OR
Compensation: $32,640-$35,700 annually to start
Schedule: 5-day week; work days may vary
Benefits: Health, dental and vision within 30 days, PTO after 90 days, access to 401k, Used Parts Allowance
How to Apply *
Send your resume, cover letter, and (3) references to Jobs@CommunityCyclingCenter.org. No phone calls, please.
To view the full job post please visit: http://www.communitycyclingcenter.org/about/jobs/retail-manager/
Guest post: The death of Flint Street, one of Portland’s major bike routes
(Courtesy, Jim Howell, AORTA)
A proposed freeway widening project will tear out one of Portland’s most used bike routes,
This story is by Portland writer and economist Joe Cortright. It first appeared on City Observatory.
We’re putting the I-5 Rose Quarter project under a microscope, in part because we think it reveals some deep-seated biases in the way transportation planning takes place, not just in Portland, but in many cities. Today we turn our attention to plans to tear out a key local street which serves as a major bikeway in north Portland.
A quick refresher: I-5 is the main north-south route through Portland, and the Oregon Department of Transportation is proposing to spend at least $450 million to widen it with new lanes on a one-mile stretch just north of downtown. A growing coalition of community groups has organized to fight the project as wasteful, ineffective and at odds with the region’s climate change and Vision Zero goals.
Industry Ticker: Chrome’s knife roll, PDW’s smart taillight, Breadwinner Cafe, and waterproof gloves from Showers Pass
Here’s our latest peek into the ever-changing landscape of people, places and products that make up Portland’s local bike industry…