BikePortland

The Monday Roundup: Highway propaganda, Shaq on a bike, London on the upswing, and more

This week’s Monday Roundup is brought to you by Western Bikeworks who reminds you to check out their big warehouse sale coming December 9-11th at their Tigard location.

Lots of fun stories to share this week so let’s get right to it.

Here are the best stories we came across last week…

The Portland “megaregion”: A mapping project highlighted by National Geographic holds important clues about geography and mobility. Can someone tell me why we don’t have high-speed trains along I-5 corridor yet?

Deal with the devil: The head of the once-influential National Motorists Association appears reasonable in this Q & A professing support of a gas tax increase — them he says he wants to raise speed limits and get rid of speed cameras.

More from the auto lobby: DC Transportation Engineer Bill Schultheiss tracked down this influential 2006 report (PDF) from the American Highway Users Alliance that was used to lobby politicians for more highway capacity on the premise it would be necessary for successful evacuations in emergencies. Right… because private auto use is the most efficient way to move large numbers of people. Got it.

Traffic on purpose in NYC: Looks like the NY Post has joined in the national trend of publishing fake news with a story claiming that traffic in Manhattan is nothing more than a conspiracy by anti-car lobbyists to force people onto bikes and transit.

The Singlespeed Cyclocross World Championships (SSCXWC) made a triumphant return to Portland yesterday. Hundreds of racers descended on Kruger’s Farm at Sauvie Island for what looked like an epic day of qualifying heats. Race organizers outdid themselves with creative competitions, fun courses, and lots of surprises — including the presence of cyclocross legend Sven Nys, an Olympic mountain biker and multiple World Champion.

After everyone snapped selfies with Sven, they got down to the business (if you can call it that) of competing for a coveted spot in today’s main events. (Organizers announced yesterday that all the women who registered would automatically qualify.)

Here are a few images of the action from photographer Rob Kerr.

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

As Portland resident Dan Cadmus’s Parkinson condition has progressed the last several years, his primary mobility has been via his custom trike. The trike was stolen on Thanksgiving. His story is portrayed in this link to a Channel 2 news item from last week. There is also, at the bottom of the text article a link to a GOFUNDME account to raise money for a new trike and a secure bike storage locker. Thank you.

http://katu.com/news/local/disabled-mans-recumbent-tricycle-stolen

With passage of action plan, Portland now has roadmap to zero traffic deaths

21 of the 32 actions outlined in the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s Vision Zero Action Plan should be completed within two years and all of them should be done by 2021.

Those are the marching orders given to PBOT from City Council after four commissioners (Mayor Charlie Hales was in Mexico at a climate change conference) voted unanimously yesterday to pass the plan (PDF), a 35-page document developed over six months of task force meetings, data-crunching, and public outreach.

The vote comes six months after City Council passed the Vision Zero resolution that says, “No loss of life is acceptable on our city streets.”

The plan of actions to reach a goal of zero fatalities by 2025 (just nine years from now) are broken down into five categories: street design, impairment, speed, dangerous behaviors, and engagement and accountability. They include things like: breaking ground on new capital projects on high crash corridors, increasing police training, gaining local authority to set speed limits, expanding the red light safety camera program, and more.

Looking for a new job opportunity? We’ve got four great possibilities recently published on our job listings.

Learn more about each one via the links below…

–> Volunteer and Event Manager – Community Cycling Center

–> Customer Experience Specialist – Velotech

–> Off-Road Cycling Plan Intern (Paid) – Portland Bureau of Planning & Sustainability

–> Professional Painter – Black Magic Paint

Welcome to the weekly video roundup! Last week was busy, with a train trip to Seattle for a no-friends no-family Thanksgiving. So I’m back to playing catchup – there are about 60 videos in the queue for next week already. So this week’s entries are on the short side, but they are still great!

The video above is from ‘Bike Kill NYC’, which is … I can’t summarize it any better than Gothamist: “a few hundred bike punks riding mutant welded art-cycles and throwing weird shit at each other in an endless counter-clockwise beer gyre while onlookers partied to the searing riffs of live metal bands”.

Job Title *
Off-Road Cycling Plan Intern (Paid)

Company/Organization *
Portland Bureau of Planning & Sustainability

Job Description *
Closes: Tuesday, December 20, 2016

BPS is seeking a Community Service Aide to assist with the development of the Off-road Cycling Master Plan. This is a paid internship from January to June 2016.

Since the intern’s work will focus on public outreach, we are particularly looking for candidates with the following desired qualifications:
o Direct personal or professional experience working with historically under-represented or under-served communities, such as communities of color, Portlanders with limited-English proficiency, low-income residents, youth, and Portlanders with disabilities;
o Experience with public outreach;
o Experience with research and data collection, organization and analysis;
o Valid state driver’s license and a driving record that meets the City’s good driver criteria;
o Ability to speak another language (Spanish, Vietnamese, Somali, Chinese, etc.)

Since the intern’s work will focus on public outreach, we are particularly looking for candidates with the following desired qualifications:
* Direct personal or professional experience working with historically under-represented or under-served communities, such as communities of color, Portlanders with limited-English proficiency, low-income residents, youth, and Portlanders with disabilities
* Experience with public outreach
* Experience with research and data collection, organization and analysis
* Valid state driver’s license and a driving record that meets the City’s good driver criteria
* Ability to speak another language (Spanish, Vietnamese, Somali, Chinese, etc.)

How to Apply *
A complete job description and application instructions are available at:
http://www.portlandoregon.gov/bps/article/619462

Take a photo tour of new bike access on nearly completed Sellwood Bridge

Checking in on Sellwood Bridge progress-30.jpg

A new bridge on the greenway path on the west side of the main bridge connects walkers and rollers headed eastbound into Sellwood.
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)

It’s been almost a decade since our very first post about replacing the old Sellwood Bridge. Now, after years of debates over funding sources and designs, the new bridge is almost 100 percent complete.

While it re-opened to traffic back in February, many of the bikeway elements were unfinished. In recent weeks Multnomah County has made significant progress on the bike lanes, sidepaths, crossings on the west side, and on the greenway path connections. I rolled over a few days ago for a closer look at how it was all shaping up.

This is what happened the last time the SSCXWC were hosted in Portland (in 2009). There’s no telling what’ll transpire this year.
(Photo: J Maus/BikePortland)

The last time the Single Speed Cyclocross World Championships were in Portland there was a huge steel thunderdome complete with dangers dangling from ropes and a huge bubble-making machine that covered costumed racers in foam. Seven years later there’s really no way to tell what will happen. All we can assume is that it’ll be memorable. Whether you plan to partake in the festivities out on Sauvie Island or have other plans (Holiday Ale fest perhaps?), we hope you enjoy this first weekend of December.

Check out our menu of great rides and events below…

” This event is about being inclusive. We are not arguing that some of these things aren’t juvenile, but the goal isn’t to be sexist, it’s to be equally silly to everyone.”
— Dani Dance, PDX Singlespeed Collective

Hundreds of racers from all over the country will descend on Portland this weekend for the “officially unofficial” 10th annual Singlespeed Cyclocross World Championships (SSCXWC) — but some fans have decided not to attend and one of its sponsors has pulled out. They say the marketing of the event has been blatantly sexist and objectifies women.

SSCXWC, which got its start in Portland in 2007 and will be held this year at Kruger’s Farm on Sauvie Island, is legendary for its irreverent and debaucherous approach to cyclocross racing. Beer, mandatory tattoos for the winners, crazy costumes, severe heckling, and even strippers are expected elements of the race atmosphere. As the weekend approaches, it feels like everyone in the local bike racing scene is buzzing about it. Registration has been sold out for weeks as organizers have teased out details of Saturday’s main event as part of an elaborate and creative marketing strategy.

But some people feel like the promotion of the event has crossed a line from edgy humor to outright sexism — a behavior the bike industry on the whole has struggled with for many years.

Ross Peizer wants to create a safe bikeway on Salmon that would connect Washington Park to the Willamette River.

(Publisher’s note: This week we’re excited to highlight a few of the projects created by students in Portland State University’s Traffic and Transportation course. As we reported in a profile earlier this year, the class has had a vast impact on Portland in numerous ways by churning out over 1,200 smart and inspired graduates since 1991. We worked with class assistant Rebecca Hamilton (a graduate herself who now works at Metro) to share three of the projects. Learn about Amy Wren’s work to improve biking and walking near Bridger Elementary School and Charles Tso’s work on parking benefit districts.)

SW Salmon Street Bikeway between Washington Park and the Willamette River – Ross Peizer

There are precious few convenient and safe east-west routes for cycling through downtown Portland. In the southwest quadrant I-405, the Park Blocks, and Portland State University buildings are just some of the impediments to cycling access between Washington Park and the Willamette. Ross Peizer (who took a job as program manager with the Westside Transportation Alliance last year) thinks SW Salmon is a good candidate for improvements.

As part of an ODOT project to add new electronic signs on U.S. 26 and I-84, there will be short-term impacts to the multi-use path along the south side of U.S. 26.

The contractor for the project expect intermittent nighttime path closures beginning December 7 and continuing for approximately one month. The section of path being closed is between SW 79th Avenue and SW Katherine Lane, adjacent to West Sylvan Middle School.

A signed detour will be in place during the nighttime closures, directly path users through the West Slope neighborhood. The detour will add approximately 4 minutes to the trip of a person on a bike averaging 10 MPH. The detour route includes more hills than the path.

On nights when work takes place, the path will close at 8 p.m. and reopen by 5:30 a.m. weekdays, 8 a.m. on Saturdays and 9 a.m. on Sundays.

The path will remain open during daytime hours, but will be narrowed to 3 feet minimum width to accommodate the work zone. An alternate option to avoid the work zone closure is to use Trimet’s MAX from the nearby Sunset Transit Center.

The closure area is part of a work zone for an ODOT RealTime project, which will provide real-time traffic information on roads to help travelers get where they’re going more safely and efficiently. The work adjacent to the path involves drilling foundations for a new electronic sign. For more information, visit www.odotrealtime.org.

Attached is a flier with more information, including a detour map. There will also be signs posted on the path. Feel free to get in touch with any questions.

Lili Boicourt, Community Affairs Coordinator
503-731-8247 (desk) | 503-731-3266 (fax)
Lili.D.Boicourt@odot.state.or.us

The Monday Roundup: Highway propaganda, Shaq on a bike, London on the upswing, and more

SSCXWCPDX Day One: The crazy qualifiers – Photos by Rob Kerr

GOFUND for disabled man’s stolen trike

With passage of action plan, Portland now has roadmap to zero traffic deaths

Jobs of the Week: Community Cycling Center, Velotech, Black Magic Paint, City of Portland

Weekly Video Roundup: Seattle visit, how carbon wheels are made, midpriced bike torture

Job: Off-Road Cycling Plan Intern (Paid) – Portland Bureau of Planning & Sustainability

Take a photo tour of new bike access on nearly completed Sellwood Bridge

Weekend Event Guide: Ale fest, SSCXWC, Chris King’s 40th, and more

Sponsor pulls out of Singlespeed Cross “World Championships” amid sexism concerns

PSU transportation class projects: A Safer SW Salmon Street by Ross Peizer

One month of Highway 26 path closures start December 7th

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