BikePortland

On night of protest, police stop 43 people for driving violations on St. Johns Bridge

On the same night hundreds of community members took over the lanes on the St. Johns Bridge for a solemn memorial and protest event, the Portland Police Bureau was doing their part to raise awareness of safety issues.

The Traffic Division is stationed right at the eastern end of the bridge and they took advantage of their presence on last night’s ride to conduct an enforcement action — a.k.a. “traffic safety mission”. The bureau also said the recent death of Mitch York was a key motivator of this action.

The result: According to a police bureau statement they made 43 stops in just two hours. 30 citations were written and they made 13 warnings. The violations were “numerous” but predominantly for speeding. One person was arrested for driving on a suspended license.

Imagine if we did more enforcement like this and Joel Schrantz — the man driving with a suspended license who lost control of his vehicle and killed Mitch York on Saturday — was arrested before he had a chance to commit that tragic act of violence?

Blumenauer will lead a ride to the ballot box Sunday.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

As the days get shorter and cooler, it’s a great time to snuggle up with a book and get inspired for spring and summer adventures. If you have discovered it yet, check out the Boneshaker Almanac, a series of 10 pocket-sized periodicals that read like a cross between Mark Twain and an old army manual. There’s a reading to celebrate the tenth issue tonight.

We’ve also got another cyclocross doubleheader in store. Whether your choose to partake Saturday or Sunday (or both!), you’ll be guaranteed top-notch venues for both watching and racing.

Have a great weekend!

Friday, November 4th

Boneshaker #10 Release Party – 6:00 pm at Boy’s Fort (902 SW Morrison)
Boneshaker: A Bicycling Almanac is one of the most enjoyable “pocket-sized periodicals” (according to Esquire) I’ve ever owned. It’s tales of adventure transport me to magical places and its presentation and tone takes me a bygone era of literary journalism. Let’s help them celebrate the 10th issue as part of the Lit Crawl Portland event. Author readings will be moderated by Boneshaker’s founder and former Portlander Evan P. Schneider. Learn more here.

Hundreds of people came together in St. Johns tonight to remember Mitch York, the 55-year-old northeast Portland man who was killed while bicycling on the St. Johns Bridge six days ago.

As we debate infrastructure and policy solutions that could make places like the St. Johns Bridge safer to use, we should not lose sight of the fact that what we’re dealing with here is a systemic problem.

Our system fails us because it lets dangerous people operate dangerous vehicles on dangerous roads. Joel Schrantz, the man who was unable to control his vehicle before he struck and killed Mitch York on Saturday, is just the latest in a long line of criminals who were allowed to drive when they had no business being anywhere near a steering wheel.

At least not in a civilized society.

Schrantz is a man who, according to The Oregonian, has around 30-40 previous traffic violations going back over 20 years. He was driving a vehicle that was in a bad state of repair and his license was suspended. It has been reported that “chuckled” about his poor driving record to the police officer who responded to the scene.

This man is a clear and present danger to other road users and he’s making a mockery of our obviously inadequate driving regulations.

A pair of shoes for every Oregonian who died while using our roads in 2016. So far.

Each pair of shoes in that image above represents just one of the 405 precious lives lost on Oregon roads so far this year. We are on pace for yet another grisly record locally and across the state as our collective efforts to make road use safer continues to be outpaced by the growth of the threat.

New bikeway on NE 21st Avenue-10.jpg — A circular bikeway interchange (or whatever you want to call it) is the centerpiece of several changes on the NE 21st bridge over Interstate 84.
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Slowly but sure our city’s transportation bureau is creating more protected space for cycling. I took a closer look at the latest example of this on the Northeast 21st Avenue bridge over I-84 just east of the Lloyd District.

As we reported back in May, it’s one of the nine projects in the hopper citywide that feature physical separation between cycling and driving traffic.

Just over eight years since he founded Portland Design Works, 37-year-old Erik Olson is about close out one of the toughest ones yet. In the past six months he’s endured the departure of his co-founder and business partner, lagging sales thanks to a global downturn in the bike industry, pesky counterfeiters, and an unexpected cross-town move. Despite these hurdles, Olson is sanguine about the future.

“We’re moving in the right direction as a company,” he shared from the floor of his warehouse on Southeast 21st Avenue during a visit yesterday. They’re located just a stones-throw from the new Lafayette Street Bridge (which he and other employees use with their bikes every day) and the Orange MAX line.

This post is by Portlander Bryan Hance.

Bike Index is very excited to announce a new partner in our fight against bike theft: LeadsOnline.com!

LeadsOnline runs the nation’s largest online investigation system used by thousands of law enforcement officers to monitor pawn shop and secondhand retailer transactions. Pawn shops across the country report their transactions to LeadsOnline in order to comply with local laws – and police use the site’s tools to search for, identify, and recover stolen goods from their own local police reports.

The Oregon Department of Transportation is being forced to answer questions about unsafe biking conditions on the St. Johns Bridge after 55-year-old Mitch York was killed while biking on it Saturday.

All four of the major network news outlets led with follow-ups on the story during last night’s newscast.

As we continue to do our own reporting about the fateful decisions ODOT made during a multi-million dollar renovation project on the bridge in 2003 (to prioritize motorized vehicle capacity at the expense of everything else, summarized by this commenter who was around at the time), let’s take a look at how the issue has been covered so far by KOIN (CBS), KATU (ABC), KPTV (Fox), and KGW (NBC).

(Note that three of these four newscasts included my comments shared via on-camera interviews. Those videos are embedded below.)

This running-of-the-bulls inspired costume was one of the most creative of the day.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

The River City Bicycle Cyclocross Crusade was at an entirely different level over the weekend. With its annual stop in Bend for races number five and six in the eight-race series, it was Oregon cyclocross at its peak. There was creativity, debauchery, inspiration, and fun around every corner.

LPI to LBI ASAP: New York City is eyeing a very sensible new law — it would allow bicycle riders to join walkers and other rollers to get a head-start at intersections via the “leading pedestrian interval” (LPI).

Fair? I’ll tell what’s fair!: We’ve all heard, “You damn bicyclists need to pay your fair share!” But how much is that exactly? Well, Streets.mn tried to find out.

Insights from a fellow roller: Remember Ian Mackay? He stopped in Portland on a 300+ mile ride on his wheelchair to raise awareness for good paths. Here are his final thoughts on the journey.

Portland to Stub Stewart family camping trip-43.jpg

Bicycle riders are allowed to use the full lane on the St. Johns Bridge — a ride on Thursday will remind people of that fact.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Let’s show ODOT that we deserve to be protected and we are sick of this shit.
— From the Facebook event page

With the community reeling with sadness and anger about the death of Mitch York, a protest ride will happen on the St. Johns Bridge this Thursday.

York loved riding in the west hills and was en route to one of his many monthly rides when he was hit. The ride is being organized by Portlanders Jake Tong and Hazel Gross. Here’s the description via Facebook:

On night of protest, police stop 43 people for driving violations on St. Johns Bridge

Weekend Event Guide: Cross, book release party, shoe drive, rain gear sale, and more

Friday, November 4th

At protest ride, St. Johns Bridge carries weight of hundreds, and of recent tragedy

Repeat offender who drove his car into Mitch York, is out on $2,000 bail

400+ pairs of shoes needed to mark Oregon deaths this year on ‘World Day of Remembrance’

First look: Portland’s new bike roundabout and two-way cycling lane on NE 21st Avenue

After roller-coaster year, Portland Design Works looks ahead to 2017

Bike Index partners with the country’s largest pawn search system to find more stolen bikes

Media coverage of St. Johns Bridge fatality makes ODOT answer for lack of safe bike access

Crazy around every corner: Photos from the Cross Crusade Halloween weekend in Bend

The Monday Roundup: Planning while black, housing for cars, free bikes, sexism, and more

Protest ride will ‘Take the Lane’ on St. Johns Bridge this Thursday

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