SE Powell near 125th. The state’s current plan is to add sidewalks and a center turn lane but potentially no vertical separation between bike and car traffic. (Image: Google Street View)
East Portland’s most prominent advocacy group is unanimously opposed to the state’s current plan for outer Powell Boulevard, its top staffer said Thursday.
“Every one of our transportation advocates — from pedestrian to bicycle to transit to overall transportation — was in disagreement with their decision and they want a separated bike lane on Powell,” said Lore Wintergreen, advocate for the East Portland Action Plan.
Prince and David Bowie are the latest additions to Portland’s bike lanes. (Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)
Portland isn’t known for its rock music legacy, but we do have something no other city has: memorials to two modern-day rock titans that are made out of bike lane markings.
You might have heard about our huge Bowie vs Prince bike ride. Not to be outdone, maintenance crews from the City of Portland’s transportation bureau have lent their creative skills to bike lane symbols that honor both Prince and David Bowie — two artists who unexpectedly passed away this year.
Part of the new bikeway built by ODOT as part of their Sunrise Corridor project. It opened on July 1st. (Photos: Adam Herstein)
This post was submitted by BikePortland subscriber Adam Herstein. These posts usually appear on our Subscriber Posts page but we like to share them here on the Front Page when appropriate. — Jonathan
ODOT has completed their Sunrise JTA Project which constructed a new 2.15 mile, four lane expressway at a cost of $130 million. As part of this project, bike improvements were constructed. I rode the new cycleway yesterday evening.
A sidewalk-colored bike lane (described here as a “concrete shoulder”) set off by slightly raised striping is the state’s preferred alternative for bike lanes on a reconstructed Powell Boulevard east of Interstate 205. The state-run road carries about 20,000 motor vehicles daily. (Image: ODOT)
After an advisory group agreed that it wanted an upcoming rebuild of outer Powell Boulevard to include raised bike lanes, the Oregon Department of Transportation says they’re not practical after all.
Instead, it’s drawing the ire of some (though not all) advisory committee members by saying there won’t be any vertical protection between bike and car traffic on the busy state-run street.
Hales spoke in the new public plaza on SW 3rd yesterday. (Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)
Portland Mayor Charlie Hales offered a very unexpected admonition during an informal, invite-only meeting yesterday. It was a veiled criticism of Portland’s transportation advocates — and bike advocates in particular. Yes, you read that right, bike advocates: the group many Portlanders (mistakenly) assume wields unlimited power in City Hall.
Hales’ comments came at the end of a brief speech he gave while standing in the new Ankeny Plaza on SW 3rd in front of about two dozen advocates, city staffers, and other local leaders. His remarks were mostly about his support for Better Naito, the importance of great public spaces and the city’s new “livable streets strategy.” But then he ended with a plea for more support from advocates — many of whom were standing right in front of him.
I happened to have my recorder on. Here’s the transcript (with my emphasis added):
Left turns from NW 9th Avenue onto Lovejoy Street toward the Broadway Bridge. (Photos: J.Maus/BikePortland)
In the city with North America’s largest streetcar system, on-street rails almost rival automobiles as a factor in collisions that injure people on bikes.
Among bike-related injuries in Toronto that resulted in emergency-room trips, the study found, 32 percent directly involved streetcar tracks and more than half happened on streets with streetcar tracks. And in what lead author Kay Teschke described as “a surprise to us,” 67 percent of track-related injuries happen away from intersections.
PCC groundskeeper Eric Roberts and his new work truck. (Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)
Human brains tend to work more efficiently in quiet places. For college campuses with many acres of foliage and greenspace to maintain, the use of power tools and motorized vehicles is often at odds with a serene learning environment.
Portland Community College thinks they have an answer: bikes. Or, more specifically, three-wheeled cargo trikes.
This video, posted to Instagram and Twitter last night by Trail Blazers star guard CJ McCollum, says just about everything you need to know about Portland’s new bike share system: It’s fun, it’s easily accessible which encourages spontaneity (McCollum said his ride was done on an impulse, probably as a celebration of his new contract), it’s considered cool enough for a stylish and respected NBA star to ride (thanks Nike!), and it appeals to a much broader swath of Portlanders than regular old cycling does.
These are just some of the reasons why after just one week, Biketown looks like a huge success that’s making people sing and smile (just like CJ) all over town. In fact, over 7,000 people have taken a Biketown for a ride in the first 7 days.
Here are the latest numbers from Biketown’s operator Motivate Inc as of 2:00 pm yesterday (Tuesday):
Two days after Kiel and I got engaged, I turned over in bed to see an all too familiar crazed look in my lover’s eyes. This look is almost always accompanied by some cockamamie idea that I, at first, am vehemently against and then end up going along with anyway. I had a split second to make a very important decision — close my eyes again, pretend to sleep, and wait for the idea to pass, or be a good fiancé and ask him what was on his mind. Being the selfless partner that I am, I went with the latter.
There are all of these societal expectations that you feel like you need to adhere to and NONE of them include sticking all of your guests on bikes.
“Let’s have a bike wedding!” he said, his eyes dilating with delight.
The next ten minutes or so were filled with me intermittently shouting out potentially disastrous scenarios of having a wedding by bike. All the while Kiel sat back waiting for me to finish — he knew I would eventually tire. Of course, in the end, we had a bike wedding. Of course it was amazing. And, of course, nothing went massively wrong. Let’s go ahead and just write my epitaph right here, right now: “Kiel Johnson is, and was, (almost) always right.”
Planning a wedding can suck your soul right clear out of your body if you let it. There are all of these societal expectations that you feel like you need to adhere to and NONE of them include sticking all of your guests on bikes and making them parade around. But, that’s precisely what we did and, you know what? The world is still spinning!
Mayor Charlie Hales speaking at Salmon Street Fountain prior to a bike ride of Naito Parkway this morning. (Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)
The City of Portland will take down the “Better Naito” project this Sunday night, whether it returns as a permanent bikeway and walkway someday is up to us. That was the message Mayor Charlie Hales gave a group of advocates, city staff, and agency representatives this morning.
This project has been a dream of Hales for almost two years.
When more people use cars on a street, it becomes less and less efficient. When more people use mass transit, it becomes more and more efficient. (Image: Nick Falbo)
There’s no mystery at all about what this would look like on inner Powell Boulevard. Everyone with some measure of power who has considered the issue knows the answer. But for some reason, the millions of public dollars spent talking about that possible answer have never resulted in a street-level picture of it.
The booth at the entrance to Woodlawn Park was buzzing with activity all day. (Photos by J. Maus/BikePortland)
If we’re going to take a bite out of bike theft in Portland we need the whole community to step up: Police, bike shops, city bureaus, and citizens like you and me.
