BikePortland

Tens of millions in unused parks fees could boost bike-path projects

Swan Island, north of the Fremont Bridge on the east bank of the Willamette, is home to a lonely segment of what could be a future North Portland Greenway.
(Photos: J.Maus/BikePortland)

The Portland Bureau of Parks and Recreation is rarely discussed as part of the answer to Portland’s transportation problems.

Instead of relying mostly on relatively costly off-street paths, which are the main channels for low-stress bike transportation in most of the United States, Portland generally prides itself on improving its actual streets for biking.

But the city’s parks bureau is currently facing a problem that many transportation advocates don’t know about: How to spend the tens of millions of dollars in fees from new development that have been pouring into city coffers for years now.

Two pedestrians have been mowed down by cars on Burnside sidewalks. Exactly 365 days apart. No citation was ever given to the 2015 driver.

http://tinyurl.com/bunside2016

http://tinyurl.com/bunside2015

This is a protest ride for June 15,2016.

5pm: South Sidewalk of Burnside Bridge. Slow ride up Burnside to SE 172nd Ave.

People can leave early for the 6 p.m. Take Back the Night ride at Colonel Summers park, or people can keep riding until we slowly arrive at 172nd and Burnside.

‘Cully Camina’ event on Sept. 18 will be a Sunday Parkways just for walking

The route will include mostly residential stretches of Cully Boulevard and Alberta Street.
(Photo: J.Maus/BikePortland)

This fall, Northeast Portland will host a new experiment in humanizing streets: the city will open a one-day route from 42nd Avenue and Alberta to NE Cully Boulevard and Killingsworth just for walking.

“We want to give Portlanders a chance to see and experience their streets in a new way,” said Inna Levin, volunteer and outreach coordinator for the nonprofit advocacy group Oregon Walks, in a news release Tuesday. “We hope Cully Camina will be the start of something bigger, inspiring more people to walk and engage in their community.”

The free event is Sunday, Sept. 18, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Since there’s no Sunday Parkways scheduled in September this year (the fifth and final open streets event, Sellwood-Milwaukie Sunday Parkways, is set for Oct. 2) the new Cully event will in a sense be a sixth Sunday Parkways.

I SERIOUSLY LOVE MY NEW BIKE RACK!!!! I RECENTLY WON A CUSTOM BIKE AT A SHOW AND LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THAT IT MATCHES THE COLOR OF MY FAVORITE COLLEGE BASKETBALL TEAM–AS WELL AS MY ALUMNI.

The Figo! Cool Bike Rack by Peruzzo came on the scene nearly two years ago with its disribution partnership with Gear Up, Inc. I already had a Gear Up’s, Made in America Oak Floor to Ceiling Rack and I checked in a few months back and found the Figo!

My school colors are black and yellow, so I ultimately got the black Figo! and it looks great on the wall in my home office. Now my bike is like a work of art.

Thank you Gear Up! www.mygearup.com

Further ‘clean up work’ will delay west-side Willamette River path opening

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Patch connection (white) just north of the bridge.(Graphics: Multnomah County) — Patch connection (white) just north of the bridge.
(Graphics: Multnomah County)

The new path north of the west landing of the Sellwood Bridge opened briefly Tuesday morning, but then was re-closed and will remain closed for a matter of weeks.

Multnomah County spokesman Mike Pullen said in an email to BikePortland Tuesday afternoon that “some clean up work” is still needed after all, forcing the path to close:

I have some bad news. The westside regional trail between the Sellwood Bridge and SW Miles Place will not be opening for two to four weeks. … The trail did open this morning as scheduled. County staff found there is still some clean up work to be done on and near the trail that would not be safe to do with the public using the trail. Unfortunately, there are a number of subcontractors that need to be scheduled to do the work. So the public will be using the old detour route on the east side of Highway 43/Macadam for a few more weeks.

That’s all we know for now, except that the county’s new path still looks beautiful from a distance … and that ending Portland’s worst detour onto Macadam’s sidewalk can’t happen too soon.

“There was a really great energy in the bus,” our contributor Kate Laudermilk wrote about her trip. “I overheard a lot of conversations between complete strangers.”
(Photo: Kiel Johnson)

Three weekends in, the new bus line that offers $5 round trips between Gateway Transit Center, Rooster Rock State Park and Multnomah Falls is going gangbusters.

The buses, subsidized in part by the Oregon Department of Transportation, offer 12 departures a day from Friday to Sunday and each one has a rack that carries up to three bicycles.

Conceived as a way to cut congestion on Interstate 84 and take pressure off parking space in the Gorge, the buses carried more than 4,600 rides during their four-day launch weekend, including Memorial Day. Last weekend, the buses carried 1,477 rides.

Organizer-provided art for the Queerest Bike Ride
of the Year (Thursday).

Welcome to the first of a series we’ll be running for the next three Mondays: a roundup of weekday rides in the Pedalpalooza bike festival that you might have overlooked but shouldn’t.

Rust Belt Ride
Tuesday, 6 p.m.
SE Eastbank Esplanade and Main Street (Vera Katz statue)
“Calling all yinzers! Join me on a casually-paced ride to a few Portland places that remind me of Pittsburgh.”

Bike Bell Ensemble
Thursday, noon meet / 12:10 ride
NW Naito Parkway and Couch (Japanese American Historical Plaza)
“A short lunch-hour ride down the waterfront. … Plan for rhythmic improvisation, silliness, and lots of ringing.”

Live from 2005.
(Image: BikeTV)

These days, many people know Clarence Eckerson as the guy behind Streetfilms, the beautifully produced series of web videos about livable streets and transportation reform.

But back in 2005, he was honing those skills as the creator of BikeTV, a local cable show in New York City — and he happened to stop in Portland for the Multnomah County Bike Fair that closed the fourth annual Pedalpalooza festival. Eckerson wrote us today to mention that he was recently uploading some old DVDs, came across the footage below and thought we’d enjoy it.

Tens of millions in unused parks fees could boost bike-path projects

RIP pedestrian ride today, Wed June 15 – 5pm

‘Cully Camina’ event on Sept. 18 will be a Sunday Parkways just for walking

Figo! Cool Bike Rack by Peruzzo

Further ‘clean up work’ will delay west-side Willamette River path opening

ODOT’s new Columbia Gorge Express bus has already carried thousands of riders

Five rides before Friday: Bike bells, Pittsburgh longings and more

Blast from the past: BikeTV visits Pedalpalooza in 2005

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