BikePortland

In defense of greenways, city bolsters traffic diversion in two north Portland locations

Try to drive through these concrete barrels filled with soil. I dare you!
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)

The City of Portland Bureau of Transportation seems to be slowly losing their aversion to diversion.

On my way into work today I rolled by two examples of new infrastructure that aims to prevent people from driving through a specific intersection. It’s all part of PBOT’s increased priority on “traffic diversion” in order to maintain a comfortable street environment in residential areas.

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

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Movie about Lance Armstrong’s fall plays Portland this week

The official poster.

We don’t usually cover mainstream movies here on the site, but when an indie film comes to town that’s about journalism and biking, we have to give it a shout.

The Program is a fictionalized portrait of an Irish reporter’s battle to uncover Lance Armstrong’s history of doping his way into yellow jerseys. It’s at the Living Room Theaters this week.

The movie is directed by Stephen Frears (High Fidelity, The Queen, etc.) and stars Ben Foster as Armstrong, Chris O’Dowd as journalist David Walsh and Jesse Plemons as Armstrong’s teammate, enabler and finally betrayer Floyd Landis.

Here’s the promotional description:

SF’s newest attraction.
(Photo: SFMTA)

Here are the bike-related links from around the world that caught our eyes this week:

Colorful corral: The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency gets artistic.

Walking myth: The claim that distracted walking accounts for 78 percent of U.S. pedestrian injuries (published in a peer-reviewed journal in 2013 and repeated many times since) is complete baloney.

Billion-dollar fences: In maybe the most anti-freeway speech ever given by a U.S. transportation secretary, Anthony Foxx drew on his own childhood to condemn the ways excessive freeway-building has divided cities. He added a wish that the presidential race might touch on this issue “at some point.”

New Seasons on Williams now offers complimentary bike valet service (with optional cuddling).

BikePortland doesn’t do April Fools jokes. We just don’t. But that doesn’t mean we don’t appreciate them and we’re certainly not above highlight them.

Portland did very well today with bike-themed April Fools pranks. Even a non-bike business got into the act. Check out our roundup below and if you came across other good ones today, feel free to share them in the comments.

It happens every year. As the sun finally peeks out and the streets dry up, the roads in Portland bloom with bike riders like the cherry blossoms in Waterfront Park. Isn’t it beautiful?!

Unfortunately not everyone thinks so.

The scene of the crash. George was taken to hospital with what police describe as “non-life-threatening” injuries.
(Photos: Josh Berezin)

Sorry to be the bearer of more bad news, but there’s been another traffic collision that sent a person to the hospital.

We sat down with Sarah Iannarone to discuss her candidacy in Portland’s May 17 mayoral primary.
(Photo: M.Andersen/BikePortland)

No candidate for mayor is thinking bigger than Sarah Iannarone.

Screenshot from home video shows man kicking down door.
Watch full video below.

On March 11th, Portlander Mitch Lomacz was the victim of a brazen theft. His home security cameras caught a man who walked into the backyard of his Montavilla home, forcibly kicked open the door of his garage and then grabbed a Scott CR1 road bike (retail value about $1,300).

Lomacz, who works at Cyclepath bike shop, now has the attention of Portland Police Bureau detectives who have put out an APB on the suspect. Apparently this isn’t the first time he’s burglarized a home in the neighborhood.

Please keep your eyes out for the bike and the suspect. Lomacz says the suspect is around 5′ 10 ” tall with a medium build and “sporty appearance”, slightly balding and light-colored hair, is a smoker and “definitely knows his way around a bike.” What makes Lomacz think the suspect is a bike guy? “He found a matching pair of pedals on my workbench full of crap/pedals and walked the bike away by the saddle suggesting he rides and handles bikes a lot.”

Watch the suspect at work in the video below:

Welcome to this week’s roundup! Apologies that it has been delayed, but I’m still calling it a Wednesday roundup. I mean, Wednesday is a state of mind, right?

Our first video is a DIY series by a community bike organization. They have a full series of videos in English and Spanish and are even downloadable- handy for working on a bike that is on the street. I’m highlighting the rear derailleur installation, since it’s difficult to adjust for those new to wrenching. They are from Bikes Not Bombs, which is a Boston-area community bike resource. The audio mixing is a little rough, but they demonstrate a good range of common repairs.

Chief O’Dea is not messing around.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

This is not an April Fools post.

The Portland Police Bureau has seen enough. After a troubling spate of fatal crashes on Portland roads, the bureau announced this morning they’ll be doing additional traffic enforcement citywide.

Yesterday’s morning fatal collision on SE Powell Boulevard was the 12th so far this year. That’s up from seven last year at this time. The PPB sends out their Major Crash Team — a special unit that includes experts in crash reconstruction and analysis — each time there’s a fatal or serious injury collision. A statement released by the PPB this morning says that the unit averages about 14 cases in the first three months of the year. However in 2016, they’ve already responded to 23 fatal or serious injury crashes.

PPB Chief Larry O’Dea, a former commander of the Traffic Division, said he’s making the announcement “in response to this devasting series of events.”

Brian Duncan was seriously injured while trying to cross Rosa Parks at Delaware last night. This is the view looking westbound just before the intersection.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Since Sunday night we’ve been following two crashes that involve people who were riding bicycles in north Portland. The first happened late Sunday night (3/27) at North Lombard and Jordan Avenue. The most recent one happened just last night on North Rosa Parks Way at Delaware. Here’s the latest information we have on both of them…

In defense of greenways, city bolsters traffic diversion in two north Portland locations

Job: Mechanic and Customer Service Advisor – Islabikes – FILLED

Movie about Lance Armstrong’s fall plays Portland this week

The Monday Roundup: SF’s corral colors, the myth of distracted walking & more

A roundup of Portland’s best bike-themed April Fools jokes

Hi fair-weather riders! I’m glad you’re here

Left-hook collision on Williams Avenue sends woman to the hospital

Mayoral candidate Sarah Iannarone: The BikePortland interview

Police seek help finding bike burglar caught on video in Montavilla neighborhood

Wednesday Video Roundup: DIY repair help, Maupin, and the world’s fastest bike

Portland Police announce extra patrols after rise in fatal crashes

The latest on two separate injury bicycle crashes in North Portland

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From the Archives

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