Inset: “Table” design option. Background photo from yesterday’s open house event sent in by a reader.
The City of Portland hosted its second open house for the North Parks Blocks Extension project last night.
As we shared back in February, the Parks & Recreation bureau is looking to extend the existing linear park that exists between W Burnside and NW Glisan, north to Hoyt (behind Pacific Northwest College of Art, which is why some folks refer to this as the “PNCA Block). The project looks to design a new, 30,000 square foot park. It was spurred by the Broadway Corridor development and will also be a key piece of the future Green Loop.
Last night under tents in an outdoor plaza outside PNCA, design consultants and city staff unveiled three new design options. The designs were gleaned in large part from over 500 public comments received at the first open house on February 29th. The new renderings give us our clearest view yet of how we might some day pedal our bikes from the North Park Blocks, through the Broadway Corridor, and onto the western end of the Broadway Bridge at NW Lovejoy.
The design team shared three options at last night’s event: Option A, Quilt; Option B, Table; and Option C, Clearing. Each option consists of landscaping, infrastructure, and other elements that could help define three blocks of park space between NW Glisan and NW Johnson (which will be extended through the site as part of this plan).
If you have feedback, stay tuned to the project website for news of upcoming open houses and surveys. You can also contact the project manager via email at gary.datka@portlandoregon.gov. Construction is set to begin in 2026 with an anticipated opening in spring 2027.
If it’s possible to reach our bicycling goal, how exactly should we do it? (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
NOTE: The answers shared in this post have been highly edited for brevity. Please read the full responses at Bike Loud’s website.
Local bike advocacy nonprofit BikeLoud PDX asked all City of Portland candidates* to answer eight questions gleaned from their members. The first question, “How would you work to increase the bike mode share?” was answered by 40 candidates, including four mayoral hopefuls.
Here’s the full question:
The City’s stated goal is that 25% of trips be made by bicycle by 2030, but we are currently far short of that goal. How would you work to increase the bike mode-share?
I’ve gone through the submissions and pulled out 1-2 particularly salient sentences from each candidate. The very abbreviated (in most cases) answers below are based on what I personally found to be the most interesting/notable/newsworthy parts of their responses. (For the full answers, visit BikeLoud’s website). I’ve also shared photos of each candidate in the order their responses were shared. The photos were taken from the Rose City Reform candidate tracker.
Timur EnderSonja MckenzieDavid LinnSteph RouthAll candidate photos are in order of answers below and taken from the excellent new Rose City Reform website.
City Council District 1
Timur Ender
I would continue to champion popular programs… this includes a mix of aggressive support for PBOT’s transportation wallet, neighborhood greenways, protected bike lane infrastructure investments, street lighting, Sunday Parkways, and expanding Biketown to cover the entirety of East Portland… I would work to address housing affordability and production which I believe is key to increasing mode share.
Sonja Mckenzie
I would recommend more bike parking infrastructure for bikes in addition to better traffic signaling for bikes/pedestrians.
Steph Routh
Right now, people can’t realistically choose anything other than driving. That’s the work before us. To build true choice into our transportation system.
David Linn
Much of the outer city was designed for cars and we have not done a good enough job of extending the bike and bus routes that the inner parts of the city have. Continued efforts to slow down cars will help.
When biking feels easier than driving we will get more people out of their cars.
Christopher Olson
I would look to a city like Paris that has seen an increase in biking since investing in bike infrastructure.
Nat West
I don’t think we will hit 25% by 2030. That is too aggressive and may create burnout among policymakers since it appears impossible. I would advocate for adjusting that number to rolling goals based on a combination of aspiration/vision and reality.
Michelle DePass
…the real meat is in bringing people along, and making cycling more accessible, rather than more elitist. The gap between those who cycle, and those who don’t could be explained in terms of race and income; we have the data to prove it.
Debbie Kitchin
We need more connectivity in bike routes because having 2/3 of the trip feel safe but harrowing sections in between safe areas absolutely discourages more biking.
Mariah Hudson
Let’s prioritize early engagement by ensuring every child has access to bikes and learns safe riding practices. Safe riding is just as important as swim lessons.
Jonathan Tasini
Along with physical investments… the city must invest by partnering with community members and organizations to expand effective and culturally relevant bicycle programming and services. The only way to meet the goal of 25% of trips is to make bike ridership reflect Portland.
Mike Marshall
Use PCEF funds to provide subsidies for bike purchases.
Laura Streib
Accessibility programs for free/reduced cost bikes and e-bikes.
Will Mespelt
If people feel safe riding their bikes and simple quick routes exist, they will see the benefits to riding a bike.
I would bring attention to and personally participate in powerful organizing tools like Bike Buses, bike events and Bike Happy Hours to draw attention to groups who are fighting for safer streets.
Rex Burkholder
Create parking fee districts to reduce traffic in business districts… expect our elected leaders to lead by example and ride their bikes, walk or take transit!
Theo Hathaway Saner
Ensure that bike lanes and paths connect key areas of the city, such as residential neighborhoods, business districts, schools, and public transit hubs.
Daniel Gilk
The city is happy to implement easy wins for bike transit but hesitant to make tough decisions that might impact car travel. We need to start thinking bigger, which likely means repurposing existing space dedicated to cars for the use of cyclists and pedestrians.
Angelita Morillo
Work towards a bike lane going down Sandy Boulevard. As an obligate transit user, I know how critical these investments can be in our communities towards making our communities more livable, more person-oriented, and more safe.
Jonathan Walker
We need to increase our investment in true protected bike lanes. We need to make it so people feel they can safely travel nearly anywhere in Portland on a bike without fear of cars.
Matthew Thomas Anderson
Improve the road surface.
Daniel DeMelo
To hit the 25% goal by 2030, we need to target an even higher mode-share during the summer months, possibly around 50%, to balance out the winter drop-off. We’ll make winter cycling more appealing by improving bike lane maintenance and implementing weather-resistant infrastructure, ensuring that cycling remains a viable option year-round.
Philippe Knab
To increase the bike mode-share in Portland, I would advocate for the expansion of protected bike lanes and safe bike infrastructure to ensure cyclists feel secure on the roads.
Sandeep Bali
I’d like to champion bike riding in our city but find a healthy balance between biking and car transport. Sometimes one just needs a car, others one needs a nice bike ride.
Jesse Cornett
Specific actions to be considered include enhancing bikeways, lowering speed limits, creating more buffered bike lanes, public awareness campaigns that highlight the benefits of cycling both on the rider and the community, adding more bike-friendly traffic signals, and incentivizing builders to invest in more secure bike parking and business to have amenities such as showers will all work to increase the bike mode share in Portland.
Chris Flanary
I would push the thoughtful, researched and community approved solutions proposed in the 2035 Comprehensive Plan. I’d love to pilot a free bike share program.
More traffic calming efforts and dedicated bike lanes.
Ben Hufford
What Portland lacks is follow-through and commitment to getting things done. A five-foot bike lane on a major traffic collector, with blackberries and trash and gravel is NOT a bike centered infrastructure, it is checking a box.
Chad Lykins
Affordability: The market is driving down the price of entry-level bikes and ebikes. Low-cost and no-cost bike-share programs can also be expanded to cover more neighborhoods. We should also have well-lit, secure storage next to bus and train stops to encourage multi-modal transit.
Sarah Strawberry Silkie
…. increasing access to e-bikes for people with physical limitations.
Michael Trimble
I want to double down on fining cars parked in bike lanes and reinstate the street cleaners to keep the bike lanes clean and free of tire puncturing debris. In addition to lowering the costs of bike ownership, I will work with TriMet on fare free transit for all cyclists bringing their bikes on board.
Eli Arnold
I believe improving road safety, improving the public perception of safety on Trimet, and looking for new routes which separate bikes from vehicular traffic is key.
Andra Vltavín
First, we need to streamline zoning and permitting to make it more possible to have a walkable/bikeable city.
Eric Zimmerman
Riding a bike regularly shouldn’t require advanced knowledge of the various types of bike lanes, signage, and bike friendly streets vs non-friendly. I think making the choice to ride a bike in Portland has got to be easy to understand and common across neighborhoods if we are going to see more people make a choice to ride instead of drive.
Lisa Freeman
I would seek funding for the projects identified in the SW and NW In Motion plans for short term solutions to safety and stress reduction for bikers and walkers.
Bob Weinstein
Increase bicycle parking and end-of-trip facilities. Improve integration with public transit.
Liv OsthusDurrell Javon Kinsey BeyKeith WilsonCarmen Rubio
Mayor
Liv Osthus
As Mayor, I will encourage council to advocate for their neighborhoods (particularly in east Portland) for safer bike avenues.
Durrell Javon Kinsey Bey
One thing for sure is I would like to assist with providing all Youth from at least 3rd grade to 12th with an e-bike or regular bike of their choice.
Keith Wilson
I want to prioritize accommodating e-bikes in all forms of public transit and double TriMet ridership by 2030. Bicyclists will prioritize other transportation options when facing routes blocked with tents, unregistered cars, and derelict RVs. We must end unsheltered homelessness in Portland, which I will do within the first twelve months of taking office.
Carmen Rubio
Prioritize the identify routes in high-need areas that have capacity to serve the most potential new riders and set public timelines for development – for transparency and consistency for the public. We also need the state to look at creating a [e-bike purchase subsidy] program and to sufficiently resource it. I would want the City’s legislative agenda to include lobbying the governor and legislature for such a program.
BikeLoud will post more responses in the weeks to come. If this summary was useful to you, let me know and I’ll consider posting the same thing for the rest of the questions.
*BikeLoud sent the questionnaire to all candidates that had filed a letter of intent as of May 27th.
Our intrepid crew at the start of the ride. (Photos: Tina Ricks/BikePortland)
It’s no secret Tualatin Valley Highway, also known as Highway 8 or TV Hwy, is dangerous. Numerous news outlets have named it in the top ten most dangerous roads in Oregon across a span of many years. So on Saturday, June 15, Ride Westside, set out to explore alternative routes to get from Beaverton to Hillsboro and back by bike — without risking life and limb on TV Hwy.
Our route.
Tualatin Hills Nature ParkCrossing SW 170th at edge of the park.
Ride leader Tim Wayman (second from left above) promoted this ride as part of Bike Summer and labeled it suitable only for riders 21 and over due to a few difficult crossings. That meant Ride Westside’s usual brigade of bakfiets, bucket bikes, and baby seats was notably absent.
Wayman’s inspiration for the ride was to share his two preferred east-west routes on either side of TV Hwy. “These are the two routes I take from my house in Hillsboro to Beaverton. They’re better than the bike lanes on TV Highway, but that’s a very low bar.”
We met at the Tualatin Hills Nature Park, and set off in between rain showers.
The path through the park was beautiful, but also narrow and shared with a lot of people walking. It was a Saturday, and there was a volunteer work party happening in the park. It meant riding slowly, carefully, and single-file.
The first hairy crossing was at SW 170th at the edge of the nature park. Tim specifically asked us not to cork for this crossing, as the traffic coming over the hill on SW 170th was going fast and couldn’t see us until it was too late to stop. We crossed in two groups, waiting and listening carefully.
Crossing SE Cornelius Pass on Johnson St.SE River Rd, where I was too afraid to photograph.
After crossing 170th, we biked through some low-traffic neighborhood streets, crossed the pedestrian bridge on SW Augusta Lane that joins neighborhoods over the Beaverton Creek gully, and found our way to Johnson Street. Johnson is a through street that parallels TV Hwy most of the way to Hillsboro (we took it as far as Hillsboro’s SE 72nd Avenue). It tends to be narrow in places, with bike lanes that appear and disappear, and we were close-passed several times by drivers that seemed impatient with people on bikes.
“If I could, I’d like to turn Johnson Street into something like a neighborhood greenway, with car blockers [diverters] that prevent it from being a through street. Right now, drivers use it as an alternative to TV Hwy too,” Tim said.
Not long past Johnson, our intrepid ride leader had a mechanical failure. The bolt on Tim’s seat on sheared off entirely, sending him (and his seat) flying. There were no injuries, but Tim headed home standing on his pedals, and John Haide from Hillsboro stepped in as our leader for the rest of the ride.
SE Discovery St.SE Alexander
When Johnson Street ended, we picked up SE Drake Road, and then skirted around marshy park lands where Rock Creek, Turner Creek, and Reedville Creek join. We eventually crossed TV Highway on SE Cypress Street (by the Hillsboro Home Depot and Lowe’s), tootled through big box parking lots, and came out on SE River Road.
SE River Rd has three general travel lanes — one lane each direction plus a center turn lane — with sidewalks, but no bike lanes. Our group had dwindled to four from our original eight, and we mostly rode the sidewalk. This part of the ride was uncomfortable, and I was more worried about traffic than taking pictures, so I pulled a few shots from Google Street View.
We left River Rd into neighborhoods again at SE Discovery St, and I was less worried about wrecking my bike and traffic enough to take more pictures. This portion was fairly typical low-traffic suburban streets — quite a relief after SE River Rd.
On SE Alexander St, which is handy for biking as it goes behind many TV Hwy businesses, there are painted bike lanes (a welcome change from River Rd) and many cross-streets to access TV Hwy from the back.
Cycle tracks on SE Blanton.Cycle tracks on SE Blanton.Emergency ride leader John Haide.Crossing SW 209th.
Then I had my absolute shock of the day: At SE 67th Ave, SE Alexander turns into SE Blanton and the Reed’s Crossing neighborhood. And there are cycle tracks. Between SE 67th and SW 209th (and it’s not that far, because the streets renumber between Beaverton and Hillsboro), there are lovely, beautiful, separated cycle tracks. Separated from cars. Separated from the sidewalk. An actual designated place for bikes to be. On both sides of the street.
I wanted to kiss the ground, but that would have been weird. Instead, I just rode, with a big grin.
When we crossed Cornelius Pass Road, ride leader John Haide explained how the cycle tracks work at the crossing a major road. Turning bike traffic has a difficult time getting off the cycle tracks and into a left turn to access TV Hwy businesses.
Sadly, all good infrastructure must come to an end (or must it?!). At SW 209th Ave, we crossed out of the new development and the blessed cycle tracks, and back into an area of older houses likely built in the 70s or 80s, with no bike lanes or sidewalks at all.
Blanton after we crossed SW 209th.Westside TrailCross SE Century BlvdCrossing Brookwood from SE AlexanderCrossing 185th.
Blanton Street on the other side of 209th is narrow and has a lot of cars. Sadly for us, cars are using it as an alternative to TV Hwy just like we were.
After a hairy no-signal and unaligned crossing of SW 185th, we stayed on Blanton until 160th, where we crossed TV Hwy again, and caught the Westside Trail at 160th and TV Hwy. Whew. Off the roads again.
After the ride, I talked with two riders, Michael Hashizume (third from left in green hi-viz jacket in group photo) and Mick Orlosky (second from right in yellow hat), at our impromptu lunch at the BG Food Cartel in Beaverton, and later by phone with ride leader Tim Wayman (who fixed his bike at home).
Hashizume, who lives and bikes in Beaverton, said this ride felt different from typical Ride Westside outings. “It felt like there was a different attitude with drivers. We got close-passed and honked at. The cycle tracks were great but then they just ended.” Would he ride this route on his own to go to Hillsboro? “No,” he replied. “Hillsboro is pretty much drive-only for me. Biking is pretty hairy.”
Tim Wayman at Bike Happy Hour last night. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Orlosky, who also lives and bikes in Beaverton and didn’t start riding until he turned fifty, found the ride pleasant with more utility than scenery. “There were busy roads, but not anything I’m not used to,” he said. When asked about infrastructure, Orlosky added, “I want the infrastructure to improve. I think people can do a lot more than they think they’re capable of. That doesn’t mean we don’t need more infrastructure.”
“I’m practically a senior citizen at this point.,” Orlosky added. “I try to avoid my car as much as possible and do everything I can by bike. I’m not a particularly strong rider, but I coexist with cars.”
If Wayman, our ride leader, could wave a magic infrastructure wand, he said he’d make everything look like the Blanton St. cycle tracks. He laments that his preferred alternatives from TV Hwy still aren’t that great. “This is probably not the place to cut your teeth learning how to be a commuter cyclist,” he acknowledges.
I’m a former suburban soccer mom who only started riding frequently in 2019. My kids are grown, but I still tend to see the world through the lens of kids and parenting. Would I have sent my hypothetical twelve-year-old out to sports practice on those roads? Maybe, in places. Definitely on the cycle tracks. Definitely not on parts of Blanton, Johnson, or River Road where there are no bike lanes and lots of traffic.
Would I use these roads as an alternative to driving if I had to go to Hillsboro? For me, probably not. I’d take my bike on the MAX instead.
What about you? What would it take for you to ride more in Washington County?
River City’s second location on SE Belmont is now e-bikes only. (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Note: This story is part of a paid advertising partnership between River City Bicycles and BikePortland.
Next year, River City Bicycles will mark its 30th anniversary. It’s an impressive achievement in a challenging industry that has seen many large independent shops shut down. But River City is going strong. And in recent years they’ve made a significant bet on electric bikes.
You might recall in 2011 when River City opened an outlet store on SE Belmont just two blocks from their original location. For the past seven years, the store had steadily evolved its offerings to be mostly e-bikes. As customer interest grew, it became clear the store’s future should be all electric. This year River City decided to make it official and the sign outside now says “River City E-Bikes”. It’s a major, notable change for Portland’s most iconic bike shop.
River City started selling e-bikes at their flagship store in 2017, but the big spike in demand didn’t happen until a few years later. “Over the last four or five years, we’ve seen demand for e-bikes absolutely skyrocket,” said River City E-Bikes Store Manager Hayes Kenny during my visit Tuesday.
Store employee Jacob Rathe (black shirt) helps a customer.Store manager Hayes Kenny answers customer questions.
The 4,000 square foot store on the corner of Belmont and 6th is one of the largest e-bike only shops in the region and offers everything from cargo-haulers to svelte road bikes. And while there are plenty of bikes to choose from, they’ve carved out enough room for an indoor test track, a dedicated e-bike service area, and a fitting station to make sure you’re comfy before you ride a new bike home.
The store attracts a variety of customers — some of whom are older and have set aside their old “analog” bikes (Kenny’s term for non-electric bikes) and others who want to carry more stuff, or keep up with a faster partner.
Kenny, who grew up in Eugene and has worked in shops since his first “volunteer bike shop rat” job right out of high school, has done just about every cycling discipline. His current favorite is e-mountain biking. Kenny and all the other shop staff ride and test all the bikes on the showroom floor, and the service staff have years of e-bike-specific training under their belts. He says that’s one reason the shop is successful. When it comes to what bikes to sell, “We’ve developed a really good sense for what’s important and what’s not important,” he said.
And with River City’s long track record in the industry, they’ve tapped existing relationships with top brands like Santa Cruz, Specialized, Cervelo, Scott, Cannondale, and BMC to fill out their selection. It’s a sign of the times that all those brands established themselves before e-bikes hit the market, but today they offer top-end battery-equipped bikes befitting of their premium brands.
Service areaService mechanic Joe Benton works on a Specialized Haul cargo bike.Sales team member Seth Sypko preps a customer before a test ride.Store manager Hayes KennyThey’re all e-bikes!
Santa Cruz’s “Skitch” is one such bike. As Kenny effortlessly rolled it off the rack, I had to look closely to even notice the battery and motor. At just 30 pounds, it’s an example of a growing segment of the e-bike market; lightweight bikes that give you more power without the pounds. With a carbon fiber frame, wide tires, flat bar, and massive gear range, this thing would be a perfect Forest Park gravel road shredder.
“It’s a high performance, do-it-all bike — that just happens to have a motor,” is how Kenny described it.
The Skitch’s battery is light enough so that you have to work hard to reach its top speed of 28 mph. “It’s a bit like a tailwind, rather than a fully mechanical assist experience,” Kenny said. At just 30 pounds, you could even switch the motor off (or ride in “Eco” mode) to increase your range or heart rate and it’s still fun to ride.
At 77 pounds, the Specialized Globe Haul cargo bike won’t win any weight weenie competitions; but it can carry about 14 Skitch’s worth of weight. It’s under $3,000, a bargain when you replace your car with it, and it’s got tons of accessorizing options to optimize it for kids, cargo, or both. My favorite thing about the design is the telescoping seatpost and easily adjustable bars so it can fit riders from about five feet to well over six feet tall.
The expansive floor plan allows customers to test ride bikes indoors.
For folks who want an additional layer of security and comfort, the Haul can be equipped with a throttle so you can cruise along at 20 mph without pedaling. “That’s really useful if you have the bike loaded down with cargo and you need to get going from a stoplight,” Kenny said. “Or if you’re in a hilly neighborhood or need to get across town quickly.”
The gamut of bikes mirrors the clientele at River City E-Bikes. It was a buzz of activity when I was in there, and the customers seemed to have lots of questions. Beyond answering them, Kenny says he and his crew encourage folks to try before you buy.
“If you haven’t tried an e-bike yet, especially a modern pedal-assist bike, it might not be exactly the experience you’re expecting it to be,” he said.
While customers are often surprised after a test ride, Kenny said there’s one part of the experience they can count on. “Almost everyone’s coming back from a test ride with a smile on their face when they first get a sense of that motor assistance and how fun it can be. And for some of our customers, it’s unlocking that experience for them for the first time since they were a kid.”
— River City E-Bikes
Note: This story is part of a paid advertising partnership between River City Bicycles and BikePortland.
The bike bus en route to Glencoe Elementary School. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
The Portland Bureau of Transportation wants to help the local bike bus movement maintain its momentum. The city will use a $50,000 grant from Metro to launch a pilot program to improve bike bus wayfinding and signage on the route and at stops for several schools. Bike buses are group rides to school that meet at one location and then pick students up along the way.
The grant is one of dozens of awards handed out by Metro as part of their Regional Travel Options program. This year’s allocation totaled nearly $9 million with projects funded throughout the region (stay tuned for stories on other interesting projects).
If you’ve been paying attention, this partnership should not come as a surprise. Back in June we reported that not only has PBOT Director Millicent Williams and City Traffic Engineer Wendy Cawley shown up to ride local bike buses, but the city itself is organizing them for its employees. We also talked about the need for route signage with leaders of the Abernethy Bike Bus last month.
According to a project description shared with Metro, PBOT Safe Routes to School program staff will partner with Bike Bus PDX to, “create a wayfinding strategy, criteria, and signage for bike and walk bus routes and stops.” Bike Bus PDX is a coalition of parents and advocates who organize biking and walking school buses at schools citywide. Their website lists 18 active buses.
While advocates have pushed for infrastructure changes to make bike bus routes safer — like more diverters to keep drivers off neighborhood streets — PBOT considers that a more long-term, higher-cost project. In the short-term, they can make the routes more visible so more people can participate.
Here’s more from a scope of work document PBOT shared with BikePortland:
More families and students will bike and walk to school if they feel safe, know which routes to take, and are able to join an organized group. PBOT SRTS staff often hears from established bike and walk bus participants that they continue to join because it is fun, and if something is fun, more people — especially kids — will do it.
The grant funds will be used to establish a working group of local bike bus leaders and PBOT staff. Design and pilot wayfinding prototypes for 3-5 schools (with a priority on Title 1 schools), and install new signage on routes and bike bus stops.
This is an exciting step for bike buses that could formalize and harden the concept, bringing it to more families and building even more momentum by the time schools are back in session in the fall. And don’t get hung up on the paltry $50,000 amount of this grant. The way these things work is that once a grant has been awarded, it can often pave the way for other funds and larger projects down the road.
I can’t wait to see what comes from this! PBOT expects to have the signage and wayfinding prototypes by spring 2025 and signage installed by June 2025. Stay tuned.
I’ve met a lot of interesting people in this community over the past two decades. But I’m always working hard to cover an event or a news story, and I don’t take the time to talk with folks one-on-one, on camera, as much I’d like. As I see more people pass on and pass through our community, I want to capture more stories and personalities from those early years. On that note, I’d like you to meet an old acquaintance of mine, Dumpsta D.
I bumped into him at Sunday Parkways and it was the first time we’d talked for about 15 years or so. Dumpsta is a self-described “technophobe” who doesn’t have a smartphone and isn’t online (“I got no use for any of that shit”), and he doesn’t come out to bike events as much these days. So when I saw him standing there, selling his Street Roots papers, I walked up and said, “hi.” Thankfully he remembered me, and let me film a short interview.
Dumpsta at his bike swap meet in May 2006. meet in At Multnomah County Bike Fair in Colonel Summers Park with friend Ayleen Crotty in June 2008.At Breakfast on the Bridge in March 2006.(Photos: Jonathan Maus)/BikePortland
I met Dumpsta in 2004 or so when I first started showing up at Critical Mass rides and other bike events. The first time I mentioned him on BikePortland was 2006 when he rolled up to Breakfast on the Bridges on the Hawthorne Bridge with a patch on his messenger bag that caught my eyes. It said, “Bikers attack cars in this area.” In May of that same year I attended Dumpsta’s bike swap meet in southeast.
The thing I always remembered about Dumpsta were his immaculate vintage bikes. He had all sorts of them, and would build them up himself from parts he found in shop bins, dumpsters (hence his nickname), free piles, garage sales, and so on. He had a late 1980s Colnago road bike that was one of the coolest bikes I’d ever seen (and I spent a long time searching my archives for it, to no avail!) and a strange but cool astroturf bike that always turned heads.
Dumpsta D went on the the KBOO Bike Show in May 2006 and hosts Ayleen Crotty and Sara Stout said he had an, “uncanny knack for finding screaming deals on bike gear.” He’s also a poet and writer whose work has appeared in Street Roots.
It was so fun to see and talk to Dumpsta D. It was almost comforting to me that, after all these years, he’s still finding old bike parts and building up vintage bikes. As you can see in the video, he hasn’t lost his charm, way with words, love of hard rock, or his passion for bikes.
Dumpsta D at Sunday Parkways, June 16, 2024.Dumpsta D with Dave and Ocho at Sunday Parkways, June 16, 2024.
A few of the first-timers at last weeks happy hour (except you Pamela). (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Bike Happy Hour Every Wednesday, 3-6 pm Gorges Beer Co. (2705 SE Ankeny)
I hope you have time to join us on the patio for Bike Happy Hour tomorrow. Bring sunscreen or coverings because it’ll be a sun-filled evening with temps in the mid-80s. Last week we had so much fun. I met tons of new folks (hi Bill, Chris, Brenna, Paige, Sophie, Mack, Benjamin, Nick, and Nikola!) and had a really nice time.
This week we have two special guests with at least two things in common: Keith Wilson and Marshall Runkel. Both of them want to be the mayor of Portland and they both want to meet you. As per tradition, we’ll welcome them to the mic around 5:00 pm.
Keith Wilson at Bike Happy Hour, February 15th, 2024.Marshall Runkel in the Shed, June 14th, 2024.
Wilson owns a freight trucking company and is active on other issues as well — especially homelessness. He joined us at happy hour back in February and shared memorable words about his personal and professional background. He also answered questions from the crowd. I made a podcast about it if you weren’t there.
We’ll be on the patio at Gorges Beer Co from 3:00 to 6:00 pm tomorrow (Wednesday, 6/19). Quiet time starts at 3:00 (when it’s more chill and I have more time and energy for conversations), the free fries come out at 4:00 (you can help sponsor them here), and open mic is at 5:00. Remember, you don’t need an invitation to speak! This is a community space open to everyone. If you have something to announce, promote, or get off your chest, come on out. We’d love to hear from you.
(Video and photo gallery (below): Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
I hope everyone had a wonderful time at Sunday Parkways. I was out there Sunday and enjoyed every minute of it. The people, the serene streets, the parks full of vendors and vibrancy — Sunday Parkways showcases Portland at its best. And it’s the Portland I want to make more common than just 15 hours a year!
This was the second of three open streets events organized by the Portland Bureau of Transportation this year. The next one is September 22nd and will be focused on southwest Portland. You can learn more about the events on PBOT’s website.
In my video (watch it above) you’ll see folks dancing to DJ Prashant’s Bollywood beats, hear a short poem from writer and Street Roots vendor “Dumpsta D,” get to pet sweet little pup “Ocho,” meet William Francis from Community Cycling Center, sit down with a volunteer from Extinction Rebellion (whose name I didn’t get for some reason), and a few other scenes and surprises. You can watch it above or via our YouTube channel (which you should totally subscribe to!).
Have you seen it yet? The Engineering Bingo Card video by Buff Brown that’s been making the transportation advocacy rounds this past few days? Brown is a transportation planner, engineer, bicycle advocate — and now a rapper. He’s not bad either, really! His bingo card rap is a wicked package of the most common excuses every safety advocate hears about why their [crosswalk, speed bump, sidewalk, bike lane, signal] can’t be approved. Enjoy!
OK, that’s the video, now to blow off a little steam. Many Portland transportation advocates have a folder of rejections they’ve received over the years from PBOT engineers, planners, and staff. Call them our rejection collections. We pass them around, talk about them way past their shelf life and generally obsess about them.
Here’s my tale of the rejection I can’t let go, one weird enough it doesn’t make Buff’s bingo card.
Transportation engineer and advocate Buff Brown presented his Engineering Bingo at the 2024 California Bike Summit.
A few years back, me and my buddy noticed that the flashing school-zone light across from Ainsworth Elementary School, in Portland Heights, was poorly located. Weren’t these warning lights supposed to precede the school? So we went to work — documented the problem; found a more appropriate pole uphill on SW Vista; wrote a 3-page PDF describing the situation and solution; sent it off to PBOT … and waited, and waited, and waited.
Finally after three months, I got hold of the traffic investigator assigned to us and got my rejection. The reason? The pole where we wanted to relocate the flashing light was uphill from the school, at an elevation above the grade of the school-yard, which disqualified it as a location. (Streets on hills are like that.)
Ba-da-boom.
Yeah, it’s a head-scratcher. I ruminate on it in my idle moments. All I’ve been able to come up with is a situation where a school was bounded by a road at a different elevation from the local roads, such that the elevated road didn’t intersect locally. But that’s not the case with Ainsworth or its annex. You get to both by Vista. Anyone with a lick of sense could see that one of its two flashing lights needed to be placed on the approach from the south.
It all worked out in the end. After a years-long hiatus due to exasperation, I was coaxed into picking up the project again. The Safe Routes to School people came in and did a lot of traffic calming, they were wonderful. A new vice-principal with a fire-in-her-belly about safety became an ally. And now, young children can walk to school a little more safely because the flashing beacon alerting drivers to their presence is appropriately placed at the approach to the school, not directly across the street from it.
But it took five years, a few experienced advocates, two rejections by engineer-types, and a motivated vice-principal to make it happen. At least that’s how I remember it.
Marshall Runkel in the BikePortland Shed, June 14th. (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Marshall Runkel wants back into Portland city hall, a place he first worked in 1995.
Runkel swung by the Shed on Friday for his first in-depth interview since he announced his bid for mayor last week. Listen to the full interview in the player above or wherever you get your podcasts. Or keep reading for excerpts and more about Marshall.
I first met Runkel when he was chief of staff for former Commissioner Chloe Eudaly. He was engaged on cycling and transportation issues during the two years his boss was commissioner-in-charge of the Portland Bureau of Transportation. Runkel left city hall at the end of 2020 when Eudaly lost to Mingus Mapps.
That was a pivotal year for many of us as the pandemic and protests became a big part of Portlanders’ lives. In our interview, Runkel shared that he needed to take a break. “I took a couple of months and just tried to collect myself and had no appetite for politics,” he shared.
Runkel focused on his family and went to work in the clean energy field, doing home renovations and HVAC work. Since leaving city hall he’s also worked as VP of local government affairs for political consulting company Strategies 360.
Runkel and I talked about a wide range of issues, from how he’ll separate himself from Commissioner Eudaly, to his role in mediating the relationship between bike activists and police during the standoff over Portland Critical Mass in the early 2000s. I asked Runkel what specific experiences he has that qualify him to be mayor, what he thinks of Portland voter sentiment at the moment, what type of basketball player PBOT bike coordinator Roger Geller is (the two played on the same rec league team), if he thinks Portland is doing enough for bicycling, and a lot more.
Below are just a few of our exchanges, followed by a video with selected clip from the interview:
Why jump into this race?
I thought about it for a really long time… In my heart, in my head, I know I can do that job. I know I can help the city. I’ve got the experience and the know-how. And it felt like I owe the city. The city has been incredibly kind to me… when I ended up here, it really did feel like home. And I thought I had to at least try. I couldn’t turn down an opportunity to give something back to the city.
What makes you think you can do the job?
I have a lot of specific experience. I’ve spent years and years on housing and homelessness issues. Dignity Village was my project way back when… and I did the organizing that led to the creation of the Housing Investment Fund. I’ve got specific experience in our biggest problems — and homelessness and housing are obviously that. And in our biggest opportunity, which is clean energy. It’s a huge competitive advantage that we have a local source of revenue for doing that work. We’re not going to solve the global problem here in Portland, but I think we can help show the world the creative, interesting, positive solutions.
A lot of people will see you as the ‘Eudaly guy’. How will you handle that on the campaign trail?
I helped Chloe get elected because we had whole buildings full of people who were getting evicted. Like double digit number percentages of kids in schools, families, were affected by eviction. We needed to stick the finger in the dike. That was my motivation, it was literally tearing our community apart and we needed to do something, and Chloe was proposing to do something. And that’s why [I worked with her].
If people don’t like me because I worked with Chloe, I can’t do anything about that, but I think if people listen to me and pay attention a little bit, it’ll be pretty clear that I’m not Chloe Eudaly. We’re different people and have different ideas and different approaches.
What has been your relationship to transportation throughout your life?
Growing up on the east [coast], I didn’t get a driver’s license until my mid-twenties. I didn’t really need to drive. The biggest adjustment about coming to the west coast was how much everybody drove. I took the bus to work for a decade or so. I love riding the bus… there’s a little community, you get to know that people ride the bus all the time. There’s a certain freedom about it, too, because I didn’t have to worry about parking, or, I could have a beer or two after work and not have to worry about driving.
And I credit bike activists in Portland for getting me on my bike. I rode with them [Critical Mass] a bunch of times [as a staffer for Commissioner Erik Sten]. It was fun. I got to know a bunch of people and that’s what kind of [taught me about] how the engineering choices affected safety and I saw the city through a new set of eyes.
Do you think Portland is doing enough, too much, or not enough to encourage more Portlanders to ride bikes?
Not enough. I think there’s a lot to do. It’s one of the things that I’m most excited about. My idea from the [PSU Traffic and] Transportation class [which he completed with Commissioner Eudaly in 2018] was about what I call ‘active transportation stations’. We’ve taken the bike share and scooters and kind of jumbled them up in a bag and threw them around the city. There’s no organized approach. I think that they could be very significant last-mile parts of our transportation system.
I would give us an F-minus on station areas. Like, unless you really love concrete… There’s very little commerce that occurs. There’s public safety issues. And the answer seems to be ‘We’ll have more security.’ Well when I see a security guard, it doesn’t necessarily communicate safety to me. I could transform these stations into real, little community hubs. It’s not just about transportation, it’s about activating those spaces into places where you would actually want to go.
On his leadership style:
I don’t think I’m special in any way. I think my values match the most people in Portland’s values, and because I have experience in politics, I know how to turn those values into things that we can do. And, more importantly, maybe help other people who have great ideas make their ideas happen.
I don’t care about getting credit, I prefer other people get credit. That’s not my thing. It’s not about the greater glory of Marshall Runkel. That’s not what I’m trying to do here. I’m trying to do something meaningful and good for our city. And that’s all I want to do. I don’t want some higher office. I don’t want to be governor or senator or be in congress. This is the job I want.
I’m 59 years old. I think this is going to be one of the last big things I do in my life and I’ve got a lot of energy and and ideas and I enjoy working with people. It’s fun for me to think about these projects and work with people. That’s, that’s why I’m running. Because I just couldn’t sit by with these thoughts and feelings and not at least try.
You can meet Marshall at Bike Happy Hour this week. He’ll join us on the Gorges Beer Co patio on SE Ankeny and 27th from 3:00 to 6:00 pm. Come around 5:00 to hear him speak.
— Listen to the full episode in the player above or wherever you get your podcasts.
UPDATE: as of 6/18 at 12:45 pm, the path is now open!
The path on the lower deck of the Steel Bridge has been closed for a week now. It’s a crucial connection between the central city and many neighborhoods and destinations in north and northeast Portland.
According to reports from readers, the path has been closed since at least last Monday — not to mention intermittent closures and other obstructions in the area due to Fleet Week and Rose Festival activities (which began June 5th).
A spokesperson from the Portland Bureau of Transportation told BikePortland the reason for the closure is a technical malfunction. Here’s the full statement PBOT Communications Director Hannah Schafer:
“The cameras on the bridge were not functioning properly earlier this week due to a communications issue. When the cameras are disabled the Bridge Tender does not have the visual confirmation they need to confidently open/close the walkway, so they leave it closed for safety. A contractor has been called by the Bureau of Technology Services to fix the cameras and we hope they will be operational again soon so people walking, biking, and rolling can use the walkway. We hope the cameras will repaired and the path reopened ASAP. I don’t have a date for reopening at this time.”
In the interim, people can use the upper deck of the Steel Bridge (though the sidewalk there is more narrow, bikes can take the lane of course) or use an alternate bridge to get to their destination.”
Hopefully this gets sorted out right away, because the upper deck of the Steel Bridge is not a feasible option. The sidewalk is very narrow and not adequate for sharing between bicycle users and walkers. I worry if folks bike up there, it could lead to interactions that go badly. And taking the lane on the road is equally fraught. If PBOT wants people to even consider it, they should install temporary traffic calming and/or signage to make it safer.
Riding eastbound on Steel Bridge sidewalk.25 mph speed limit and hill make this nerve-wracking.Steel Bridge sidewalk.
Hang in there, and please let me know if you notice the gates open back up.
It’s nice to get out of Portland once in a while, and BikePortland’s new Washington County contributor, Tina Ricks, let us do that last week with her post about a policy ride with elected officials from Beaverton and Tigard.
Given the volume and quality of comments her post got, many of you enjoyed trekking along too.
“Free-agent” wrote in with a couple of observations about riding in the area, from someone who is new to it. It’s the kind of comment which sometimes gets crowded out by the fireworks of policy discussions and politics, but its calm, matter-of-fact tone seemed just right as we move into summer.
This article is spot-on with what I have observed and noted from others during conversations, including my high school students. I recently moved to South Beaverton after having lived in inner SE Portland for almost 25 years. I see many people riding trails like the Fanno Creek Trail (we live two blocks away), but far less on actual streets. I see people often park their cars and pull their bikes off to ride them, rather than ride to them. I am hopeful for the future based on what I have observed over the past two years.
One positive I have noticed is that drivers are much more respectful here. I rarely encounter angry drivers.
One critique I have is the serious lack of off-road riding opportunities; it’s far worse than Portland and that’s saying something. The city is really missing out on having off-road opportunities sprinkled throughout the community that riders of all ages can access by paved trails and bike routes. There are plenty of areas around the city for things like skills parks, and other spaces that would make for linear off-road opportunities for riders of all ability levels (adjacent to the Westside Trail comes to mind). There is basically one place to ride off-road, Eichler Park, and it is in major need of an upgrade. I skimmed the most recent Tualatin Parks Trail Plan and it seems like mountain biking had yet to be invented when writing it.
