I stopped and captured this the other night on my way home. To me it just encapsulates everything wrong with the new facilities in one potent metaphor. As Paul Souders said, “assume the bike facilities are steering you AWAY from a good path”.
TriMet will hand out free lights and safety gear at ‘Be Seen Be Safe’ event
Showing off a pair of high-viz gloves at a TriMet safety event in 2010.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)
In what has become something of an annual event to encourage walkers and bikers to be more visible, TriMet is hosting a “Be Seen Be Safe” event tomorrow (11/11).
A first for Washington: Green paint for bike lanes on a state highway
Drawing courtesy Washington DOT.
The Washington State Department of Transportation is going green to try and make a large highway intersection a bit safer to ride a bike on.
Safe routes to school coalition takes message to east county tonight
The flyer for the event was written in four languages.
Tonight in eastern Multnomah County an unusual cast of characters will gather to speak out in support of safer routes to school. I say unusual because biking and walking advocacy doesn’t often happen east of I-205.
The event tonight is being organized by the For Every Kid Coalition in partnership with the Community Alliance of Tenants.
This coalition is pressuring regional politicians and policymakers to dedicated more funding toward Safe Routes to School. Specifically, they want $15 million in federal “flexible funds” to go toward the program. The effort is one of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance’s five main advocacy campaigns that emerged after federal set-asides for the Safe Routes program have all but dried up.
How Karl Moritz uses bikes to recover from a traumatic brain injury
Karl Moritz and his custom build.
(Photo: Jessie Kwak)
(Photo: Jessie Kwak)
The last time we checked in on Karl Moritz he was back on the bike and had tackled his first century ride. Our new writer Jessie Kwak sat down with him last week to learn about the latest ways he’s using cycling to recover from his traumatic brain injury. – Jonathan
—
Many BikePortland readers may remember Karl Moritz’s story, after a crash in Ladd Circle in June of 2010 left him in a coma for three weeks.
With Blumenauer in his corner, Novick pressures ODOT for changes on Barbur
Almost half of southbound rush-hour traffic on Barbur turns right here. Converting the right lane to exit-only could boost driver safety on Barbur while making room for continuous bike lanes to the south.
(Image: Google Street View)
(Image: Google Street View)
Consensus seems to be building around a new concept that could finally create continuous bike lanes on state-run Barbur Boulevard.
And now, support for changes to a notoriously dangerous section of Barbur have a new ally: U.S. Congressman Earl Blumenauer.
Industry Ticker: New products from Portland Design Works and North St. Bags
Portland Design Works’ new City Rover and the “Scout” from North St. Bags.
Two of our favorite local companies have just announced new products: Portland Design Works has a new headlight and North St. Bags just went big with a whole new line of duffel bags.
Why Jolene Friedow only got a traffic ticket in the collision that killed Mark Angeles
SE Gladstone and 39th looking eastbound. The collision happened right where the blue car is in this Streetview image.
On Friday afternoon the Portland Police Bureau issued a statement about the crash in May that killed 23-year old Reed graduate Mark Angeles. The woman who was driving the truck at the time of the collision, 40-year old Jolene Friedow, has been given a traffic citation and will not face criminal charges for her actions.
If elected mayor, Ted Wheeler says he’d overhaul transportation bureau
Then Multnomah County Chair Ted Wheeler at a
2008 event calling for new local transportation funding.
(Photos: J.Maus/BikePortland)
2008 event calling for new local transportation funding.
(Photos: J.Maus/BikePortland)
Portland’s current mayoral frontrunner says that if he wins next year, he’ll take over the transportation bureau and rewrite its budget from scratch.
In an interview with Oregonian columnist David Sarasohn, mayoral hopeful Ted Wheeler said the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s current budget is “byzantine” and that its street system is “a patient on the table bleeding to death.”
“As mayor, Wheeler would assign himself the transportation bureau (along with the mayorally expected police bureau), and start redesigning its budget from zero,” Sarasohn reported in a column published Friday afternoon.
Portland’s mayor doesn’t have many actual powers beyond those of the other four commissioners on the city council. The main difference is that it’s up to the mayor to decide which commissioner gets administrative authority over each of the city’s 19 bureaus and offices.
The Monday Roundup: Every U.S. traffic death mapped, London’s frame boom & more
Ten years of traffic fatalities.
(Image: Metrocosm.com)
(Image: Metrocosm.com)
This week’s Monday Roundup is sponsored by Walnut, the Portland-based leather goods maker whose new Travel Dice set is perfect for taking along on your next bike tour.
Here are the bike-related links from around the world that caught our eyes this week:
Death map: A new online map shows 373,377 dots — one for every person who died in a motor vehicle crash in the United States from 2004 to 2013. You can filter for incidents related to alcohol, speeding and distracted driving.
#NoCarForMe: NPR’s hashtag campaign offers an impressive variety of offbeat and/or appealing ways to get around.
Woman driving in collision that killed Mark Angeles receives traffic citation
Mark Angeles
(Photo: Reed College)
(Photo: Reed College)
The woman who was driving the car that killed Mark Angeles back in May has been given a traffic citation.
The Portland Police Bureau announced today that the Multnomah County District Attorney has decided to not pursue criminal charges in the case against Jolene Friedow. With their investigation concluded, Ms.Friedow has been issued a ticket for making a dangerous left turn, a violation that carries a maximum fine of $260.
Here’s more from the official statement:
On November 3, 2015, a Portland Police Bureau Traffic Division Fatal Investigator issued a traffic citation to a driver involved in a fatal crash with a bicycle rider in May 2015.
40-year-old Jolene Friedow was issued a traffic citation for Oregon Revised Statue 811.350 (Dangerous Left Turn) as a result of the investigation into the traffic death of 22-year-old Mark Angeles. The violation carries a fine of up to $260.00.
Annual city survey is latest to show Portlanders biking more, driving less
Kimberlee Chambers: one of many ordinary Portland bike commuters.
(Photo: J.Maus/BikePortland)
(Photo: J.Maus/BikePortland)
More and more Portlanders are choosing to bike.
That’s the great news being confirmed this year by one data point after another. The latest: a city auditor’s survey released Friday, which estimated that fully 9 percent of Portlanders bike to work during the summer — the second consecutive year of increase.