BikePortland

Guest post: Los Angeles could teach Portland a thing or two about open streets

Los Angeles’ answer to Sunday Parkways: welcoming frequent car users with big streets and open arms.
(Photos: Ted Timmons)

This is a guest post from BikePortland reader Ted Timmons, who visited L.A.’s version of Sunday Parkways this year and was moved to write up some of his observations.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Los Angeles was late to the ciclovia scene, even by American standards. However, they have had several per year since late 2010.

While the stereotype of Los Angeles revolves around its infatuation with the car, it’s arguably the densest urban area in the country. The percentage of trips in Portland by means other than car is about 16 percent; in Los Angeles, it’s 25 percent.

Though it’s a shame that the creators of this image seem to have been unaware of the existence of Couch Street’s bike lane, they do seem to be enthusiastic about serving people who arrive by bike.
(Image: Key Development)

In the latest burst of bike-oriented development on the Burnside Bridgehead, a developer is considering turning the tables on all those drive-through windows that allow cars but not bikes.

Key Development has proposed a 20,000-square-foot, $7 million commercial building on the space immediately west of Couch Street’s southward curve towards the Burnside Bridge. Currently in design review, the project would include a bike-oriented retail plaza, possibly with a bike-through window.

It might also function as a sort of annex that’d create easy bridge-level bike access to residents of the big 21-story tower that’s now in construction right behind it.

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Job Title *
Shipping Specialist

Company/Organization *
Velotech, Inc.

Job Description *
Velotech, Inc. is looking for a detail oriented shipping specialist to join our fast paced and fast growing operation. This person will be expected to pick, pack, and ship customer orders and receive incoming shipments in a timely manner. Additionally
there will be many random tasks that will assist in warehouse operation.

* Must be able to lift 50lbs
* Must be comfortable with ladders
* Basic knowledge of cycling components preferred
* Enthusiasm for cycling
* Full-time
* Great benefits and vacation package

Velotech, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to sex, race, color, age, national origin, religion, disability, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, citizenship, pregnancy or veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable law.

How to Apply *
Send your cover letter and resume to Jobs@velotech.com

Man riding motorcycle dies after collision with delivery truck at Williams and Monroe (updated)

A man died early Tuesday, Portland police said, two days after a collision between a motorcycle he was riding and a Red Cross blood delivery truck turning left off of North Williams Avenue at Monroe Street.

It happened at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday on the corner just outside Urban Nest Realty, one block south of the Waypost and immediately west of Legacy Emanuel Medical Center. According to a police statement on Tuesday, the man in the motorcycle had been trying to overtake the truck on the left, presumably by entering the bike lane, when the truck made a legal left turn.

This is to my knowledge the first traffic fatality on Williams since its late 2014 redesign that created a wide left-side bike lane and various crosswalk improvements, and restricted auto traffic on many blocks to a single lane.

Michelle Kunec-North is managing
the process for the city.
(Photo courtesy Kunec-North)

A year after hundreds of people attended a rally in support of in-town mountain biking trails, the City of Portland is starting its project to decide where such trails should go.

“It’s a way for people to get outside, to get in nature, to be active, to spend time with their families,” said Michelle Kunec-North, the city planning bureau staffer (and longtime recreational mountain biker) managing the process. “It’s the city’s goal to have active transportation, and it’s kind of an entry point, for kids in particular but for adults in some cases, to learning how to ride a bike.”

In an interview last week, Kunec-North added that off-road cycling options in Portland would also help build a generation of stewards of the city’s natural areas and boost the local tourism and bike economies.

What do we really want?
(Photo J.Maus/BikePortland

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

Traffic overloads: Here’s the problem with thinking of congested city streets as a backlogged garden hose that needs widening: “cities aren’t the hoses, they’re the gardens.”

Footballer cyclist: Former Pro Bowl tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. wants to be the first NFL player to become a professional biker.

An estimated 40,000 people crossed Tilikum Crossing Sunday on foot, bike, skateboard, scooter or wheelchair.
(Photos: M.Andersen/BikePortland)

With walkers and in strollers, on hopalongs and (in the case of quite a few happily panting dogs) on leashes, Portlanders packed a series of previews Sunday of Tilikum Crossing, the first bridge in the United States to carry buses, bikes, trains, streetcars and people walking but no private cars.

Jim Parsons in a 2011 photo.
(Photo: J.Maus/BikePortland)

For at least one last time, the squeaky wheel known as Jim Parsons has gotten some grease onto the gears of government.

After the veteran Portland-area bike advocate’s unsanctioned paint job of two sunken grates in Barbur Boulevard’s bike lanes landed them on TV news for two consecutive days, the Oregon Department of Transportation said Friday that it’ll follow his recommendations for addressing the problem within the next week or two.

An agency spokesman added that ODOT owes thanks to Parsons, who recently finished a degree at Portland State University and is planning a move to China.

Not currently a spot for
low-stress rolls.
(Photo: J.Maus/BikePortland)

Southeast Foster Road feels a long way from the heart of Portland’s transportation conversation at the moment. But that’s not going to last long.

Next year, right in the middle of Portland’s mayoral election, Foster is scheduled to be the site of the city’s most ambitious road diet yet, a conversion of passing lanes to bike and turn lanes that’s widely expected to create auto spillover onto other streets even as it dramatically improves the safety of driving or crossing Foster, which is currently one of the city’s 10 high-crash corridors.

The new bike lanes will be nothing more than paint, but six-foot-wide or buffered. And in a comment beneath Tuesday’s story exploring how to divvy up Portland’s bike-infrastructure budgets, BikePortland reader Gutterbunnybikes made an interesting case that those bike lanes will be more important than you think.

Why? Because unlike almost every other bike lane in Portland, they’re going to run right through commercial districts.

Come on down.
(Photo J.Maus/BikePortland)

The annual Hood to Coast running relay is understandably celebrated as a signature Northwest event. But if you’ve ever participated, you know that it involves a lot of motor vehicles.

What a hassle!

Two weeks from today, a squad of Portlanders is inviting a few people to join a trial run of an interesting experiment: a Hood-to-Coast style running relay that relies on bikes, not vans, for support. Here’s the description of the “Peak to Rising Tide” relay from organizer Jamey Harris:

This menu of delicious rides and events is brought to you by our friends at Hopworks Urban Brewery. Their support makes BikePortland possible.

Highs around 80, lows in the 60s and partly cloudy — now that’s what I call Portland summer. Which makes it extra perfect for an event like Bridge Pedal. Whatever we’re up to, let’s enjoy it.

Friday, Aug. 7

Portland Bicycle Studio Mountain Bike Demo – noon-5 p.m. at Skibowl on Mount Hood
Test ride new Giant-brand mountain bikes on the mountain Friday and Saturday. Includes trail access and a $20 all-day lift ticket. (Also see below.) Shuttle available. More info here.

Grill by Bike – 5 p.m. at Laurelhurst Park (3700 SE Ankeny St)
The fire-fueled bike-fun club meets for a ride to a live taping of the Sprocket Podcast’s 250th episode. Meet with grillables at the north-central corner of the park and get ready to ride on fire. More info here.

We’ve had one new job listed this week. Learn more about it here…

Bike Warehouse Person – Midwest Bicycle Supply

Guest post: Los Angeles could teach Portland a thing or two about open streets

Burnside Bridgehead project includes possible bike-through retail window

Job: Shipping Specialist – Velotech, Inc.

Man riding motorcycle dies after collision with delivery truck at Williams and Monroe (updated)

Hope for mountain bikers? Off-Road Cycling Master Plan starts rolling

The Monday Roundup: Rethinking congestion, from the NFL to pro cycling & more

By the tens of thousands, Portlanders preview their new car-free bridge (photos)

After media reports, state says it will smooth sunken grates on Barbur

Comment of the Week: SE Foster, the heart of Portland’s coming bike grid

DIY relay event this month will echo Hood to Coast – with bikes instead of vans

Weekend Event Guide: Sprocket Podcast live, Tilikum Bridge Pedal & more

Friday, Aug. 7

Job of the Week: Midwest Bicycle Supply

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