BikePortland

Southbound sidewalk of Interstate Bridge will close late Thursday, early Friday

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

If all goes well, night owls should be the
only ones affected.
(Photo: J.Maus/BikePortland)

If you’re crossing the Columbia River during the wee hours tonight by bike or foot, you’ll need to take the eastern (northbound) sidewalk.

A Wednesday morning truck collision on the Interstate 5 bridge between Vancouver and Portland damaged electrical equipment and the southbound lift span sidewalk gate, according to Vancouver transportation planner Patrick Sweeney, relaying information from the Oregon Department of Transportation. Repairs will close the western (southbound) sidewalk from 11 p.m. Thursday to 5 a.m. Friday.

The bridge’s sidewalks double as bike routes. Detours from one to the other are time-consuming because of the way the ramps are built.

Promo pic and logo for Trans-Cascadia Enduro Stage Race coming to Oakridge this fall.

One significant yet often overlooked component of Oregon’s bicycle industry are the hundreds of annual rides, races and events that take place throughout the state.

It’s prom night just like you remember it (except on the street, on bikes, with a few hundred new friends).
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

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

Another weekend of Pedalpalooza and warm sunny skies is upon us. We hope you’ve been enjoying all the fun, educational, and adventurous rides Portland summers have to offer.

I have been feeling very lucky lately. Lucky to live in such a peaceful and comfortable city where so many of us have the time and fortune to enjoy the simple pleasure of a weekend bike ride. Where around every corner parks, porches, paths and pubs buzz with people enjoying each other’s company.

Embrace it! And don’t forget how fortunate we are to have such amazing weekends..

Friday, June 19th

Screenshot from OregonBikepacking.com.

Despite all the buzz floating around the web right now, the Oregon Outback is not dead.

Have you noticed the bright, white LED streetlights popping up around the city?
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePorltand)

— Publisher’s note: Welcome to a first for BikePortland: We are working in an official capacity with the City of Portland Bureau of Transportation and DKS Associates (a transportation planning firm) to help gather feedback on their LED streetlight conversion and guidelines update project. That means city and DKS staff will monitor the comments left on this post, on Twitter, and on Facebook to learn as much as they can about your perspective on streetlights. Thanks for helping us make biking better! — Jonathan

What to say?
(Photo: Raymond Clarke Images)

Welcome to the latest installment of our Ask BikePortland column. Read past articles here.

BikePortland reader Kim sent us a query that will be familiar to many people on the road, no matter their vehicle.

Today on my commute I observed a driver veering into the bike lane ahead of me. As I cautiously overtook the driver, I noticed her head skewed with a downward gaze and a cellphone in her right hand, actively texting. I felt anger at this dangerous behavior and yelled (loud enough to penetrate the rolled up windows) “Don’t do that!” and motioned to put the phone down. The driver was startled and didn’t know that someone was observing her.

Mayor Hales just asked his 8,000 employees to sign it.

The Vision Zero ball is officially rolling in Portland.

N Williams and Beech, 3:30 pm today.

Vision Zero’s big day.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

A few hours ago Portland City Council unanimously passed a resolution that reads, “No loss of life is acceptable on our city streets,” a phrase that’s part of the city’s larger goal of Vision Zero.

Bureau of Transportation Commissioner Steve Novick introduced the resolution by calling out naysayers: “I think there are people who assume it’s not possible, people might think accidents happen,” he said. “That is not true.”

Mayor Charlie Hales said the city’s official embrace of Vision Zero isn’t just a soundbite. “This is a serious commitment by the city to say ‘This is our goal and we meant it.'” However, despite requests from advocacy groups, the city did not amend the resolution to set a firm target date to achieve Vision Zero and they didn’t dedicate any specific funding to implement the new policy. (One amendment pursued by the Bicycle Transportation Alliance was passed. It requires the city to take specific steps to prevent racial profiling as new enforcement measures are rolled out.)

Not satisfied with an official estimated project completion date of 2032, npGreenway, the group pushing for the North Portland Greenway path, has hired their first paid staffer.

Instead of 2032, npGreenway wants to have the path completed or have funding in the bank by 2020.

The person hired to step up the urgency around this project is Shamus Lynsky. A resident of St. Johns, Lynsky is the former political director of the Oregon Trial Lawyer Association and also served as executive director of the Oregon Consumers League. Far from a newcomer to the politics of bike advocacy, Lynsky served seven years as a member of the Portland Bicycle Advisory Committee and he co-authored the ODOT grant that brought new bike lanes and other safety improvements to N Rosa Parks Way back in 2011.

The city’s new proposal for Rodney at Ivy.
(See below for full plan)

After some neighbors objected to (and some people completely ignored) an experimental traffic diverter running diagonally across the corner of NE Rodney and Ivy, the city is trying a different approach.

Instead, the two-way block of Rodney between Ivy and Fremont would be converted to a one-way street for cars, with a pair of planters and a car parking space blocking northbound auto traffic at the south end of the block.

Bike and foot traffic would be unaffected on the street, thanks to a contraflow bike lane to the right of the parking spaces.

A city map of 85th-percentile auto speeds on neighborhood greenways, which typically have a speed limit of 20 mph and are intended to be safe for people of all ages to bike, run, walk and play.

Speeding is routine on more than half of Portland’s celebrated neighborhood greenway system, according to a yet-to-be-released city study.

Southbound sidewalk of Interstate Bridge will close late Thursday, early Friday

Industry Ticker: New Trans-Cascadia Enduro stage race coming to Oakridge

Weekend Event Guide: Parkways, Pedalpalooza, a prom and more

Friday, June 19th

The Oregon Outback is dead, long live the Oregon Outback!

Help us make PBOT’s streetlight conversion project better for bike riders

Ask BikePortland: Is there a right way to confront someone who’s texting and driving?

All talk? Here are the actions the City of Portland is taking toward Vision Zero

Car lands on its side facing wrong way after crash at North Williams and Beech – UPDATED

Portland City Council passes Vision Zero resolution

NPGreenway hires new coordinator to speed up completion of path project

New plan to control cut-through traffic on NE Rodney uses one-way street for one block

Speeding is common on most neighborhood greenways in Portland, study finds

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