4/25: Hello readers and friends. I'm still recovering from a surgery I had on 4/11, so I'm unable to attend events and do typical coverage. See this post for the latest update. I'll work as I can and I'm improving every day! Thanks for all your support 🙏. - Jonathan Maus, BikePortland Publisher and Editor
Last week’s crowd at our winter location (Ankeny Tap & Table across the street from Gorges Beer Co. patio).
Sometimes all it takes to stoke gratitude for our city is to see it with fresh eyes.
While I was gaining perspective of my own in New York City two weeks ago, a visitor from the California Bay Area was in Portland. Eleni Jacobson is a bike advocate who works with the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition. She came to Portland to visit Breadwinner Cycles and spent a few days riding around town. Jacobson also stopped at Bike Happy Hour and met one of our regulars, who passed along a blog post Jacobson wrote about her time here.
That blog post says so much about Portland and I recommend everyone give it a read. It will remind you why the place we live is so special.
During just a few carfree days in Portland, Jacobson visited a handmade bike builder, did a trip to see waterfalls in the Columbia River Gorge, ate great food, visited beautiful parks, was helped by new bike friends, did fun bike rides (“What a perfect vacation so far” was the title of one of her rides on Strava), used our transit system, and even swung by Bike Happy Hour.
It was that visit to Happy Hour that I loved reading about most.
“San Jose bike friends had recommended Wednesday Bike Happy Hour at Gorges Beer Co. to meet some of the community,” Jacobson wrote. “On arriving, the hostess acquainted me with a table of new friends. I grabbed a fistful of great stickers and learned about some of lovely creative projects these folks are working on…”
Steph Routh
When Jacobson told her new friends she was visiting and needed a bike to use for a few days, two of our regulars (thank you Pamela and Rupert!) stepped up to loan her one. “This is where the magic of this whole trip really kicked into full sparkle,” Jacobson recalled.
Yes! The magic of Bike Happy Hour (BHH) in full splendor. It made me so happy to hear about that — especially since I wasn’t even there. This is what’s possible when we create a welcoming, reliable, and accessible community space.
Speaking of which, we’re getting ready for another fun event this week. Last week we had the worst weather since the event started 32 weeks ago… But it didn’t stop a bunch of you from showing up! The downstairs space at Ankeny Tap & Table worked well, and we even had a group of folks spill out onto the plaza.
This Wednesday will be another “Swap & Share Night.” That means, bring your stickers, t-shirts, zines, patches, pins, or whatever else you’d like to share or swap. We’ll also have the mic open if you have stories to tell or event/campaigns you want to promote. On that note, City Council District 1 (East Portland) Candidate Steph Routh is signed up to speak. If you’d like to learn more about her and/or ask her questions, come on out!
Come and experience the “magical sparkle” of Bike Happy Hour for yourself.
Hope to see you there!
***
Bike Happy Hour – Every Wednesday All Year Long 3:00 to 6:00 pm Gorges Beer Co / Ankeny Tap – SE Ankeny & 27th (On the “Rainbow Road plaza) $2 off drinks (includes non-alcoholic and coffee from Crema) BikeHappyHour.com – “See you Wednesday!”
Here are the best stories we’ve come across in the past seven days — from sources you can trust.
The e-car future: The experience of Norway should be seen as a cautionary tale for what happens when a government leans too far into electric car enthusiasm. (Vox)
Biking in Memphis: Always fun to see profiles of cities where cycling is just about to pop. This time, it’s Memphis, Tennessee’s turn. (Commercial Appeal)
What Earl has meant: I was interviewed for this AP story on Congressman Earl Blumenauer’s retirement after 27 years on Capitol Hill. (AP)
NYC’s best unsanctioned ride: Traffic-free streets are so rare and sought after in New York City that the pre-NYC Marathon ride has become something of a cult classic. (NY Times)
RTOR debate: Good summary of the growing national momentum — and debate — around banning right turns on red. (Associated Press)
Disappearing bike lanes: Since removing bike lanes has become a thing in Portland, it’s time to stay up on how it’s happening in other cities. First example: Los Angeles. (Streetsblog LA)
The walking decline: Cell phone data from major cities across America shows there’s been a 36% decline in people walking since the pandemic hit. (Bloomberg)
Newly striped NE 33rd. By the way, that’s the new fourplex without off-street car parking on the right. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
“Remove on-street parking to install bike lanes between Holman and Dekum.”
– 2017 letter from NE 33rd Avenue residents to PBOT
As the city regroups and dust settles on the Northeast 33rd Avenue bike lane removal saga, I came across an interesting piece of history yesterday.
In September 2017, a group of people who live on the street were so concerned about speeding drivers and other safety issues on the stretch of 33rd between NE Holman and the Columbia/Lombard overpass, they penned a detailed letter to the Portland Bureau of Transportation. Atop their list of requests was to remove the parking lane and replace it with a protected bike lane.
To refresh your memory, PBOT installed a bike lane (unprotected, with a painted buffer stripe) on that exact stretch of 33rd last month; but then tried to remove it after some residents complained and the bureau says they forgot to give any notification of the change. Now the bike lane is in limbo as PBOT scrambles to engage with residents and find a path forward.
2017 letter from “residents of 33rd Avenue and Concordia Neighborhood Association.
In an interview yesterday, PBOT Director of Policy, Planning and Projects Art Pearce said complaints from some residents about access to parking (specifically at a new fourplex without off-street car parking built since the plans were finalized) was one of the major reasons for his decision to remove the bike lane.
But back in 2017 the Concordia Neighborhood Association (CNA) endorsed a letter to PBOT and city council that supported the removal of the parking lane in favor of a bike lane. The letter was signed by “the residents of 33rd Avenue area.”
“We wish to address the frequent disregard for the speed limits between NE Holman and N Lombard that creates risk for those using 33rd,” the letter states. “Many of the residents who have been here for decades and those new the neighborhood have seen auto accidents, hit and runs, cyclists being struck, risky attempts to pull out of parking lots, smashed garbage cans, cars speeding up to get onto Lombard, cars neglecting to slow down from Lombard, cars hitting parked cars, a car hitting a house, and pedestrian near misses.”
The letter went on to say CNA hoped to collaborate with PBOT to develop a safety plan for the street.
The lack of a bike lane was one of the specific problems identified in the letter. “Cycling route is disconnected. No bicycle signage, speed bumps or lanes are present from the Holman Street bike boulevard until Dekum despite the fact that this is the main route cyclists must take in order to connect to the Marine Drive Trail,” the letter stated.
Under a heading labeled, “Options to reduce community safety risk,” CNA requested that PBOT, “Remove on-street parking to install bike lanes and/or cyclist pavement markings between Holman and Dekum.”
One of the people who wrote the letter was former CNA board member and Land Use and Transportation Chair Garlynn Woodsong. I spoke to him on the phone this morning.
Woodsong, who’s no longer on the CNA board, said PBOT’s response to the letter was to say the street would be repaved in a few years and the city would address the issues at that time. Fast forward six years and that’s exactly what they did.
Woodsong said he’s frustrated that PBOT doesn’t follow their own plans and policies as outlined in the city’s Comprehensive Plan and he feels PBOT, “Has a big outreach problem.” “They either do too much of it, or they don’t do it at all and they don’t do it right.”
When I asked Woodsong to address the fact that some of the complaints Pearce is hearing loudest come from longtime Black residents, Woodsong acknowledged that there is a racial dynamic present. “But what I see is that PBOT will always find an excuse to not do the right thing when it comes to bicycles. If it’s not a Black person, it’s ‘We heard from this disgruntled business owner. If it’s not a disgruntled business owner it’s this white-dominated neighborhood association.”
That last point matters. The City of Portland weighs neighborhood association feedback much differently in 2023 than it did in 2017, and there’s widespread belief at PBOT and other city agencies that neighborhood associations often don’t include the voices of everyone in the community — especially Black, Indigenous and other people of color.
That being what it is, Woodsong continued, “It’s a sign that this is an agency in chaos, without effective leadership. They don’t have good direction, they don’t know where they’re going, they don’t have a good game plan. It’s just this constant scramble. And they’re like, in a frenzy.”
Right now that “frenzy” consists of having direct, one-on-one conversations with people who live on 33rd. A meeting with CNA isn’t scheduled yet. PBOT’s Pearce shared yesterday he’s reluctant to call a public meeting given the racial make-up of who’s pushing for and against the changes. His bureau has bolstered their commitment to transportation justice in recent years, and this episode is an opportunity to demonstrate progress toward it.
And so far, I haven’t heard back from current CNA board members whether or not they will wade back into the issue.
Note: Image tilted. North is to the right. Sorry. Map of project location overlayed with PBOT design drawing for what’s coming. (Graphic: BikePortland)
(Editor’s note: PBOT uses the terms “advisory bike lane” and “advisory shoulder,” but there’s almost no difference in the design. They choose the term based on whether or not street has a curb. If there’s a curb and/or a sidewalk, they call it an “advisory bike lane.” No curb, and it’s a shoulder lane. BikePortland will stick with “advisory bike lane” because I find it provides the most clarity.)
Back in April we shared news that the Portland Bureau of Transportation would install three advisory bike lane projects this year. Now we’ve learned that two of those are postponed and one will move forward.
The project on SW 40th between Huber and Wilbard has been planned and designed and will be installed late this year or in early 2024 according to PBOT’s updated website.
(Map: BikePortland)Advisory bike lanes on SE Rafael. (Photo: PBOT)
As I shared in April, the SW 40th project is just one block, but will create dedicated cycling space between Jackson Middle School and a pedestrian walkway over I-5 that feeds directly into the Barbur Transit Center. This is a low-volume, low-speed street that currently has no lane striping of any kind. The idea behind these advisory bike lane projects is that they provide stronger cues for how the road can be used.
As you might have seen in our previous coverage, advisory bike lanes use a dashed striping pattern instead of a solid white line. They are implemented on streets that have two directions of car traffic, but PBOT doesn’t feel there’s adequate width to stripe standard bike lanes on both sides. So the idea is that, if no bike riders or walkers (in the event there’s no sidewalk) are present, people can drive onto the bike lane and use the street as they always would have. However, if a bike rider or walker is present, the street becomes a shared environment where drivers must yield to advisory lane users and wait before making a safe pass.
The SW 40th project plans (below) show that PBOT will stripe the entry to each end of the block with a sharrow and a short double-yellow line. Then it will transition into the shared, advisory environment for most of the block.
Along with revealing plans for 40th, PBOT has also announced that the two other advisory bike lane projects planned to be installed this year — on SW Talbot from SW Fairmount to SW Gaston and SE Ellis from SE 84th to SE 92nd — are delayed “while additional pavement condition assessment and neighborhood outreach takes place.”
The Portland Bureau of Transportation is scrambling to clean up a very messy situation on Northeast 33rd and a 25-year veteran of the bureau is taking full responsibility for having caused it.
Art Pearce is PBOT’s director of policy, planning and projects (he was also a finalist for director position that went to Millicent Williams back in July). Today, after yesterday’s direct action protest that prevented PBOT contractors from removing bike lanes, Pearce told me the entire unfortunate episode is all on him.
“This is an uncomfortable moment for me. This mistake happened under my watch,” he said during a 40-minute video call.
Before I asked him and PBOT Communications Director Hannah Schafer several questions about what happened, Pearce offered his take. He said his team took all the right steps in terms of identifying the bike lane project, finding funding, and getting it designed and queued for installation. But when it came to public outreach, they messed up.
“We really jeopardized trust with the residents along those four blocks,” Pearce said, “And in particular, in multi-generational households who feel as though this is being done to them with painful associations with other things we’ve done as a bureau over the years.”
“It does not indicate a shift of commitment for me or from the bureau towards cycling and the importance of cycling. There is no shift in terms of our policy approach, or our work toward those outcomes.”
In addition to not properly notifying residents about changing an on-street parking lane to a bike lane and the complex racial dynamic, Pearce mentioned another factor: a new four-plex built without on-street car parking was erected between the time the plans were conceived, to when the bike lanes were installed.
Pearce called the response to the bike lane from some residents of 33rd Ave “valid outrage” because, “there was no outreach other than a staff person scrambling around the morning the crew was out there to provide some level of notice that we were making this change.”
“This was a situation where we dropped the ball. And that’s mine to own, sadly.”
What about PBOT Director Millicent Williams? She’s been the source of anger among many in the community given her role in the SW Broadway bike lane scandal. Pearce and Schafer said they consulted Williams, but she was not directly involved. And since the project was in Pearce’s portfolio, the director is letting him handle the community fallout and response.
Relatedly, Schafer interjected that what happened on NE 33rd was completely disconnected from Broadway:
“I understand we have a very significant trust deficit right now. And that is largely because of what happened with Broadway; but I want to emphasize this was not related. And I know that that’s hard for people to see because of that trust deficit right now. But this is not related.”
– Hannah Schafer, PBOT Communications Director
Below is an edited Q & A from the rest of our conversation.
BikePortland: Was Commissioner Mapps’ office aware of the removal decision?
Art Pearce, PBOT: Not to my knowledge. We did not do a briefing with his office. I consulted with the director, and then, given the complete lack of notice, I felt like the best answer was to remove it and regroup rather than to simply try to retroactively do a level of involvement and consultation.
When did you realize that something was amiss on NE 33rd?
AP: When I heard the bike lanes went in. I was tracking the [project] list two years ago, in 2020.. But I had completely forgotten, candidly about them. I wasn’t tracking this as a specific thing that was happening.
There was a project manager that didn’t send the notification letters out. That person was was leaving the bureau and didn’t pass on the fact that they didn’t complete this activity. But that even if they did, it would have felt inadequate. I think even if they’d gotten a 30-day notice saying ‘We’re going to change your street,’ they probably wouldn’t have also felt consulted enough.
Hannah Schafer, PBOT: And we would have probably had a different type of storm.
The project management team realized [no notification took place] extremely last minute, and in an effort to course-correct, went and handed out in-person notifications as the striping was happening. So, a lot of internal errors led to this moment, unfortunately.
To be clear, you’re saying people never got notice of the bike lane at all, besides its recommendation in the Columbia/Lombard Plan?
AP: There was no direct communication around the decision to make this change to the street
HS: In a travel advisory for the paving project [sent out in August] we’d typically mention a major change like this bike lane, but we didn’t do that either.
Why did you determine that removal of the bike lane was the best course of action?
AP: Given some of the affected households, we felt like simply asking them to come to a meeting to tell them what we’ve already done — it didn’t feel like a very appropriate type of convening. And, bringing them into a big gymnasium [for a neighborhood meeting] with a whole bunch of people who are interested in seeing this from a system benefit, but maybe not as affected directly, it just felt like we were going to have a hard time creating the right kind of respectful convening to allow for their concerns to be addressed.
And so that’s what led us to say, ‘Alright, this is really painful, but we’re going to have to go back [and remove it] and then start a conversation going forward again.’
What about the communication around the removal? Was that done in a way you would have preferred?
AP: No. I think we were still living in a little bit of post-traumatic moment from the Broadway process and were like, ‘Oh my God, we’ve gotta go through it again.’ So we felt, let’s just remove this and then we’ll get to regroup.
Did anyone who lives on the street reach out to PBOT after the bike lanes went in?
AP: Yes. Even when the traffic engineer went out to mark the dimensions in advance of the striping, the concerned emails came into the general inbox.
So it was resident complaints that led to PBOT’s realization that there was insufficient outreach?
HS: No. It all happened at once. We were striping something that we hadn’t told people about, until like literally the day it was being striped… As soon as that striping went in, the weekend of October 7, we started getting emails.
There are a lot of internal lessons here that are going to be learned. This is a very big moment, and we are reviewing our internal processes. This is an embarrassing public mistake.
I also want to make a note about the costs. The whole 33rd project striping was $52,000. The cost to remove it would have been $25,000. So we are not talking about millions of dollars here. But we are calling it a costly mistake because we acknowledge that we need to be extremely fiscally responsible right now. And I acknowledge that people would say, ‘What is going on here?!’ but we want to own this and we want to make sure that we are following up internally and and making sure that these mistakes don’t happen again.
To be clear, if no one complained about the bike lane, would this removal still have been ordered just based on the lack of notice?
AP: No, I think we would have had some internal conversations about what happened. But no. It just happened to be, there’s also the specific character of this location as well. [“Character” is a reference to the racial dynamics at play with some concerned homeowners.]
You mentioned that residents had “valid outrage.” What about the protestors who showed up to stop the trucks? Do you feel their response was valid?
AP: Yes, absolutely. I think the same level of of outrage in response to a lack of consultation happened in both directions. And I think, from the sort of, either/or binary nature of the situation we found ourselves in [bike lane or no bike lane]. It’s a hard space to navigate your way out of.
What happens next in terms of public process?
AP: I haven’t had a chance to connect with the team about the exact approach, but the thought is that we will do direct engagement with affected neighbors first to better understand the trade-offs and the concerns — and then think about the specific remedies.
What just feels key right now is is careful, direct communication, acknowledging peoples’ concerns.
I’ve talked to [BikeLoud PDX Chair] Nic Cota and [BikeLoud Vice Chair] Kiel Johnson and they are very upset with me as well.
What we’re trying to figure out is, is there a non-binary solution that we can deploy? I’m hoping staff consultation with some of those affected parties can come up with some more subtle design solutions as the next step — rather than removing the bike lane and then talking about how to move forward — which was what we had been shifting to thinking about doing.
At this point, I’m hopeful that there is design solution that can address the concerns. That’s where I’m pinning some hope for the next step. And I don’t know necessarily what those might be, depending on what the specific concerns are, but we’ve got some work to do on the ground, quite literally, with those adjacent property owners to figure out what the answers might be.
[Pearce mentioned they might consider helping homeowners make changes on private property like wider driveways for parking.]
What we need is better understanding of the specifics of the hardships of these residents and then ask, ‘Are there ways to solve them?’ Or, are we willing to tell them that this is a change you need to accept.
We’re going to work to remedy this. It does not indicate a shift of commitment for me or from the bureau towards cycling and the importance of cycling. There is no shift in terms of our policy approach, or our work toward those outcomes, we just need to do better engagement.
Looking north on NE 33rd from the middle of NE Holman. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
The Portland Bureau of Transportation says what transpired on Northeast 33rd was “an embarrassing public mistake” and they are in the process of cleaning it up.
I had a phone call today with the PBOT communications director and the high-level staffer who’s taking full blame for the situation (no, it was not PBOT Director Millicent Williams or Commissioner Mingus Mapps). I learned more about PBOT’s version for how it all went sideways. I’ll have that story up soon, but wanted to share something I just received a few minutes ago from someone who lives on NE 33rd where the bike lane was installed.
On Tuesday morning, residents along the two block stretch of 33rd between Holman and Dekum received a letter on their doorstep. It said, “beginning Wednesday, November 1… PBOT will deploy contractors to remove lane striping in this section and return this section to its original condition.”
Today, those same residents received another letter from PBOT. Below is the text of that letter (emphasis mine):
Dear Northeast Portland Neighbor,
I am writing to follow up on the recently installed bike lanes along NE 33rd Avenue. The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) installed bike lanes on NE 33rd from NE Holman to NE Dekum streets at the beginning of October, effectively removing on-street parking for these two blocks. PBOT did not give adequate notices to the adjacent residents, and we immediately heard concerns from residents with hardships presented from removing the on-street parking.
PBOT continued to communicate with the concerned residents and ultimately decided to remove bike lane striping in this section and return it to its original condition with on-street parking. Contractors started to perform this work on November 1st. However, work was stopped when protesting in the streets made it unsafe to continue the work. At this time, there is no schedule for the removal of the bike lane striping to continue. We recommend not parking in the bike lanes, but at the same time we do not plan to issue tickets with fines.
We would like to take this time to continue our conversations with directly impacted residents to ensure access and safety needs are being met before we continue with any additional action. We are also having conversations with area cyclists that support the bike lanes. If you have a concern you would like to share with PBOT, please call, email, or set up a time for us to meet in person. We will continue engagement and notify the community before taking any further action.
An extant bike lane that won’t be legally treated like one, is a really awkward — and potentially dangerous — situation. It sets people up for verbal or even physical interactions on the street — in the form of both potential traffic collisions and potential disagreements between how the road should be used.
This situation underscores what a mess PBOT finds themselves in for the second time in the past month or so.
From what I heard from PBOT’s Policy, Planning & Projects Group Director Art Pearce today, the city is in a really awkward position too. “It’s an uncomfortable moment for me,” Pearce shared with BikePortland in a video call a few hours ago. “This mistake happened under my watch.” Pearce is taking full responsibility for what happened on 33rd. Now it’s his job to clean up the mess before it gets worse.
Stay tuned for a recap of that conversation. And be careful biking on 33rd Avenue until this all gets sorted out.
North Williams Ave just north of Russell. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Welcome to the weekend.
Check out our ride and event picks below.
Saturday, November 4th
2023 Oregon Cyclocross Championships – All Day in Mollala, OR An OBRA champ jersey is on the line at the new Fernwood course in Molalla. Make it a weekend, because Sunday is race #5 of the Cyclocross Crusade series at the same venue. More info here.
Showers Pass Warehouse Sale – 9:00 am to 4:00 pm at Showers Pass HQ (2101 SE 6th) The massive annual sale is on and it’s your chance for big deals on not just SP raingear, but also: Vvolt e-bikes, Portland Design Works parts, bags from Black Stone Stitchworks, Coava Coffee, and more. Get their early before the good stuff is gone!
Verboort Sausage Ride – 9:30 am at Shute Park (Hillsboro) You heard about it on the BikePortland podcast, now it’s time to see the sausage fest for yourself! And getting their by bike means you’ll burn the calories you’ll consume in beer and brats. More info here.
Fall Colors of Portland – 2:00 pm at Pod 28 (SE) Get all your leaf-peeping done in one convenient ride. Scott B will lead you on a tour of trees in all the best neighborhoods. More info here.
Dead Baby Bikes Monthly Ride – 7:30 pm (ride at 9:00) at Rocky’s Sports & Spirits (SE) Yes it’s a bike club. But all are welcome to join. If you like freak bikes and fun, creative, bike-riding folks, these just might be your people. More info here.
Sunday, November 5th
Cyclocross Crusade Race #5 – All day in Mollala (OR) It’s the penultimate race in the illustrious, 30th annual series. More info here.
Bike Train to Thorns Playoff Match – 12:30 pm at Moda Center (N) Join cycling soccer fans for a ride to support the Thorns in their first playoff match. Ticket to get into the match required. More info here.
— Don’t see an event? Please tell us about what’s going on in your neighborhood by filling out our contact form!
24 hours ago I was on my bike, racing over to Northeast 33rd after seeing a video online of a PBOT contractor in a truck removing the bike lane. What ensued was an unprecedented direct action that saved the bike lane and stories and social media videos that have been viewed by hundreds of thousands of people around the country (thanks TikTok algorithm!).
Unlike the Southwest Broadway scandal, PBOT’s decision to remove a new bike lane due to what they say was a bungled public outreach process, has led to widespread media attention. To many in the local media, Broadway seemed like a “bike community” thing and the story barely transcended BikePortland. Now PBOT’s bad decisions are (unfortunately) a trend. And in the news business, trends get attention.
Three local TV stations had relatively good coverage of yesterday’s protest. All three sides — protestors, residents, and PBOT — were given airtime. Voices of protestors, especially Cully neighborhood resident and veteran bike advocate Kiel Johnson, dominated the stories.
KOIN (CBS affiliate) said PBOT’s rationale for the removal of the bike lane was an “internal error.” To me, one of the interesting takeaways from KOIN’s coverage (and other stations) was that it mentioned Broadway and its possible connection to the 33rd removal plans.
Here was KOIN’s (CBS affiliate) lead-in: “… This also is the second bike lane that the city’s transportation bureau is planning to take out… PBOT says those two bike lane removals are unrelated, but cyclists tell me they don’t believe that.”
KGW (NBC affiliate) story was short. They said the bike lane was “mistakenly installed without public outreach,” and shared an interview with Johnson.
KPTV (Fox affiliate) did a particularly solid job on the story. They framed opposition to the bike lane in terms of how it impacted parking in front of homes (this jibes with what I’ve learned from various sources in the past day, that the genesis of PBOT’s decision is from complaints about parking loss).
“People living on a four block stretch of Northeast 33rd Avenue are dealing with parking problems after they say changes were made without their input,” the KPTV reporter said. Then continued: “Neighbors say there’s already a greenway route two blocks over from Northeast 33rd Avenue and the bike lanes are not necessary in front of their homes.”
The reporter then interviewed a Black woman who has lived on NE 33rd for 30 years.
“We were surprised to say the least,” the woman said. “These bold, vibrant, thick white lines glaring at us Sunday morning… This had no respect. It was a slap in the face… To me it’s the height of privilege, because when you disregard people’s livelihoods and their feelings.”
So here we are.
Given what PBOT told other news outlets yesterdays, it’s clear that the removal is paused for now. From here, I’d expect some sort of communication from PBOT to the neighbors about a meeting where the bike lane plans will be vetted out a bit more. It’s hard to say what might come of that, or what might come of anything at this point.
After what happened yesterday, and what happened on Broadway, we are in uncharted territory with current PBOT leadership. Stay tuned.
It’s one thing for a city to have a marquee bike project here or there — but it’s another thing entirely to get people across town by bike on a connected network that is legible and safe.
During my recent trip to New York City, I had to get to Williamsburg, Brooklyn for a story. I was staying in the Flatiron/Chelsea area (W 24th and 6th). I figured this would be a good crosstown test, so I filmed the entire thing. The video above shows the highlights. It gives you a sense of what it’s like to bike about 5 miles through Manhattan, over a bridge, and then into a borough.
My route.
You’ll see a very wide variety of bikeways. I rode through: pedestrianized streets with world-class bikeways; old-school, door-zone bike lanes; shared, low-volume streets; dedicated paths, and more. Overall, I was impressed with NYC’s bike network, despite its chaos and rough edges.
In my opinion (which might be different than yours, given my experience and love of urban riding), NYC passed the test.
Watch the video to see if you agree. And then ask yourself… Does your city stand up to the crosstown test?
It rained last week and we still had a great turnout! Note that tonight we’ll be across the street at Ankeny Tap & Table.
Hell yes we are still having Bike Happy Hour today. Given the weather, we’ll gather on the ground floor of Ankeny Tap & Table, across the street from the usual spot on the patio. Come over to SE Ankeny and 27th to find great people, open hearts and minds, and good food and drinks.
With the unbelievable shenanigans happening at PBOT, we have a lot to talk about.
If nothing else, we can compare rainwear and winter gear recommendations.
I also have a new a-frame sign that will make its debut. And of course I’ll bring the speaker and mic in case anyone feels like sharing to the group. Any city council candidates out there want to show your bona fides by showing up to a rainy Bike Happy Hour?
Hope to see you there!
Bike Happy Hour – Every Wednesday All Year Long 3:00 to 6:00 pm Gorges Beer Co / Ankeny Tap – SE Ankeny & 27th (On the “Rainbow Road plaza!) $2 off drinks (includes non-alcoholic and coffee from Crema) BikeHappyHour.com – “See you Wednesday!”
Cully resident Kiel Johnson in front of a lane-striping truck on NE 33rd this morning. (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
A group of concerned Portlanders stepped in front of a moving truck this morning to defend a bike lane. The truck was being driven by a contractor hired by the Portland Bureau of Transportation to grind off a recently installed bike lane on Northeast 33rd Avenue in the Concordia neighborhood.
As we reported yesterday, PBOT said the bike lane — that was installed as part of a repaving project in late September — was installed by “mistake” because they didn’t do enough public outreach.
The removal was not announced publicly, and we only found out because PBOT staff warned BikePortland anonymously that it was imminent.
Local bike advocacy nonprofit BikeLoud PDX responded by telling members to show up at the site this morning. The idea was to take a closer look at the bike lanes in advance of a planned strategy session later this morning. However, crews had already begun removing the bike lane as the activists showed up. One of them, former BikeLoud PDX Chair Kiel Johnson, rolled up to the scene and immediately stopped his bike in front of the oncoming truck. The truck driver stopped and Johnson stood there with his arms crossed.
A group of people blocked this truck at the corner of NE 33rd and Holman. (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
As several other people rolled up, they massed along with Johnson in front of the truck and a stalemate ensued as contractors whipped out phones to try and figure out what to do.
One of the contractors told the group they were simply there to modify the bike lanes, not remove them. But that contention doesn’t square with PBOT’s statements.
It is clear that PBOT wanted this bike lane removed. Their statement to BikePortland yesterday was unambiguous. It said, “This segment of bike lane was installed by mistake and will be removed.”
And a nearby resident shared with BikePortland this morning that just this morning a letter from PBOT was placed on their door. It read:
“Dear Northeast Portland Neighbor,
I am writing to notify you of construction beginning tomorrow, Wednesday November 1, 2023 on NE 33rd Avenue from NE Holman to NE Dekum streets. The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) will deploy contractors to remove lane striping in this section and return this section to its original condition.”
If people didn’t show up this morning, the bike lane would be gone.
Once the truck operator left the corner of NE 33rd and Holman, he simply moved to another section of the bike lane a few blocks south and started the grinding-off process again. Activists then hopped on their bikes and stood in front to stop forward progress.
Several minutes passed and the truck left once again.
Eventually the contractors left for the day, but BikeLoud volunteers are still there. They’re staying in shifts to make sure the trucks don’t return.
This bike lane closes a key gap in the bike network and it’s called out as a planned “city bikeway” in the Transportation System Plan. It was also recommended as a high priority in the Columbia/Lombard Mobility Plan passed by Portland City Council in 2021.
Commissioner Mingus Mapps, who leads PBOT, voted in support of that plan.
Reached for comment today, his Deputy Chief of Staff Cynthia Castro said, “PBOT is not continuing with removing the bike lane today, but we do need to have further conversation about this particular stretch.”
Asked if Mapps’ office authorized the order to remove the bike lane, Castro said, “I would say that I’m on the same page with the [PBOT] director as far as saying, ‘We need to have more conversation about this particular stretch,’ and obviously there’s a lot of lessons learned here about outreach.
But PBOT Director Millicent Williams isn’t on that page. Based on PBOT statements and that letter given to residents this morning, Director Williams did not plan to have any further conversation. The order was to remove the bike lane and it would be gone if not for the timely protest organized by BikeLoud PDX.
