BikePortland

Steel Bridge lower deck will close for inspection at 7 am Wednesday

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

The current forecast for Wednesday morning.
(Photo: M.Andersen/BikePortland)

Update 2:20 pm: PBOT reports that the lower deck will reopen by 5 p.m. The original post follows.

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If you usually bike or walk across the Steel Bridge’s lower deck in the morning rush hour, try another route on Wednesday.

It’s being closed at 7 a.m. for an inspection, according to the Portland Bureau of Transportation. PBOT added that it’ll announce the reopening, whenever that might happen, in a follow-up tweet from its @PBOTinfo account.

When a camera failure closed the lower deck one year ago this week, the bridge remained closed for four days.

Elizabeth Quiroz, one of the BTA’s 16-person staff and four-person advocacy team, fits a helmet at a Southeast Portland bike skills class.
(Photo: M.Andersen and J.Maus/BikePortland)

For a moment this spring in the community room of the apartment building at SE 122nd and Halsey, the most important thing the Bicycle Transportation Alliance was doing was asking nine children a question.

Kickstand included.
(Photo: City of Portland Archives)

Tall bikes look great in sepia, too.

(Screen capture from Uber’s Vancouver website)

The ride-hailing service Uber has hired contract drivers and is providing rides in Vancouver, Wash., illegally, according to a July 25 memo from the city attorney’s office.

“Essentially,” assistant city attorney Brent Boger wrote in the memo to city council and staff, transportation network companies such as UberX and Lyft “are taxi services operated out of personal vehicles.”

UberX costs about 35 percent less than a traditional taxi ride. Last month, Uber’s CEO said he hopes “to get UberX pricing below the cost of owning a car.”

Update 8/12: The bike shop in question has shared a brief statement about their response. See below.

Here’s a brief online exchange from Saturday afternoon that shows what it looks like when people come together to marginalize a sexist comment from a bike shop employee.

This week’s news roundup is sponsored by the Barlow Road Ride, the scenic 100-mile tour along the Oregon Trail Aug. 23-24.

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

Cleveland bikeways: Cleveland has some beautiful plans for its former on-street streetcar routes.

Left Bank renaissance: One year after Paris closed an expressway along the Seine to cars, it’s a space for soccer lessons, backgammon games and an impromptu Michael Jackson dance party.

Civic action in its own way.
(Photo by J. Maus/BikePortland)

If any new phrase about biking I’ve seen in the last few months deserves to become a cliche, it’s this one.

Reacting to our post about what would happen if all of Portland’s bike commuters switched to cars, reader Champs took another tack.

Lifestyle columnist Cathy Hastie in a 2013 photo.

Editor’s note: Lifestyle columnist Cathy Hastie was a remarkably healthy cancer patient. Then she stopped bike commuting. Here, she describes what happened next.

Six months ago, I was healthy.

At 5’11” and 160 lbs, my body was capable of just about anything I asked it to do, from hoisting boxes to dancing the two-step to running a few miles through the neighborhood. I wasn’t overly demanding, forcing myself to reach for some calculated heart rate or working towards 9 percent body fat. I simply had a body that worked, and worked well. Even though I had cancer.

It’s that time of the year again… Bridge Pedal will take over the city on Sunday.
(Photo J. Maus/BikePortland)

Welcome to your menu of weekend rides and events, lovingly brought to you by our friends at Hopworks Urban Brewery.

It’s Bridge Pedal weekend. The massive ride that dwarfs all others in Portland (except for the Naked Bike Ride). Yes, this Sunday is your chance to ride with 20,000 other bike lovers on bridges where bikes are forbidden every other day of the year. That alone is worth the price of admission.

And if Bridge Pedal isn’t your cup of tea, we’ve got some other great options for your consideration…

Friday, August 8th

We’ve had a great selection of opportunities posted to our Job Listings this week. Check out all them via the links below…

Mechanic/Sales – Cycle Portland
Bicycle Tour Manager – Bike Florida, Inc.
Service Manager – Athletes Lounge
General Shop Assistant – Ti Cycles Fabrication
Bike Mechanic – Pacific Patrol Services, Inc.
Account Service Representative – Chris King Precision Components
Production Artists/Designer Entry Level – Castelli USA

The other day I did a fun post with some back-of-the-envelope math to estimate what it might look like if every Portland bike commuter switched to a car for one day. Here’s a tidbit I didn’t have room to include: massive temporary shifts from bike to other modes already happen regularly.

They happen every time it rains. Rain eliminates about one in three bike trips citywide, to be precise.

Cyclocross is fun; but it requires a special set of skills if you want to do it well.
(Photo by J. Maus/BikePortland)

Cyclocross season is fast approaching. I can tell by the increased listings of ‘cross bikes and gear on Craigslist and the OBRA email list and the photos and updates on my social media stream (many with the #crossiscoming hashtag).

The other clear sign that the season is just around the corner is the announcement of clinics aimed at mastering the many skills it takes to do well in this discipline.

Whether you’re a junior just getting started, or an old pro that just needs to dust off the cobwebs, the clinics below are an excellent opportunity to get ready for the season (and they start this week so… get on it!).

Hosmer Chiropractic and Portland Bicycle Studio Present Cyclocross Skills Clinic Series

Steel Bridge lower deck will close for inspection at 7 am Wednesday

With biking sidelined at Portland City Hall, BTA strategy shifts to long term

From the Portland city archives: A tall bike on Union Avenue in 1980

Uber’s operations in Vancouver are illegal, city attorney says

Quick complaint, quick action: Bike shop and customer show how to fight everyday sexism

The Monday Roundup: Beauty from Cleveland, dancing by the Seine and more

Comment of the week: ‘The stream carves its own bed’

Lifestyle column: You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone

Weekend Event Guide: Bridge Pedal, alleycat, and more

Friday, August 8th

Jobs of the Week

‘Day without the bicycle’ follow-up: How to make 1/3 of Portland’s bikers vanish

‘Cross is coming! These clinics will help get you ready

Latest Headlines

‘Better Sheridan’ project brings safer street to South Waterfront

Your guide to finding the ‘Wildwood’ crows by bike

My journey to that ‘Hard Rock glow’

Off-Road Cycling Master Plan: A decade later, what has changed?

From the Archives

The 10 busiest bicycling spots in Portland