BikePortland

State grant marks big milestone for Milwaukie’s first neighborhood greenway

Concept of Monroe/Linwood intersection.
(Graphic: BTA)

Yesterday, the Oregon Department of Transportation announced the winners of their 2013 Transportation and Growth Management grants. Among them is a $103,000 award that will fund the planning and design of the Monroe Street Bike Boulevard/Neighborhood Greenway project.

While the dollar amount is relatively small, this grant represents a major milestone for Milwaukie, a city on the Willamette River just six miles south of downtown Portland.

Buffered Bike Lane with a bike symbol and arrow pointing forward

Three excellent job opportunities were posted to our Job Listings this week. Check them out via the links below…

Account Service Representative – Chris King Precision Components
Bike Builder/Mechanic – Sellwood Cycle Repair
Pacific Northwest Regional Policy Manager – Safe Routes to School National Partnership

From Sandy Ridge to Forest Park,
Trailfest has something for everyone.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

If you prefer riding off-road and have been curious about Portland’s mountain bike scene, this weekend was made for you. The 2013 Trailfest, an event organized by the Northwest Trail Alliance, begins tomorrow night (9/20) and continues with an entire weekend “dedicated to mountain biking.” Here’s how the NWTA describes it: “Trailfest is the Portland region’s premiere mountain biking festival that celebrates everything mountain biking: The trails. The people. The culture.”

Sounds great to me.

Just a reminder that a wonderful ride is happening on Saturday. It’s the Hood River Harvest Ride which offers five different routes (including some family friendly options) around the beautiful Hood River Valley. Our friend Peter Cornelison is one of the ride’s organizers and he recently sent out this email as a teaser…

Looking up from your bike, as you pass through shafts of golden sunlight filtering between the fruit trees lining the road, breathe deeply of the wonderfully clean, crisp, fall mountain air and crest the hill. Wow! There is a take-your- breath- away- view of the northern glacial face of Mt. Hood. Welcome to the fifth annual Hood River Harvest Ride (HRHR) on Saturday, September 21, 2013.

As past Harvest Riders know, the Hood River Valley has some wonderful topography. It was shaped, progressively, by volcanoes, giant glaciers and finally, the Columbia Floods. This produced terrain with a lot of variety. Layer on top of that a network of low traffic farm roads designed for horse drawn travel (i.e. not too steep) and you have perfect bike routes which include long flat stretches, moderate and a few steep hill climbs all with superb descents.

The Harvest Ride crew is excited to share some of the best riding in the Northwest with you this coming Saturday and hope to see you, your buddies and your bikes out here for the 5th HRHR!

Census: Portland biking stalls for fifth year while other cities climb

Source: Census American Community Survey. Image by BikePortland.

Portland’s hard-won status as “America’s bike capital” hasn’t looked less secure since it claimed the title in 2005.

The number of Portlanders who get to work primarily by bike was statistically unchanged in 2012, ticking from 6.3 percent to 6.1 percent of the city’s working population. Across the whole Portland metro area, bike use held at 2.3 percent.

Portland Police Chief Reese snapped this self-portrait
at the Hagg Lake Triathlon back in July.

Portland Police Chief Mike Reese will be hitting the streets this weekend; but he won’t be in a patrol car. He’ll be in spandex.

Chief Reese will be one of over 1,000 competitors at the seventh annual Portland Triathlon, which takes place on Sunday in St. Johns. In a telephone interview this morning, Chief Reese told us he’s been competing in Triathlons since 1990 and this will be the fourth triathlon he’s participated in this year.

Of the three disciplines in the triathlon, Chief Reese says the bicycling leg is his strongest. But the humble head of Portland’s Police Bureau ads that, “I’m really just average. My strength is that I’m average at everything.” Reese told us he competes in the “old and slow group.”

Here’s the news on the latest crosswalk enforcement action planned by PBOT/PPB;

Crosswalk enforcement planned Sept. 25th on SE 148th Avenue and Main Street

(September 18, 2013) – The Portland Bureau of Transportation and Portland Police Bureau advise the traveling public that a crosswalk enforcement action is scheduled for September 25th near the Parklane Elementary School in Southeast Portland to raise awareness of pedestrian safety and traffic law and to emphasize safety at the start of the school year.

The enforcement action will be from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on SE 148th Avenue and SE Main Street. The location has pavement markings, signage, and an overhead flashing beacon to help pedestrians cross safely.

Read more

Washington County commissioner swaps car parking spot for a bike locker

Washington County Commissioner Dick Schouten tries out the bike locker.
(Photos courtesy Janna Allgood)

This is a guest article submitted by Washington County Sustainability Program Educator Janna Allgood.

When it comes to amenities for people who ride bikes, Washington County learned that it pays to think strategically about who’s on your bike commuter list.

As you might have heard thanks to reporting by the Willamette Week, the Columbia River Crossing project is very much alive. Oregon legislators who once said cooperation from Washington was imperative, have conveniently scuttled that narrative and are preparing to push the project through regardless of any bi-state partnership.

However, as the CRC readies for another starring role in Salem in a few weeks, a coalition of grassroots activists who have been working for years to stymie the project have once again come together in hopes of convincing legislators that it’s a bad idea. Organized by Bike Walk Vote, a political action committee, their new effort is called, “Operation CRC: Commotion & Ruckus Campaign.”

Beach Elem. School encourages biking and walking-7

School’s back in session and for some folks
the reminder came in the form of a traffic citation.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

During a two-week period that coincided with the start of the school year, the Portland Police Bureau issued well over 1,100 citations to people who violated traffic laws in school zones.

According to PPB Sgt. Tim Sessions, during the first day of “Operation Safe School Return,” photo radar units nabbed 400 speeding motor vehicle operators. After the first week, the number went up to over 800 (word spread fast apparently, because he said by the second week that number went down to 75). At the end of the two week mission, the PPB had issued 1,193 citations.

“I wasn’t surprised at all,” said Sgt. Sessions in a phone interview this morning. “People don’t remember that school is starting,” he said. “It’s like when it starts raining and the first thing you should do is slow down because the roads are slick, but people forget.”

Sullivan's Gulch Corridor Project First Open House-5-4

Former PBOT Planning Division Manager Paul Smith,
standing, was a key figure in drawing up plans like
the Sullivan’s Gulch Corridor project.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

A pair of key job openings, one very large and one quite small, could help the Portland Bureau of Transportation pivot into an agency that, at every level, prioritizes the movement of people instead of the movement of cars.

Or the other way around.

The big position is the city’s transportation planning manager, a role recently vacated by Paul Smith. As head of the team that sets big priorities for the city’s streets and then convenes stakeholders to work out specific plans to change them, the new planning manager will set an important tone for the office.

New PBOT Director Leah Treat said in an interview with BikePortland last week that upon joining the department, she personally rewrote the hiring description to fit her goal of finding “an unconventional person” for the role.

Year: 1991
Brand: Bridgestone
Model: MB-6 Trailblazer
Color:Black
Size:38cm
Serial: MOKI 36606
Stolen in Portland, OR 97209
Stolen:2013-09-18
Stolen From: Stolen from PNCA (Pacific Northwest College of Art) bike racks at 1241 NW Johnson Street in the Pearl District
Neighborhood: Pearl District
Owner: Elie Charpentier
OwnerEmail: eliepdx( atsign )hotmail.com
Reward: $50.00
Description: Bridgestone woman’s MB-6 Trailblazer mountain bike. Black with hot pink lettering. Has a cat eye front light, water bottle cage, small storage bag, and back red light.
Police record with: Portland PD
Police reference#: pending
This registrant has documented proof of ownership of this bike

State grant marks big milestone for Milwaukie’s first neighborhood greenway

Jobs of the Week

‘Trailfest’ kicks off Friday with off-road fun for everyone

Event: Hood River Harvest Ride is this Saturday (9/21)

Census: Portland biking stalls for fifth year while other cities climb

Police Chief Mike Reese will compete in Portland Triathlon Sunday

Police plan crosswalk enforcement mission near Parklane Elementary

Washington County commissioner swaps car parking spot for a bike locker

As CRC re-birth looms, activists launch phone tree campaign

Driving dangerously: Police issue over 1,100 citations in back-to-school mission

Two PBOT job openings will shape our transportation vision

Black Bridgestone MB-6 Trailblazer 1991

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From the Archives

With six kids and no car, this mom does it all by bike