Note: I'm currently on a family trip and not working normal hours. Email and message responses will be delayed and story and posting volumes here and on our social media accounts will not be at their usual levels until I return to Portland September 4th. Thanks for your patience and understanding. - Jonathan Maus, BikePortland Publisher and Editor

Bike nirvana in N/NE Portland? A look Metro’s choices for stimulus grant program

A $38 million project focused on N/NE Portland could bring a cycle track to N. Williams.(Photo © J. Maus) Metro has selected four active transportation projects to include in a grant application for possible funding through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s $1.5 billion Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program. The four projects, with an … Read more


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Metro flexes funding muscle for bikes

Bike boulevard infrastructure, like this bike turn median in Southeast Portland, will get a major funding boost thanks to a Metro committee.(Photo © J. Maus) Yesterday was a big day for Metro and for non-motorized transportation advocates around the region. Between decisions on how to spend funds from the federal stimulus package (I’ll report on … Read more


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Metro grant will help CCC reach into more communities

The CCC’s retail location on NE Alberta.(Photo © J. Maus) The northeast Portland-based Community Cycling Center has won a grant for a project to help them “understand cultural and economic barriers to bicycling.” According to a statement from the CCC, the project will help them perform a needs assessment to better understand the “unique cultural … Read more


Metro urges state to re-think its federal stimulus project list

Chair of the Oregon Transportation Commission, Gail Achterman, is in the driver’s seat on how our statespends its federal stimulus money.(Photos © J. Maus) The Oregon Transportation Commission (OTC) is meeting this morning in Salem to discuss which infrastructure projects will get built with money from America’s recently passed economic stimulus plan. The OTC is … Read more


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Press release: Regional leaders unite to send strong message on federal transportation priorities

Below is a press release sent out yesterday by Metro. I have just received the actual resolution and list of projects and I might do another story about it on the Front Page soon. For now… Regional leaders unite to send strong message on federal transportation priorities The Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation (JPACT) … Read more


Metro, BTA support bike tax concept [updated]

*[UPDATE: I have edited this story to clarify that the bike tax is not, at this time, a part of Governor Kulongoski’s Jobs and Transportation Act.] The BTA’s Karl Rohde (in red) says he supports the concept of a bike tax.(Photo J. Maus) Both Metro and the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) are supportive of an … Read more


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Tonight (or online): Tell Metro where to spend $28 million in federal funds

Imagine the Willamette Greenway Trail extending the Esplanade to St. Johns.(Photo: Scott Mizee/npGreenway) It’s that time of year again when Metro seeks your comments on how they should spend millions of dollars in federal funds through their regional flexible funding program (also known as MTIP, the Metropolitian Transportation Improvement Program). A key part of that … Read more


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Metro’s ‘Connecting Green’ trail effort off and running

Metro Council president David Bragdon addressing members of his Blue Ribbon Committee for Trails at their inaugural meeting earlier this month.(All photos © J. Maus) With an impressive first meeting of their Blue Ribbon Committee for Trails and a new video (watch it below) for their Connecting Green initiative, Metro’s ambitious effort to “create the … Read more