E-bikes not represented in statewide ‘transportation electrification’ project

E-bike stores, like this one in north Portland, are very busy these days.
(Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
E-bike stores, like this one in north Portland, are very busy these days.
(Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
“New”? Maybe to ODOT, but cycling was popular in Oregon cities long before anyone drove or needed a highway to do it on.
(Graphic: ODOT Strategic Action Plan)
Front page of the Portland Tribune’s business section on October 25th. How many readers know Brendan Finn is the director of ODOT’s office of urban mobility and lead on the controversial I-5 Rose Quarter project?
One of the options on the table would make the existing Arch Bridge carfree.
(Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
The Oregon Department of Transportation is trying.
The agency that’s pushing to expand freeways throughout the Portland region and has become Oregon’s de facto advocacy organization for car users, wants to be seen as innovative and nimble; but a situation in the city of Hood River shows the lengths businesses had to go just to use a few curbside parking spaces on one of the agency’s state highways.
Earlier this month businesses along Hood River’s main drag of Oak Street started building “street seat” installations to give customers more space to eat and drink. The efforts were part of a parklet permit program launched by the City of Hood River at the end of June.
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The presence of the guardrail — installed in the middle of the paved shoulder — combined with the shy distance leaves only about 1-2 feet of rideable space.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)
Imagine if Portland could ask for a carfree lane on 82nd Ave. Then imagine if ODOT actually listened.
Unlike our Oregon Department of Transportation whose seems to be carrying out a policy to rid their highways of everything but people in cars, the Washington Department of Transportation announced yesterday that it’s getting on the open streets train.
Imagine that. A state DOT voluntarily banning automobile users from lanes and even complete roadways all in the name of safety and health.
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