Hood River businesses take over street from ODOT in order to take over street

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 … Read more


Washington DOT will reallocate highway space as part of ‘Healthy, Active Streets’ program

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 … Read more


Homeowners along Sandy River defend ODOT’s bike-unfriendly guardrails

We’re still trying to learn more about why the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) installed three sections of guardrails in the paved shoulder of the Historic Columbia River Highway south of Interstate 84 last week. These guardrails narrow valuable space used by many bicycle riders and their dangerous placement increases odds of stressful passes and … Read more


The outdated and dangerous 85th percentile rule is dead in Oregon

On May 1st, traffic engineers in the state of Oregon will no longer rely on an outdated and dangerous method for setting speed limits. Thanks to new rules adopted by the Oregon Transportation Commission last month, the process for for designating speeds has changed dramatically and now goes way beyond the traditional 85 percentile method. … Read more


Woman killed while walking on Barbur Boulevard was ‘brilliant’ PSU researcher

Iulia Hanczarek was coming into her prime as a chemist and researcher at Portland State University. She had dreams of a doctoral degree and missions to space. At just 39 years old, she had a lot of important discoveries ahead of her. Staff at the university describe her as “brilliant”. But just after midnight on … Read more