With grant application, PBOT finally acknowledges ‘safety issue’ with streetcar tracks
Can you believe it? After many years of foot-dragging, PBOT is finally taking steps to address the dangers of streetcar tracks.
rail track safety
Streetcar-nage continues while other cities look for answers
The view from NW Lovejoy.(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortland) While Portlanders continue to suffer physical injuries and property damage due to falls on streetcar tracks and our local agencies put out safety videos and erect signs warning about the hazards, cities in Europe are actively trying to solve the problem. In the past few weeks we’ve … Read more
Will Portland Streetcar ever find a way to prevent bike-rail crashes?
Twelve years after Portland Streetcar put rails onto to city streets, it’s still a Portland rite of passage to crash your bike on its tracks — and it’s still a maddening problem for the handful of people trying to solve it.
Portland Streetcar Inc. releases “When I Ride” safety video
Still from “When I Ride” video.– Watch it below- With the big grand opening of the new eastside/central city loop extension of the streetcar being this weekend, Portland Streetcar Inc. (PSI) has just unveiled a new safety video. The video features (and is narrated by) Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) Advocacy Director Gerik Kranksy; but it … Read more
In letter to TriMet, man urges safety fix after crash on MAX tracks – UPDATED
Location where MAX tracks cross E Burnside.Crosslin was traveling from the right side of the image to the left. This morning, the MAX tracks on East Burnside just east of I-205 (at SE 97th Ave) caused Portland resident Thomas Crosslin to crash his bike. Thomas crosses these tracks every day on his commute from East … Read more
Streetcar/bikeway integration porn from Seattle
A visualization of plans at Broadway and Marion streets in Seattle as part of their First Hill Streetcar project that breaks ground this month.(Graphics: Alta Planning + Design and Fat Pencil Studio)
Seattle judge says City not liable in streetcar track lawsuit
New tracks on Lovejoy.(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland) There’s been a big development in a legal battle up in Seattle that has similarities to an issue we have here in Portland. As we shared back in June 2010, several Seattle residents who crashed while bicycling across streetcar tracks filed a lawsuit claiming that the City of … Read more
A few ideas on how to improve streetcar track safety
On the Cherry Ave Bridge in Chicago, the tracks are filled with rubber so bicycle riders can roll over them without worry.(Photo: Steven Vance) As we continue to discuss the ongoing problem of streetcar tracks causing people to crash while bicycling in Portland, I thought it might be helpful to share some potential solutions. Many … Read more
Pearl District resident raises red flag on Lovejoy biking dangers
Despite presence of precarious streetcar tracks, many people still ride on Lovejoy.(Photo © J. Maus) The Eastside Streetcar project has radically altered vehicle access to the Pearl District. If you ride a bicycle, the changes have been especially acute (as I shared back in July). NW Lovejoy has been decommissioned as a bike route and … Read more
Activist group to track bike/streetcar track crashes
According to a 2008 report by Alta Planning, bike crashes on streetcar tracks are a “major and underreported problem for Portland-area bicyclists.” Even so, the issue struggles to gain official attention because the vast majority of crashes do not get reported. Portland-based, grassroots transportation advocacy group Active Right of Way (AROW) hopes to change that … Read more
Citizen activists request fixes to make streetcar tracks safer for cycling
The Eastside Streetcar Loop project has radically transformed Portland streets and citizen activists think more should be done to improve bike safety.(Photos © J. Maus)
In Seattle, bike crashes on streetcar tracks lead to lawsuit
Mixing with streetcar tracks in Northwest Portland.(Photo © J. Maus) The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports today that six people who crashed while biking across streetcar tracks are now suing the city for negligence because more was not done to make the tracks safe: “Six cyclists who crashed while crossing the South Lake Union Streetcar tracks are … Read more