This post is part of our special, week-long focus on east Portland.
It was one of the boulders that broke Portland’s bike wave: a redesign of SE Holgate Street that converted one mixed traffic lane in each direction to a huge buffered bike lane between I-205 and 122nd Avenue.
After all the media attention and anger that accompanied the buffered bike lanes installed by the City on SE Holgate Blvd back in August 2009, it looks like someone wanted to show them some love.
Reader and nearby resident Gretchin Lair just sent in the photo below of red hearts that have been placed on the bike lane symbols. “I love stuff like this,” she wrote in, “Outer SE doesn’t have a lot of stealth art projects, and I especially love ones that are playful and kindhearted.”
I haven’t confirmed who’s responsible for this, but my hunch is that the activist group We Heart Holgate is behind them. Check out the photo after the jump…
Making good on a promise, the City of Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) will return to the Lents/Powellhurst-Gilbert neighborhood on May 11th to discuss the buffered bike lanes on SE Holgate Avenue.
The road was re-striped in August 2009 to include bicycle-only lanes with a buffered section to create separation from motor vehicle traffic. After a local TV station ran a sensational “Bike path to nowhere” story, some residents began to push back on the idea.
The buffered bike lanes on SE Holgate are finally getting some love thanks to the grassroots “We Heart Holgate” campaign.
The lanes — which were part of a $30,000 road diet funded by TriMet — didn’t get much attention when they debuted back in August 2009. Then, KATU-TV’s infamous Bike Lanes to Nowhere piece stirred the pot and put local opposition to the project front and center. A few months later, a very angry and vocal crowd showed up at a public meeting hosted by PBOT to discuss the lanes. Local residents, organized in part by RestoreHolgate.com, were upset that PBOT did not give them enough warning about the project. They also complained that the new bike lanes weren’t used and that they increased congestion on the road.
Following a public meeting last week, Rick Bradford, the man behind a grassroots effort to get PBOT to remove the new buffered bike lanes on SE Holgate Blvd., remains unswayed in his opposition.
Bradford has posted an update on RestoreHolgate.com where he accuses PBOT of spinning the issues and facts at the Thursday night meeting that drew a standing room only crowd at Holgate Baptist Church. Saying the lanes are an “Adams sponsored blunder” (a reference to Portland Mayor Sam Adams) that have been “forced upon” their neighborhood, Bradford also calls into question the baseline data PBOT brought to the meeting.
If last night’s meeting at Holgate Baptist Church was any indication, PBOT has its work cut out for them in selling big bike projects to outer East Portland residents. The Holgate buffered bike lanes have become a lightning rod and many residents that live near them shared their anger over the project with City staffers last night.
A couple that lives near SE Holgate Ave east of I-205 has launched a grassroots effort to undo the City of Portland’s buffered bike lane project on that street. Rick and Trish Bradford are behind RestoreHolgate.com, a website that includes an online petition (which only nine people have signed since July 6th), forums, and information about the project.
The header of the site includes says it’s “A place for sharing ideas and information in our quest to return SE Holgate Boulevard to it’s Pre-“Buffered Bike Lane” state.”
Last week, the City of Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) held a public forum in the Lents Neighborhood to get feedback on their buffered bike lanes on SE Holgate Ave. The lanes have stirred a bit of controversy since being installed back in August 2009 and PBOT has heard complaints about the lanes from nearby residents and business owners.
Nearly 100 people showed up to the meeting to voice their feedback. Several people who were there reported that many of them were angry. Lents resident and journalist Nick Christensen said the vast majority “strongly opposed the bike lanes” and the prevailing sentiment in the room was, “We want our street back.”
While many people that love bikes in and around Portland are moving to the constant rhythm of Pedalpalooza, let us not forget that without attention to advocacy, the streets we dance on and ride naked upon wouldn’t be nearly as forgiving.
Beginning tonight and heading into next week, there are several advocacy issues worth your attention. Check them out below and consider getting involved…
The City of Portland Bureau of Transportation will hold a public meeting on June 22nd to hear feedback on the SE Holgate buffered bike lanes. The lanes were painted last August as part of a demonstration project along with similar lanes on SW Oak and Stark streets in downtown Portland.
Since the new lanes were installed, PBOT has heard loud and clear that not everyone who uses Holgate is thrilled with them. Back in May, KATU-TV did a prime-time ‘Special Report’ on the lanes, interviewing several disgruntled business owners and coining them the “bike lanes to nowhere.”
On their 11 o’clock newscast last night, KATU-TV (ABC in Portland) aired a special ‘On Your Side’ investigation titled, Bike Path to Nowhere. The segment focused on the buffered bike lanes that were installed on SE Holgate back in August. To give you a sense of the angle KATU took with this story, here’s the lead-in to the segment (which lasted just over 5 minutes):