A BikePortland Get Together in Tigard in 2010. The city’s trail system consistently ranks highly for state grants.
(Photo: J.Maus/BikePortland)

As we reported Wednesday, Portland’s proposed Flanders Crossing Active Transportation Bridge across Interstate 405 made the cut for probable funding from a two-year, $45 million state program.

On Friday, the state released a full list of 75 project rankings from the final review committee for the lottery-backed Connect Oregon program.

Of those, 37 fit into the top-priority $45 million worth of projects.

[Read more…]

(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

The Bicycle Transportation Alliance’s campaign to get walking and biking education and infrastructure to public schools across the Portland metro area got two strong boosts this month.

In successive unanimous council resolutions, the suburban cities of Milwaukie and Tigard voted on March 17 and 24 to ask the Metro regional government to dedicate funding to programs like the ones currently enjoyed by many Portland elementary and middle schools.

“Our goal is for Tigard to be the most walkable community in the Pacific Northwest where people of all ages and abilities live healthy, interconnected lives,” Tigard Mayor John Cook said in a BTA news release. “Providing a safe route to school for every kid is essential to the health and safety of our community.”

Various Milwaukie and Tigard residents had more to say in the BTA’s release:[Read more…]

The blue dashed lane along the south bank of the Tualatin River shows a future trail connection that might be funded by $1.6 million in state lottery proceeds.
(Image: City of Tualatin)

A mixed-use path link in Tualatin is among the top contenders for a lottery-funded state grant program that includes biking and walking projects for the first time this year.

The 0.8-mile, Tualatin River Greenway gap completion project is faring well in the state’s competitive Connect Oregon program because it creates a low-stress link to jobs and retail across Interstate 5 for 67,000 nearby residents. It’d cost $3.1 million; Tualatin is hoping half will come from Connect Oregon.

Also performing well in early (and still flexible) rankings for Connect Oregon’s state lottery dollars are the proposed Tigard Street Trail, which would convert an unused rail alignment to a walking/biking path along SW Tigard Street from SW Main Street to SW Tiedeman Avenue, and a TriMet proposal to add secure bike parking and safe track crossings at the Beaverton Creek and Goose Hollow MAX stations.

[Read more…]

Biking on Barbur Boulevard.
(Photos by J.Maus/BikePortland)

An anti-transit vote in Tigard Tuesday could bite bike plans, too.

When Tigard voters narrowly approved a ballot issue this week designed to make it harder to build a light rail or rapid bus line through their city, they also threw a wrench in a different process: improving biking in the suburbs southwest of Portland.

Metro’s Southwest Corridor Plan, a 20-year effort to expand high-capacity transit down the Barbur Boulevard corridor potentially as far as Sherwood, has also been seen as a way to get state and federal funding for a related project: a flat, comfortable bike route through the area such as a physically protected bike lane on Barbur Boulevard.

[Read more…]

Officer Enzenberger sits in his patrol car (yellow arrow) across from illegally parked vehicles (red arrow).
(Photos: Will Vanlue)

As I was out riding this morning I passed by what is unfortunately a common sight in Tigard: landscaping trucks blocking the bike lane on Durham Road. What made today’s incident different was that a Tigard Police car was sitting almost directly across the road from where the trucks were illegally parked.[Read more…]

Downtown Tigard will soon be
more welcoming to bicycle traffic.
(Photos: Will Vanlue)

This past summer, the City of Tigard completed improvements to Burnham Street, one component of their downtown core.

Now they’re finalizing plans for Main Street (located along Highway 99, 10 miles south of downtown Portland), and by the summer of 2013 we’ll see improvements making it easier and safer to ride a bicycle in the area, including improved connections to the Fanno Creek Trail.[Read more…]

Is this a cycle track?
Not quite.
(Photos: Will Vanlue)

You may not think the city of Tigard (about 10 miles southwest of Portland) has anything in common with Amsterdam or Copenhagen.

The latter two cities are world-renowned for their bicycle facilities while Tigard is known mostly for its freeways and shopping malls.

But there is one thing Tigard has in common with Amsterdam and Copehnahgen: a paved, grade-separated path next to a sidewalk, which you might even call a “cycle track”.

If you’ve ridden your bicycle along Durham Road between SW 85th and 92nd Avenues you may have seen a double sidewalk, of sorts, in front of Tigard High School. One half is cement, the other half is asphalt.
[Read more…]

New racks have been installed
in downtown Tigard.
(Photo: WTA)

Remember Tigard? It’s a great little town about 10 miles southwest of Portland. Back in January we held a great Get Together event at a pub right alongside the Fanno Creek Trail. The room was packed with advocates, city staffers, and even a few politicians.

Today, I’m happy to share a few news items that show how Tigard continues to move in the right direction for bikes. [Read more…]

Washington County Commissioner
Dick Schouten addresses the
crowd in Tigard last night.
(Photos © J. Maus)

If the energy and turnout at our Get Together in Tigard last night is any indication, the West Side is poised for big leaps in biking in the coming years — but it won’t come easy.

About 60 people filled the back room at the Fanno Creek Brew Pub on Main Street in downtown Tigard. The turnout was diverse — from Tigard Mayor Craig Dirksen to local bike shop owners, and even a few Portland residents who work in the area.[Read more…]

Trails and how they (don’t) cross big
roads is likely to be one of many
topics we’ll discuss.
(Photos © J. Maus)

Our Get Together in Tigard this Wednesday (1/27) is shaping up quite nicely. We’ve got a slew of interesting folks joining us and there will be no shortage of important issues, projects, and big ideas to learn about and discuss.

As per usual with these events, the idea is for citizens, bureaucrats (and I mean that in the best way possible) and politicians to mix and mingle and learn from each other. On that note, here are a few of the confirmed attendees so far.
[Read more…]