Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt, center, joined
the crowd trying out a newly right-sized
MacArthur Boulevard Saturday.
(Photos: Dan Packard)

“Like it a lot.” “Love it!” “Feels a lot safer!” “Freakin’ FANTASTIC!”

These were some of the comments from people on a bike ride Saturday along the newly restriped, right-sized MacArthur Boulevard in Vancouver, Wash. After months of advocacy and activism, people who use bikes finally have a model transportation corridor along a portion of the major east/west bicycle route across the southern part of Vancouver.

Mayor Tim Leavitt was one of the approximately 35 people who joined the ride of the new buffered bike lanes. Speaking afterward, he said, “I’m very pleased with the outcome of all the public involvement and advocacy. This new configuration really improves connectivity and safety for everyone who uses the road. And this is just the beginning for this community and will be an example of a smart, safe transportation corridor.”

As part of a restriping project along MacArthur, the city had initially proposed sharrows as a way to appease both people concerned about a sub-standard shoulder for bikes and people who wanted to keep two lanes of auto traffic in each direction, even though the road is very lightly traveled.

[Read more…]

A big crowd showed up to learn more about the project.
(Photos: Jacob Brostoff)

A Washington state legislator, the bicycle-pedestrian coordinator for the Washington State Dept. of Transportation, the mayor of Vancouver and several city council members and council candidates and representatives of the Port of Vancouver and the US Congress were among the more than 70 people who turned out Friday afternoon for a ride supporting a new cycle path along NW Lower River Road in Vancouver. Speakers touted the benefits of a new path, and urged community residents and leaders to push for additional funding to speed up its completion.
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Advocates want a safer and more pleasant way
to ride along Lower River Road.
(Photos: Todd Bachmann)

This story was written by our Vancouver correspondent, Madeleine von Laue.

Bicycle activists in Vancouver are organizing a ride with elected officials along Lower River Road this Friday (8/23). The ride is an attempt to raise support for a project that would complete the path along the high-speed road that connects downtown with popular recreation areas west of town such as Vancouver Lake and Frenchman’s Bar along the Columbia River. The Port of Vancouver recently received a federal grant to construct one segment of the path, and advocates want to build on that momentum. [Read more…]

This just in from our Vancouver, Washington correspondent Madeleine von Laue:

If you’re suffering from Sunday Parkways withdrawal, relief is in sight. Vancouver is hosting its first open streets event this coming Sun, August 18, 11am-4pm. Sunday Streets Alive will open up the downtown, Officers Row through the National Historic Reserve, streets by Marshall Center and Clark College and the uptown neighborhood. The route goes near a lively Farmers’ Market, and fun activities are planned in parks along the way – Zumba, circus classes, pet shows stilt walking, disc golf. Music of course will waft through the air, and food booths will feed hungry participants.

The route and one of the activity centers are just a short five blocks from the I-5 bridge. Vancouver is also served by public transportation; the yellow line Max stop at Delta park has a C-TRAN bus connection to downtown Vancouver.

Organizers still need volunteers to make the event a success. In addition to providing critical support, volunteers will of course also have time to enjoy the fun! To find out how to volunteer or get more information about the event, visit www.sundaystreetsalive.org.

Sunday Streets Alive website.

This article was written by our Vancouver contributor Madeleine von Laue.

Vancouver residents won’t have to cross the I-5 bridge to participate in a Sunday Parkways event this summer, nor will runners or skaters or anyone else; the City of Vancouver’s very own first Sunday Streets Alive will spin to life August 18, bringing fun and frolicking to approximately four miles of streets through downtown and adjacent neighborhoods.
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MacArthur Blvd

The City of Vancouver has just announced that the entire stretch of MacArthur Blvd from East Mill Plain to South Lieser Road will have a dedicated bike lane.

Thanks to the diligence and perseverance of activists and local bike riders, the city reversed an earlier decision to remove bike lanes and replace them with sharrows along a popular bike commuter and recreational route, and is now planning a ‘right-sized’ road with one lane of traffic and a buffered bike lane in each direction. “The reconfigured MacArthur will continue to meet the needs of the current traffic volumes,” reads the City’s project website, “while allowing for full bike lanes in each direction.”
[Read more…]

A Monkey Shield sticker probably
won’t keep thieves off your
bike, but it might get it back.

Across the river in Vancouver, police, a bike shop and a local bike advocate sat down over beers and came up with a smart, simple, free program to help recover stolen bikes.

Here’s how it works, starting this month: When you buy a frame from Bad Monkey Bikes in Vancouver’s Uptown Village area, Bad Monkey enters your bike’s serial number and contact info in their database and applies a special “Monkey Shield” sticker to show that it’s done so.

“When the police or C-Tran or any department recovers a bicycle and it has that Bad Monkey sticker, then they know it’s registered and know to call me,” shop manager Wade Leckie said Thursday.

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This should do the trick.
(Photo: Bob Kofstad/Washington DOT)

Last month, a woman driving a medium-sized sedan somehow managed to travel nearly two miles on the I-205 bike path before she panicked and a passerby on a bike called 911.

And it turns out this was the second such incident in the past few months. That’s what I heard today from Washington Department of Transportation spokeswoman Abbi Russell. I contacted WSDOT a few weeks ago after a reader told me that bollards had gone up at the entry to the path on SE 23rd Street. I was finally able to confirm that today with the man who put them there.
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MacArthur Blvd south of Mill Plain Blvd with MacMcLoughlin Middle School in the background.

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10 of these bikes, as well as six others, remain missing.
(Photo: Bike Clark County)

The Vancouver Police Department announced this morning that they have arrested two men for stealing bicycles that were used by non-profit Bike Clark County (BCC) in their kids programs.

From the VPD media release:

… they arrested Matthew Robert Smith, 27 and Jory John Aultman, 19. They were booked for Burglary II and Trafficking Stolen Property… One bicycle was recovered and other bicycles are believed to still be in the neighborhood. Anyone with information on these bicycles, or the burglary, is asked to call Vancouver Police Det. Adam Millard at (360) 487-7449. The investigation is continuing.

[Read more…]