Cycling News & Blog Articles

Grab a bike. Find some friends. Get out there. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

It’s almost Friday, time to plan your weekend.

Here are some fun things to do for bike lovers this weekend…

New to Portland Ride – 12:00 noon at SE Caruthers Plaza on Eastbank Esplanade (SE)
The City of Portland wants to welcome you to our wonderful biking scene with a classic ride around the Willamette River on some of our best paths. More info here.

Curated Winter Light Fest Ride – 6:45 pm at Oregon Convention Center (NE)
Join a Portlander who happens to have a huge sound system on their bike as they share a route of their favorite Winter Light Fest installations. Note: This ride isn’t part of the official festival. More info here.

A carfree path on NE 113th between Glisan and Oregon that Timur helped get built when he worked at PBOT. The path connects a neighborhood greenway to nearby schools via a planned signalized crossing. (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

I’m excited to bring you this interview-by-bike with Portland City Council District 1 candidate Timur Ender. Timur is running to represent east Portland and he invited me on a ride on Tuesday to get a closer look at his district.

I’ve known Timur since he was fresh out of Lewis & Clark Law School. He showed up to one of our Wonk Night events in February 2013. Timur was a volunteer for tactical urbanist group Better Block PDX and was one of the leading organizers of their Better Naito pilot project that ultimately became the official City of Portland project that we all love riding on today. Timur has worked as transportation policy advisor for former City Commissioner Steve Novick and served a five-year stint at PBOT as part of their capital project team.

In short, I could think of no better person to give me a tour of bike infrastructure in east Portland!

In this episode, you’ll hear Timur and I talk about various bikeway treatments and projects as we pedal a loop (view route map below) from NE Glisan and 102nd, down to SE Powell, then over to 162nd and up to Glendoveer Golf Course. (Don’t worry about getting lost, we call out cross streets at regular intervals. Also note that photos above are in order.) Hear how vital shortcuts and opportunism (like his idea to pave a path through gravel on NE 113th between Oregon and Glisan to connect to a planned new traffic signal as part of a Safe Routes to School project) are key to making cycling better in east Portland.

Gladys Bikes owner Cassie Hidalgo in 2021. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

Three well-known Portland bike shops will go through major changes in the coming weeks.

11 days from now there will no longer be a bike shop on SW 10th and Salmon. The Trek Portland Downtown store will close on February 18th and re-open March 1st in a new building 1.2 miles away. And Gladys Bikes, the small but mighty shop that opened on NE Alberta Street in 2014 plans to call it quits. And in a serendipitous cycling situation, Golden Pliers Bike Shop on NE Skidmore will move into the old Gladys Bikes location and take over their lease.

Trek Portland Slabtown will be the new name of the downtown Trek store and a major upgrade as they move out of an older building and into brand new digs on the corner of NW 21st and Raleigh. An employee at the downtown store told BikePortland he’s “pretty excited” about the move. “We had a lot of issues with all the normal downtown shenanigans. I’m looking forward to being in a part of a town that’s a little bit more alive, has more foot traffic, and maybe a little less open drug use.”

The lack of downtown commuters has hurt Trek Portland’s downtown location hard. The new location is in a fast-growing part of northwest where new, multi-story residences and numerous retail business have sprung up in the past few years. If your bike needs repairs, the shop plans to keep their service department open during the move and will send out a truck to pick-up and drop-off customer bikes.

The lovely crowd from last week. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

It’s Wednesday, and you know what that means… It’s time for Bike Happy Hour (BHH). This will be our 44th week! Hard to believe we are approaching a one-year anniversary.

Last week we had so much fun sharing time and space with Roo and Luis from Warpaint. Thanks to everyone who showed up and hung out with us in the Ankeny Rainbow Road plaza. Speaking of plazas, if you missed our latest “In the Shed” podcast, Eva and I talked about the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s 2023 Street Plaza Annual Report. In addition to the fun fact that 90% of over 2,000 people surveyed told PBOT they want these carfree spaces to continue. That’s a lot of support. Another fun nugget in the report is where PBOT gave a nice nod to Bike Happy Hour. Here’s an excerpt from the report:

“Among other events, Ankeny Rainbow Road proudly hosts the cherished “Bike Happy Hour”, which started this year. This weekly event, held Wednesday evenings, brings together cycling enthusiasts and community members in a celebration of urban cycling culture.”

Isn’t that nice?!

A fledgling nonprofit with an outlandish name that launched in Portland six years ago, now sees itself alongside 17 other organizations statewide who have come to the same conclusion: “Highway expansions are pulling our country into an environmental, budgetary, and public health crisis and it’s time to end this destructive, unsustainable practice and set a responsible course toward a cleaner and more equitable future.”

No More Freeways formed to fight the I-5 Rose Quarter project in 2017 and has been stalwart in its mission ever since. Today they are one of 195 organizations who signed onto a letter that pressures elected officials to put a moratorium on highway expansions. That line above is just the opening salvo in a call-to-action that not only demands no more freeways, but also offers a prescription to repair our ailing transportation infrastructure machine.

The organizations, led by national nonprofit America Walks, are marshaling their respective troops to contact lawmakers and urge them to pause all existing highway projects until climate, equity, and maintenance goals are met. This demand is similar to what Portland-based activists have been asking the Oregon Department of Transportation to do on the I-5 Rose Quarter project for years now: Complete a full and transparent environmental impact statement before investing more money and time into the wrong kind of project.

In today’s statement, the signees call for “community-first infrastructure” which they define as, “increasing frequent, reliable, and accessible public transportation; policies that build homes close to jobs and amenities; and making neighborhoods healthier, quieter, and safer.”

State Capitol building in Salem in 2009. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

Note: If you are aware of a transportation-related bill that’s not on this list, please contact me.

The 2024 session of the Oregon Legislature kicked off Monday and now there’s a 35-day sprint to make new laws before the gavel comes down. It’s a short session (Oregon only has full sessions on odd-numbered years), so pundits like to say the only things that will get attention are major bills from the most powerful players. But you never know, and judging by the hundreds of bills already filed, it appears many lawmakers are willing to roll the dice.

I’ve spent a bit of time wading through the Oregon Legislative Information System (OLIS) and have found a bunch of bills that have transportation implications. Note that there are some bills we expect to see that I could not track down. Those include: A funding request for safety upgrades on inner SE Powell Blvd; a change to bike lane law being pushed by trucker advocates, and a bill to clarify Oregon’s recreational immunity law. I’ll update the list below if/when I find those and any other bills that may come to my attention in the coming days.

Check out the list below to see the bills BikePortland will be keeping an eye on this session…

Barriers keep people out of bus lanes. (Photo: Smart Growth America)

Garrison Christian is a 20 year old undergraduate student at Portland State University. He is studying Urban Planning, with hopes of becoming a professional transportation planner.

Garrison Christian at a recent Bike Happy Hour. (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

As most of you already know, 82nd Avenue is going to be redesigned by the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) in the coming years. This is our chance to make it much better. In this post, I’ll share my ideas for how to achieve a safer, more equitable 82nd.

The street faces many challenges for safe transportation. 82nd is a high crash corridor, with multiple pedestrian deaths over the past 5 years, including one at SE Flavel Monday morning that marked the second one so far this year alone. Sidewalks along the corridor are particularly narrow, often with utility poles blocking the right-of-way. Many sidewalks lack ADA curb ramps, and 82nd is home to TriMet bus line 72, the highest ridership route in the entire Portland metro area.

PPB Traffic Division social media post. Inset: BikePortland Fatality Tracker yeart-to-date traffic death toll.

New roadside memorial sign program offers hope these deaths won’t go unnoticed.

On Sunday, February 4th at 8:46 pm, the Portland Police Bureau Traffic Division posted to X (formerly Twitter): “Extremely excessive speeds in Portland this week. Mustang: 137 in a 45 on Marine drive racing a motorcycle. BMW: 122 in a 60 at I-84/148th Ave.”

Three hours before that post, a pedestrian was killed by a car driver on SE Foster and 97th. And 24 hours after that post, two more people who were walking on Portland streets were hit and killed by car drivers. One of them was killed while walking on SE 82nd near Flavel in the early morning hours of Monday morning. The driver in that collision did not stop and police are still looking for the suspect. The other person was killed while walking at NE Gertz Road and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd on Monday evening. Police who responded to that scene said they received calls about, “a person struck by multiple vehicles.”

The deaths on 82nd Avenue underscore the urgency for design changes being drawn up by the Portland Bureau of Transportation, and help explain why many local advocates don’t feel the city is going far enough to keep people safe.

Last week’s post about PBOT’s newly released design for 82nd Avenue brought out an interesting bunch of comments. I liked reading all of them, I think because they were so authentic. Not too much internet grandstanding, mainly just people sharing their thoughts. Altogether a “no drama” group of responses.

There was one calm comment which has kept worming its way into my mind over the past few days. Clearly this commenter hadn’t yet picked up that confident and commanding internet “voice.” The comment’s lack of bombast was endearing, even kind of soothing.

Here’s what a commenter named “E” had to say about bike riders on 82nd:

I live near 82nd closer to the southern city limit and drive on 82nd often for groceries/shopping. I see more people biking on 82nd (they have to use the inadequately narrow sidewalk to do so) than on some other commercial streets in Portland. Whereas I would never want to bike along that street in its present form, my guess is that a lot of people are forced to bike on it to get to businesses that serve their basic needs or to and from work. At the same time, I think these folks are hardly going to participate in PBOT’s outreach sessions and take the time to fill out surveys or make their voices heard. I think that there is a real need for bike facilities along 82nd, which would most likely not be reflected in PBOT data.

Welcome to the week.

Here are the most notable stories our community came across in the past seven days…

Sad but true: Really important deep dive into the data and demographic trends that have led to the “end of the school bus era” and the explosion of really terrible school pick-up lines. (Washington Post)

Dutch formula: Figured we can always use another reminder of why so many people bike in Dutch cities: Driving is hard and inconvenient and biking and transit are easy and convenient. (Global Cycling News)

Three more platforms like this one in front of the Schnitz are being built this month. (Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

If you see city construction crews tearing up the bike lane on SW Broadway through downtown, don’t fear. They are not removing the protected bike lanes so many riders depend on for their safety every day. The work is part of an expected project from the Portland Bureau of Transportation to install new loading zone platforms.

If you recall from our coverage back in late September, before the big Broadway bike lane kerfluffle, PBOT was talking to managers and operators of hotels along the street about how to mitigate safety concerns voiced by valet staff, guests, and road users. As early as March 2023, PBOT staff told hotel operators they could receive the same type of loading platform in front of their business that the city had already installed in front of Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. The platforms raise the bike lane to sidewalk level, include green color for added visibility, and provide easier access to business entrances for people who park adjacent to the bike lane. The combination of the ramp, along with more robust signage and pavement markings increase awareness of the potential conflict zone for all users: valet staff, hotel guests, and bicycle riders.

PBOT announced on Monday they’ve begun construction on three new platforms. At a cost of about $90,000 each, they’ll be installed in front of the Benson (SW Oak), Heathman (SW Salmon), and Vance (SW Columbia) hotels. Each location should take about two weeks to build and you should expect a work zone environment as you cycle through. PBOT hopes to button up construction by mid-March. Final pavement markings won’t be done until spring because crews need dryer, warmer weather to install the materials.

In addition to building these platforms, PBOT said back in September they would release an evaluation of issues on SW Broadway and proposed upgrades that reflect the concerns from the public and business operators Commissioner Mingus Mapps and PBOT Director Millicent Williams used as justification for their planned changes. That evaluation would come with public outreach so a true, community-wide conversation could be had about how to improve SW Broadway. Three new signal upgrades at SW Oak, Taylor and Jefferson to separate bicycle through traffic from right-turning cars were also promised.

Portland City Council District 2 (N/NE) candidate Mariah Hudson joined me for a brief interview today. I was first introduced to Mariah through her role as chair of the PBOT Bureau & Budget Advisory Committee. When I heard she was running for council and was a daily rider who bikes with young kids, I knew I had to chat with her.

The interview above (and just posted to the BP YouTube channel, which you should subscribe to!) is part of a new series, “15 Minutes With” where I chat with interesting folks for 15 minutes (or so). Thanks for your patience while I dial things in and make this part of our regular offerings. I’ve got an exciting list of folks I want to talk to; but if you’ve got ideas or want to be interviewed yourself, please send me an email – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Now, back to Mariah…

In our interview she shares that she’s got two kids in Portland Public Schools (first and seventh grades) and is a daily bike commuter from the Alameda neighborhood to OHSU where she works in public health communications. Mariah is also on the PPS budget committee and has served as a leader of the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods. Asked why she’s running for council, Mariah said, “To try and make a difference, to clean up the city, to help people with safety so that my kids and others will want to live here and can afford to live here in the future.”

Mariah rides a Rad Power Radwagon, longtail e-cargo bike and said, “It’s been a game changer, especially in terms of going into work.” Having the e-bike has made her 10-mile round trip commute often quicker than driving and she can show up to work without being sweaty.

The recent weather and this shot from the Rose Ride on June 16th, 2023 has me pining for spring! (Photo: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

Happy weekend everyone! Remember, I always appreciate an email or other message about the event you’re hosting or ride you’re leading. I try to track everything, but I sometimes miss stuff.

Also, Sunday is fareless transit citywide thanks to TriMet and their efforts to honor Rosa Parks, a Black woman who changed the course of history when she refused to give up her seat to a white man on a segregated city bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955.

Have fun planning your weekend!

WeBike Winter Light Fest Ride – 6:00 pm at Lloyd Center (NE)
Enjoy a fun route on opening night of the PDX Winter Light Fest. This ride is “for anyone who does not benefit from cis male privilege.” More info here.

The Portland Bureau of Transportation has released fresh renderings of the future 82nd Avenue that they plan to break ground on this summer. With a total of $185 million in funding spread across several concurrent projects, PBOT says they’ve reached a major milestone on the biggest piece of the puzzle: the $55 million 82nd Avenue Critical Fixes: Major Maintenance project that will bring changes to a 2.5-mile stretch of the road in southeast and northeast Portland.

We last checked on this project in March 2023. On Wednesday, PBOT released updated plans that bring the project up to a 60% design completion level.

In a statement yesterday, PBOT said this project will bring, “transformative maintenance upgrades” to two separate sections of 82nd Ave: from NE Fremont to Schuyler, and SE Mill to Foster. The city plans to completely rebuild and repave some sections of the roadway from the ground up and build new or updated traffic signals and safer crossings at 10 intersections (more crossings and signals are planned as part of a separate project). This project also includes new center medians, 250 new street trees (up from 138 back in March), and repair or construction of 15,000 linear feet of sidewalk.

Two of the crossings — at SE Lafayette and Raymond — will look like this. Note the red stamped bricks and setback of trees at intersections to allow emergency vehicle access.