Cycling News & Blog Articles

On Monday Multnomah County gave us our best view yet of what the biking might feel like on the new Burnside Bridge.

As we’ve been reporting, the planning process for the “earthquake ready” bridge is slowly but surely marching along. This week the County released a survey to garner public feedback on the bridge design and how to manage traffic during construction.

Along with the survey they released a video with concept drawings that show how the new bikeway might look alongside various design options.

Here are a few more stills I pulled from the video:

A concrete wall and fence that’s been blocking travel lanes in downtown Portland for about two weeks is still up, and the City of Portland is tallying fines it intends to collect from the federal government for putting it there.

The Trump administration erected the fence to protect the U.S. Courthouse, but they never received a permit from the Portland Bureau of Transportation to do so. The fence partially blocks a lane of traffic on SW 3rd Avenue and fully blocks a traffic lane on SW Main. Both blockages create safety hazards for road users.

BikePortland was first to report on the fence on July 22nd, before the Portland Bureau of Transportation had weighed in on the matter. A day after we questioned why PBOT wasn’t defending their traffic lanes and sidewalks outside the U.S. Courthouse on SW 3rd and Main, they issued a statement calling for the fence to be removed and sent a cease and desist letter to the regional director of the U.S. General Services Administration signed by the City Attorney.

(A sampling of Portland’s new, on-street dining options. Click for captions, scroll down for many more. All photos by Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)

I’m a big fan of anything that forces people to think about the impacts driving has on our lives — especially when it comes to how much of our streets and public spaces are dominated by cars. That’s why I’m a huge supporter of the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s Healthy Business permit program.

On a recent sunny Saturday I rode around town and was amazed to see just how successful this program has become. On street after street, I saw dining tables, chairs, umbrellas, and lounging spaces on what used to be parking spots and traffic lanes. These were serene sights in a city many believed was “under siege” in a war between “violent anarchist mobs” and police.

Since it was launched in May, PBOT staff have worked furiously to keep up with demand. So far they’ve issued a jaw-dropping 657 permits.

Similar to their sidewalk cafe permit, PBOT (and their partners at the Bureau of Development Services, who oversees parking lots) is giving business owners relatively free rein to use parking spots, parking lots, and streets to seat customers. In response, opportunistic Portlanders are creating new commercial spaces with a wide array of materials. Some are framing-in sturdy structures with foundations and roofs, others are simply placing a few chairs and some rope in the street.

When the City of Portland launches Biketown 2.0 next month, the 1,000 bikes that were part of the original launch in 2016 will be cast aside. The Portland Bureau of Transportation says the analog, pedal-only bikes are “out of date” and “very expensive and impractical to retrofit.”

That’s about $1.6 million worth of bicycles with plenty of miles in them that could be put to use at a time when bicycling is booming and shops are having a hard time keeping bikes in stock.

For those of you wondering why they can’t be integrated into the new system, PBOT Commissioner Chloe Eudaly responded to questions about that prior to City Council’s vote on the new contract last week.

One of the most ambitious street plazas to come out of the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s Healthy Business program began taking shape today in the Kenton neighborhood.

With detailed plans (PDF) that will route car drivers and temporarily detour a TriMet bus line to Interstate Avenue, volunteers working with the Kenton Business Association (KBA) will transform North Denver Avenue. One lane will be painted with a colorful geometric shape pattern and remain open for (non-driving) traffic so bicycle riders, walkers, and others can get through. The rest of the street will feature a “public lounge” area with tables and chairs, a “fitness zone”, “sanitation station,” spaces for on-street retail shopping and a public art installation titled “Hall of Injustice” that features portraits of Black people killed by police.

KBA President Maureen Bachmann says she and her staff have worked on the project since May. “With the closure comes a safe, distanced plaza for neighbors and residents to come out and enjoy Kenton’s shops and restaurants along with creative amenities like a painted mural down the street and outdoor art installations,” Bachmann said in a statement.

“Pedal Through” is a new short film (watch it below) that captures breathtaking footage of three women riding some of Oregon’s best mountain bike trails. But what’s even more memorable about this adventure were the people doing the riding.

29-year-old Portland-based filmmaker Analise Cleopatra decided to jump head-first into a bikepacking trip even though she’d never mountain biked or camped. Despite that, she and photographer Aly Nicklas applied for — and received — a grant through the Oregon Made Creative Foundation to do a multi-day ride through Central Oregon. Joining this pair were Cleopatra’s friend Dejuanae Toliver and professional mountain biker Brooklyn Bell.

Here’s more about their trip from a report posted on Travel Oregon’s website:

After three years at the helm of The Street Trust, Executive Director Jillian Detweiler plans to leave the organization. “It is the right time for me to step down,” she said in a statement released Friday.

The Street Trust, which was known as the Bicycle Transportation Alliance before a name and mission change in 2016, is a Portland-based nonprofit that aims to improve bicycling, walking, and transit.

Instead of searching for a new leader, The Street Trust has named three current staffers to new “co-director” positions. Current Advocacy Director Richa Poudyal, Development Director Tia Sherry, and Director of Finance and Operations Greg Sutliff will “embrace a new leadership model.” The staffers will maintain their current responsibilities and split ED duties.

“The response to combined economic, public health, climate, and social justice crises must drive transformation to a just community rather than restore a normal that was not working for so many,” Detweiler said about her departure. “The Street Trust will promote its mission with a management team that shares power and reflects the changes we would like to see in society.”

Thanks for your understanding while I was away last week. I’m excited to be back at it and have lots of stories and content to share.

Here are the most noteworthy items we came across in the past seven days (thanks everyone for sending in link suggestions!)…

Bike repair subsidies: The British government has prescribed cycling as a Covid-19 prevention measure and they’ve backed that up with a bike repair voucher plan.

Go ahead and ride: New research says riding public transit is relatively safe and that major systems across the U.S. have not spread coronavirus among riders.

Sorry I didn’t share this sooner, but I’ve been on vacation all week. I appreciate all your messages of concern and I can assure you that BikePortand is alive and well and will return to full strength on Monday.

I was reluctant to share this here because I usually work during family time and trips and I figured that would be the case this time as well. However, given that I need to re-connect with my family and make space to enjoy my 20th wedding anniversary (!) I decided to just take a real break. I’m not even reading the news!

See you back here on Monday.

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Welcome to the week.

Here are the most notable items we came across in the past seven days.

Onion’s overpass: Terribly on-point piece in The Onion about a new government program to provide shelter to evictees via a 35-mile overpass.

Big PR for antiracist planners: A planning firm led by Black women that aims to atone for racism by changing how cities are designed and built earned major airtime on ABC’s Good Morning America.

As if we didn’t have enough on our plates, now a heat wave is coming.

Given that we’re in the midst of a surge in biking and many of you might not have been through a hot summer season before, it’s worth thinking ahead about how to stay comfortable when cycling gets sweaty.

Biking in the heat is no joke — especially if you’re wearing a mask or some other type of face covering that could make you even hotter. Before I share a few of our best hot biking tips, I want to share a story I heard from a reader this week.

Doug H. was biking toward the Springwater path in Sellwood Riverfront Park on Tuesday when he saw a man fall over while biking. According to Doug, the 68-year-old man suffered from a heat stroke and then later died of cardiac arrest. It was 90-degrees at the time of the incident.

A local community group is helping fuel the local bike boom and make sure there are more people of color taking part in it.

Friends on Bikes (FOB) was founded in 2017 by Molly Sugar and Gritchelle Fallesgon with a goal to build a more welcoming community in Portland for Black, indigenous, and people of color who are women, trans, or gender non-conforming. In the past three years they’ve held many rides and events — from sunset cruises to adventurous bikecamping trips. Now they’ve launched a “Bike Match” program to help people in need of a bike join in the fun.

Hello BikePortlanders.

It’s been difficult for me to give my full attention to bicycling and transportation-related news for a while now. To say there are a lot of important things going on is an understatement. And yes, because I bleed bike grease, I can tie almost anything back to cycling if I really want to.

But this is not one of those times.

The Portland Bureau of Transportation says a metal fence and concrete barriers installed around the Federal Courthouse yesterday are illegal and they’ve sent a cease and desist letter to the United States General Services Administration demanding that it be removed.

As we reported Wednesday, the unpermitted fence blocks an entire lane on Southwest Main Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenue — a section PBOT said in a statement is, “One of the busiest bike routes in the United States.”

“The City Attorney’s Office offered legal guidance that the installation blocking the bike lane and other parts of the public right of way are violations of City Code and Transportation Administrative Rules designed to protect the safety of the traveling public,” a PBOT statement said.

In a letter (below) from Chief Deputy City Attorney Robert Taylor to Roy Atwood, Region 10 Administrator for the U.S. General Services Administration, PBOT threatens legal action, fines, and “other remedies” if the fence is not removed.

The Oregon Department of Transportation is trying.

The agency that’s pushing to expand freeways throughout the Portland region and has become Oregon’s de facto advocacy organization for car users, wants to be seen as innovative and nimble; but a situation in the city of Hood River shows the lengths businesses had to go just to use a few curbside parking spaces on one of the agency’s state highways.

Earlier this month businesses along Hood River’s main drag of Oak Street started building “street seat” installations to give customers more space to eat and drink. The efforts were part of a parklet permit program launched by the City of Hood River at the end of June.

The weekend is almost here and it’s going to be a wild one. The fun starts tonight with an educational ride you don’t want to miss.

If you’ve been wondering where this usually-weekly post has gone, it’s been sporadic of late with the absence of events due to virus fears. But folks are slowly gaining comfort and confidence (which is good or bad, depending on your perspective) and listings are starting to trickle back onto our calendar. If you go out, please be prepared for the heat and take health precautions!

Thursday, July 23rd

Ride the Redline – 5:30 pm at Stormbreaker Brewing (N)
No we’re not talking about the MAX line. This physically-distanced bike ride around northeast Portland will educate you about the racist policies that denied bank loans to certain parts of the city — that just so happened to be where the majority of Black people lived. More info here.

Friday, July 24th

Unity Ride: Killer Queens and Working Bees – 6:00 pm at Waterfront Park (SW)
This ride is billed as a space where all Women/Trans/Femme/Non Binary people will feel welcome. It’s also a benefit for North Portland bike shop owner Rachel Cameron who was injured and assaulted by police while walking home from a protest last week. More info here.

(The fence completely blocks a travel lane on SW Main and partially blocks a lane on SW 3rd.)

The Trump administration’s military occupation of Portland has expanded into the public right-of-way. And so far, the City of Portland is letting it happen.

Today, federal employees installed a massive steel fence anchored by concrete barricades around the U.S. courthouse on Southwest Main. The wall creates a complete blockage of a city-owned sidewalk and travel lane. Bicycle riders are being forced out of the bike lane and into the adjacent lane and people on foot are walking in the roadway (toward oncoming traffic).

The wall is just the latest unwanted incursion by federal troops since they arrived in Portland in late June and it demonstrates their continued disregard for local laws, property, and human life. City streets are public assets and should not be permitted to be used by federal authorities without a clear explanation or justification.

The Portland Bureau of Transportation has ended a 15-year partnership with the Portland Police Bureau that centered around the enforcement of Oregon’s crosswalk law.

Since 2005 PBOT has conducted “pedestrian crosswalk education and enforcement actions” with the PPB. But in recent years conversations around the enforcement of traffic laws and concerns about racial profiling by police officers have intensified.

At a meeting of the City of Portland Pedestrian Advisory Committee last night, PBOT Traffic Safety Section Manager Dana Dickman said City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly asked the bureau to stop working with police.

“There had been concerns about secondary violations,” Dickman told the committee. “People were being pulled over for failure-to-yield, but during the stop they are cited for lack of insurance or a suspended license. And then the citations rack up… There was a concern we are potentially bringing people into a much more serious situation, impacting them financially, and bringing them into a legal situation in a way we didn’t intend… Our commissioner and community members felt that was potentially punitive.”

Amid the excitement around the City of Portland’s big bike share upgrade announced last week, one key detail deserves more scrutiny: The price to use the new electric Biketown bikes will be much higher.

City officials say it’ll be worth it, they’ll monitor usage impacts, and adjust pricing if necessary. Some existing users are disappointed and advocates say they weren’t consulted prior to the price increase and fear it could dampen enthusiasm and restrict access to the system.

Old versus new