Cycling News & Blog Articles

We will never have “safe streets” until everyone feels safe using them. That ostensibly obvious and simple concept has become anything but in the past few months since George Floyd was choked to death by a police officer in Minneapolis.

Whether you are Black or brown and/or exercising your First Amendment rights — our streets and public spaces have become nightly battlegrounds in a fight for basic rights. For over 50 days now Portland has responded to the urgent need for reform of racist policies and an unaccountable, over-militarized police bureau by hosting dozens of weekly gatherings, protests, marches, and direct actions. This outpouring of community organizing and resiliency has only gotten stronger as the failings of Mayor Ted Wheeler to control the PPB and protect our city from Trump’s secret police become more apparent with each passing day.

The lack of competent, forceful leadership from city hall and the domestic terrorism by Trump’s troops has led a growing number of Portlanders — from an ever-widening slice of our population — to hit the streets. The ranks of the bicycle brigade that protects protestors from car and truck drivers has swelled, new activist groups have sprung up overnight, veteran protestors have become more organized, mutual aid groups have stepped up in support, and local journalists have kept us informed.

The way I see it, participation in this resistance isn’t optional. We can either sit idly by and let Trump’s fascist dreams become reality or we can stand up and fight back.

Welcome to the week.

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

Big Biden energy: Transportation reform advocates seem cautiously optimistic about Presidential hopeful Joe Biden’s $2 trillion energy plan that would create a new Environmental and Climate Justice Division within the Department of Justice (among other things).

What biking looks like: The pandemic-fueled bike boom and fight for racial justice have helped break many molds, one of which is the idea that riding is only the domain of the “stale, pale and male”. When Conde Nast Traveler does a piece about “the women finding joy in cycling this summer,” you know we’re having a moment.

Hi! My name is Maria Schur and I work as the national sales representative for HGNR, which is the Portland-based, U.S. distributor of Dumonde Tech bicycle lubrication products.

If you’ve heard of me around town as Bicycle Kitty, recall my Forest Park commute back in 2012, or read my articles here on BikePortland, you know I’m not new to being a bike geek. My journey through the bike industry has included roles like managing a bicycle tire outlet store, planning and leading rides, hosting flat repair clinics, maintaining e-commerce sites, fitting and training children on bicycles, and now, chain lube!

After sharing our products with some of BikePortland’s subscribers, Jonathan offered me this platform to share more about the wonderful world of bicycle lube. (Note from Jonathan: “It’s true. Since taking Maria’s lube advice and using Dumonde, my drivetrains are super clean and quiet. Everyone should know about this stuff!”)

In what’s being hailed as an unprecedented moment for regional transportation reform, Metro Council voted unanimously on Thursday to adopt the Get Moving 2020 plan and send it to voters in November.

Centered around 17 “investment corridors,” the plan could pump nearly $8 billion into regional transportation infrastructure and programs over the next 20 years. If approved, the measure would start generating revenue in 2022 with a 0.75% payroll tax paid by employers of businesses with over 25 employees. Metro’s latest pitch has framed the proposal as a massive jobs package that will put over 37,500 people to work with high-paying construction and consulting jobs.

Metro spent over 18 months negotiating the details of this package. While it’s not perfect and has received very mixed reviews from transportation reform activists, the overall feeling seems to be that the myriad benefits of the “good” projects and programs far outweigh the few “bad” projects that made the cut.

Some of the good includes:

Two new listings this week.

Learn more about each one via the links below…

– Certified Bike Tech – REI Hillsboro

– Shipping Specialist – Velotech, Inc.

The long-awaited and much-delayed bike path on North Greeley Avenue is finally coming together.

After years of starts-and-stops, the Portland Bureau of Transportation broke ground in October and expects to be finished “mid-summer”.

Greeley matters because it’s a key connection from downtown and the Broadway Bridge/Rose Quarter area to north Portland. With North Williams Avenue being too far east for people traveling to University Park and St. Johns neighborhoods and the bike lanes on North Interstate being unsafe, narrow, and unprotected, Greeley has always had immense potential. With this new protected bike lane, we might finally have a viable, low-stress north-south route to the peninsula.

[Please note: This path is not yet finished and PBOT has not given the “all clear” sign for full public use.]

After 16 months of meetings and planning, the Metro Council will decide at their meeting today whether or not to refer a $7 billion package of transportation investments to the ballot in November.

Get Moving 2020 is being framed as a job creation measure that will put people back to work to build a slew of infrastructure projects across the region. Metro says the list of projects and programs will cost $4 billion and would leverage nearly $3 billion more in federal funding. To pay that local amount, the initiative would be funded with a 0.75% payroll tax on employers with over 25 employees and would kick-in starting January 2022. The package of investments are supported by a broad coalition of elected leaders and transportation, environmental, racial and social equity groups.

In a letter of support written on July 7th (PDF), members of the Getting There Together Coalition wrote, “We recognize the opportunity we have right now to come together around a community-built plan, to begin to take meaningful action that builds a more equitable transportation system that works for all.”

Some activists think the measure invests too heavily in the SW Corridor MAX Light Rail Project and doesn’t go far enough to balance the modal playing field. Of the 16 corridors that would be funded, the MAX line would is pegged to receive nearly $1 billion of it. Beyond that project however, the measure would invest an unprecedented amount in key corridors like Tualatin-Valley Highway, 82nd Avenue, the lower Albina area, and others. If passed by voters it would fully fund PBOT’s Central City in Motion network of protected bike lanes.

We’re in a strange phase of this pandemic: Infections and deaths are going up while many peoples’ familiarity with the virus and eagerness for normalcy is causing them to let their guard down.

This is definitely true with the local bike scene.

After all but shutting down in-person rides and events for the past few months, things are coming back to life. People are hosting group rides again and I’ve seen an uptick in informal group training rides with people rolling along in the traditional shoulder-to-shoulder paceline style — with no masks in sight.

As we all try to make the best decisions for our own health and the health of others, I want to make everyone is aware that as of yesterday (7/15), the Oregon Health Authority issued new guidance (PDF) about the use of masks. Here’s the part about being outdoors:

WATCH – Portland Police officers knock a protester off of his bicycle and arrest him outside of Lownsdale Square Park near the Federal Courthouse downtown #LiveOnK2 pic.twitter.com/tow0GzeyzW

— Dan McCarthy (@DanMcKATU) July 16, 2020

A disturbing video shot by a KATU news reporter this morning shows a Portland Police officer throwing a person off their bike. The incident happened on the southwest corner of Southwest 4th and Main.

In the video the bicycle riders rolls north on SW 4th. The context of what happened prior to the violent tackling of the bicycle rider is unclear; but it does not appear that the person was being aggressive or otherwise threatening to the officers. It’s also hard to tell if the rider was given any clear, audible warning before the violent attack by the officers. Regardless, this behavior from Portland Police is totally unacceptable and should not be tolerated by anyone.

The Portland Bureau of Transportation has announced a new 5-year contract extension for the Biketown bike share system. The contract maintains partnerships with Lyft and founding sponsor Nike and will go in front of City Council for approval on July 22nd.

The contract means we can expect a major expansion that includes an all-new fleet of 1,500 pedal-assisted electric bikes with a top speed of 20-mph. The new system will go live in September with a service area that will include east Portland, the Jade District, portions of Lents, Gateway, and more. In total the orange Biketown vehicles will be accessible in 32 square miles of our city. PBOT says the fleet will expand to 2,500 bikes in 2021 and plans are in place for more expansions by 2024 that will boost the number of bikes to 3,000 and push the system even further into east and north Portland (including Kenton and St. Johns) as well as southwest Portland.

Few streets in Portland have as much potential as Sandy Boulevard. From the Central Eastside to the Parkrose neighborhood, this rare diagonal street cuts through our dense grid and offers quick cross-town trips and direct access to myriad destinations.

Designated as a “civic corridor” in Portland’s Comprehensive Plan and expected to see major growth in housing and jobs in future years, Sandy’s outdated design is currently not up to the task.

Sandy’s traffic lanes only safely accommodate people traveling inside metal-framed boxes with large motorized engines. That’s one reason why, like many other driving-centric arterials in Portland, Sandy has a deadly and dangerous legacy and is currently designated as a High Crash Corridor. That’s also why it was named the “Worst Street Ever” in a 2012 short film.

(NOTE: Written by Community Cycling Center Cesar Chavez Safe Routes to School Coordinator William Francis.)

Now in our third month of using bikes to respond to the coronavirus crisis, the Community Cycling Center (CCC) and a team of volunteers continue to hold it down with weekly food deliveries to New Columbia in north Portland and the Cully neighborhood in northeast. Between the two sites, two teams of about seven CCC employees and volunteers are delivering about 175 doorstep packages of food each week for families who would otherwise be waiting in line at a pantry site.

We’ve made huge strides in this service since we started the program with just 50 families per week back in April.

A project that will result in major changes to Gateway Green Bike Park is shaping up. The park is currently closed to public access as the Portland Parks & Recreation Bureau leads a $5.75 million buildout that will bring much-needed upgrades to the park and help it grow beyond its “beta” stage.

Gateway Green opened three summers ago and proved an instant hit with the thousands of Portlanders who love riding bikes on trails, on dirt, on jumps, and on pump tracks. The Phase 2 construction is well underway with contractors moving tons of dirt in an effort to bring the park up to city standards and add new riding features and visitor amenities.

Previously a 25-acre parcel of dirt that was not ADA accessible, had no running water, no paved gathering space, no bathrooms and no electricity, the current project will remedy those deficiencies and much more.

I rolled over on Tuesday to take a look at how things are shaping up.

Late last month the Oregon Department of Transportation installed several thousand feet of guardrails in the paved shoulder of the Historic Columbia River Highway (U.S Route 30). The new rails, located just outside Troutdale along the Sandy River, were meant to keep people from parking and camping in undeveloped turnouts.

Unfortunately the rails had a significant and negative impact on bicycle users because they were installed too far into the shoulder. This route is an extremely popular and important part of many cycling routes. After we pointed this out, ODOT’s regional director Rian Windsheimer acknowledged that was the “wrong decision.” He said the rails were meant to be installed further away from the shoulder, but work crews realized there was a gas line underground and made a spur-of-the-moment decision to move the railing toward the travel lanes. Windsheimer also said two of the three sections of rails would be removed.

I was curious about how the removal work went and wanted to see which section of railings remained. So on Monday I rolled out for a test ride and a closer look. What I saw was disappointing: The remaining guardrails are still dangerous and the removed ones have left behind a pock-marked shoulder full of gravel.

Here are photos of the section that remains:

Local bike businesses were among the hundreds of thousands of U.S. companies that asked the federal government for assistance to weather the coronavirus storm.

Data released from the Small Business Administration last week revealed that at least four Portland bike shops and two other bike-related businesses received loans through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

Here’s the list (company name, loan amount, number of jobs retained (if available)):

Fat Tire Farm
$150,000-350,000
14 jobs

The Portland Parks & Recreation Bureau had severe budget problems long before a viral pandemic dominated the news. Last year rising personnel costs and flat program revenues forced the agency into bruising cuts to staff levels and operations. One year later and COVID-19 has squandered any chance to right the ship.

In this bleak moment, the agency is reaching out for feedback and local off-road cycling advocates say it’s time to speak up.

With widespread closures and no end to the virus crisis in sight, Parks Director Adena Long and Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler shared terrible news recently: “It is heartbreaking to write this, but many of the current closures will continue beyond summer 2020, and not because of public health restrictions.” With a broken revenue model and the major hit from COVID-19, Parks plans to put a temporary funding levy on the November 2020 ballot.

With a bike boom underway and the vast mental and physical benefits cycling can bring to a broad and diverse swath of Portlanders, it’s vital that Parks hears from people who love to ride and want more safe and accessible places to do it. As Portland Parks seeks feedback from the public on how to re-imagine their offerings and services, the nonprofit NW Trail Alliance is leading a push to make sure they hear about the strong connection between cycling and parks-owned paths and properties.

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

That NY Times article: A widely shared and visually stunning NY Times opinion piece about banning cars in cities showed how far the once-bold idea of carfree/low-car cities has come thanks in part to the pandemic and demands for more public space. But the article also touched off a debate from some urbanists who saw it as just another example of top-down visioning that erases the lived experience of Black people and criticized its failure to mention how racist policies and the lives of people with disabilities might be intertwined with and influenced by such a dramatic re-structuring of public space. (See #BanWhiteUrbanism and tweets from @bambinoir and @defergusson on Twitter.)

A $206 million project that will improve service on TriMet’s Red light rail line will also come with significant benefits to bicycle riders.

The “Better Red” project will extend the Red Line further west in Washington County; but what we’re watching closely is how the improvements will impact the I-205 path in east Portland.

According to TriMet, the project will add a second track on two sections of existing single track between Gateway Transit Center and the Portland Airport. Adjacent to these new tracks and stations, TriMet plans to build multi-use paths. The project will also re-align the existing path.

Near the airport, a new path will be built from the PDX terminal to NE Air Cargo Road. The Air Cargo Road path will dump riders onto surface streets. (If you want to get to the I-205 path you’ll have to sleuth a route on a mix of streets, sidewalks, and paths until we get a path that connects all the way through.) Near the Gateway Transit Center (NE Halsey and 99th Ave) a new station will come new path and a direct connection to Gateway Green Bike Park via a new bridge over I-84. The existing path with will be re-aligned. (See images below.)

After launching with a bang in early May, we haven’t heard much about the “Slow Streets” portion of the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s Safe Streets Initiative. These are the 120 intersections where PBOT has installed “Local Access Only” and “Go Slow” signs along with barricades in a bid to reduce driving and improve conditions for people who need more space to walk and roll while maintaining a safe distance from each other.

Today a new volunteer program launched that wants to raise the profile of these streets and strengthen the impact of the program.

PBOT has partnered up with locally-based Axiom Event Productions (the same company they use for Sunday Parkways) on a new program that aims to recruit volunteers to give this program a boost. According to Axiom owner Neal Armstrong who spearheaded the effort, the goal is to find people who will step up to help maintain the signs and barricades, adopt specific locations, hand out yard signs, and decorate neighborhood greenways so everyone knows to drive slow and safe.

Specifically, they’re looking for four types of volunteers:

It has now been over three months since the State of Oregon closed about 14 miles of the Historic Columbia River Highway in an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The closure from Larch Mountain Road in Corbett to Ainsworth State Park has been a bummer for bike riders and other people who want to access one of the most beautiful roads in America.

But the animals are loving it.

Bridal Veil resident and writer Paul Pastor has seen with his own eyes and ears what’s possible in the Gorge when we remove the daily assault of thousands of cars and trucks. I came across a letter from Pastor written as a public comment in advance of an upcoming meeting of the Historic Columbia River Highway Advisory Committee. For anyone who’s dreamed of having fewer cars on the Historic Highway, his thoughts are worth a read: