Five Signs That Tell You That You’ll Beat Anxiety

Even in times of great struggle with anxiety disorders, there are signs that tell you that you’ll beat anxiety. By definition¹, any anxiety disorder is something whose symptoms cause significant distress, interfere in one or more areas of life (such as work, family, or social functioning), is difficult to control, and endures over time, usually for at least six months but often longer. Anxiety in any form, then, can be daunting. But take heart: when you’re feeling thoroughly stuck, look within yourself for these five signs that you will indeed beat anxiety.

Anxiety is rooted in the brain (Anxiety: It’s in Your Head (Your Brain!)); thus, it affects our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. It sometimes makes us feel hopeless and helpless. When anxiety berates you in an attempt to make you give up, turn your attention away from those anxious thoughts. To be sure, the anxiety will still be there, but you can choose to pay attention to something else. Tune in to these five signs that tell you that you’ll beat anxiety.

Five Signs That You Will Beat Anxiety

Positive goals You know that you don’t want anxiety, and beyond that, you know what you do want. You can envision what your life will be like without anxiety, which gives you something positive on which to focus while anxiety runs in the background.

Perseverance You haven’t given up yet. You’re seeking out information about anxiety, and you’re looking for ways to manage and overcome it. Living with anxiety disorders is exhausting and frustrating, and it is often tempting to just give up. That’s a normal feeling. Despite how you feel, though, you haven’t given up yet. You have the strength to persevere.

Purpose Similar to having positive goals, you have a sense of purpose for your life, reasons why you keep going despite sometimes debilitating anxiety. Perhaps you feel that your purpose doesn’t exist anymore because anxiety is blocking your path. However, just because anxiety has you trapped does not mean that your purpose is gone. The ability to envision your purpose is a sign that you will beat anxiety.

Passions Identifying things that bring enjoyment will help you pursue them. Rather than berating yourself for not being able to do things you’re passionate about, embrace the fact that you do have, or once had, passions. You can gradually take steps to get back to them.

Patience Patience is a character strength that allows people to endure even great difficulties. Knowing that anxiety disorders are stubbornly persistent but are temporary allows people to patiently persevere while engaging in the process of beating anxiety. You don’t have to love the fact that overcoming anxiety can be a slow process, but having the patience to persevere is a sign that tells you that you’ll beat anxiety.

Put The Five Signs to Work for You to Beat Anxiety

Each and every one of us possesses the strengths of perseverance, purpose, passions, and patience as well as the ability to create and pursue positive goals. When living with an anxiety disorder, it can seem as though the only thing about yourself is anxiety, that your entire existence is dominated by an anxiety disorder. This is far from the truth.

The truth is that you have within you the ability to beat anxiety. Look for the signs. Know that while we all have these strengths, we all have them in varying degrees. You may find that you have a great deal of perseverance, for example, but you haven’t been able to define positive goals. That’s okay. Embrace and use those strengths you already possess, and develop the others.

By searching for and finding these five signs that tell you that you’ll beat anxiety, you will be moving closer to living a full life free from anxiety.

Resource: ¹ American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder, Fifth Edition. Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Association.

Let’s connect. I blog here. Find me on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest. My mental health novels, including one about severe anxiety, are here.

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City will make Clinton traffic diverter permanent after data shows it’s working

It worked.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

On the eve of the Bureau of Transportation’s Vision Zero Action Plan going before City Council, the City of Portland just released some positive safety news: The traffic diverters installed on Southeast Clinton Street are working very well and the one at 32nd will be redesigned and made permanent in the next few weeks.

The diverters at SE 17th and 32nd were part of a comprehensive effort to tame auto traffic on Clinton that included educational outreach, public meetings, speed bumps, lower speed limits, “Bicycles May Use Full Lane” signs, and targeted enforcement. As one of the oldest and most used neighborhood greenways in the city, Clinton (which has about 3,000 bicycle users a day) was originally designed to prioritize bicycling; but driving skyrocketed in recent years as the surrounding neighborhoods added new residents, shops, restaurants and offices. In July 2014 we reported on growing rancor among bicycle users who called Clinton a “bikeway in name only.” Those concerns led community activism and became a rallying cry for the fledgling, all-volunteer bike advocacy group Bike Loud PDX.

Just four months after BikeLoud’s activism began, the City’s Bureau of Transportation launched a comprehensive assessment of the neighborhood greenway system (that would later be adopted by City Council) and agreed to meet with representatives from the group to learn more about the issues.

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PBOT drawing of new permanent diverter.

By the end of 2015 two diverters had been installed and PBOT converted 34th Avenue into a one-way street for driving (bicycling is allowed in both directions). People who bike on Clinton quickly noticed a change for the better in both the volume and behavior of drivers.

Now, after six months of testing, observations, and community feedback, PBOT issued a statement today calling the project “a success”. “Safety conditions have improved significantly thanks to the installation of diverters and speed bumps that have lowered traffic volumes and vehicle speeds along the Greenway,” reads the statement.

Their goal on Clinton was two-fold: reduce auto volumes to below 2,000 cars per day between SE 12th and SE Cesar Chavez Blvd (39th) and reduce the 85th percentile speed to 20 mph between Cesar Chavez and 50th. A combination of diverters and speed bumps seems to have done the trick.

Total traffic volume before and after the diversion and calming measures.
(Graphic: PBOT)

Here are more highlights from the report (PDF):

– Recent traffic counts show that volumes on Clinton have decreased significantly across almost the entire test area, with reduction between 900 and 1,400 cars per day (-34 to -74 percent) due to the diverters, speed bumps, and other changes.

– The street segment between SE 21st and SE 26th Avenue that still exceeds the 2,000 car per day threshold is slated to get additional speed bumps in 2017 as part of an upcoming paving project.

“Neighborhood Greenways are the backbone of Portland’s bike infrastructure. If people don’t feel safe using our Greenways, they won’t use them.”
— Steve Novick, City Commissioner of Transportation

– PBOT found that the non-compliance rate for the 32nd Ave diverter is about 7 percent, which they consider normal. For people concerned about poor sight lines while cycling through it, PBOT says the new design will be better because it will have curb-high islands instead of the four-foot tall barrels in use today.

– There were no notable changes to average traffic speeds on SE Clinton. The 85th percentile speed ranged from 21 to 24 mph before the test and 19 to 24 mph after the test.

– There was a big concern about where diverted auto trips would go. Of 35 locations monitored by PBOT, only one street segment (SE Woodward, east of 31st), exceeded the total maximum volume of 1,000 cars per day.

– On SE 34th, where PBOT converted a standard two-way street into a one-way street for cars (northbound, away from Clinton) and striped a contraflow bike lane, auto volumes decreased 58 percent and only 4 percent of drivers were recorded traveling the wrong way. Not surprisingly, the new one-way street led to a slight increase in driving speeds with the 85 percentile figure going up from 19 to 21 mph.

It’s important to note that because PBOT was successful in getting most of Clinton below the 2,000 cars per day threshold, they can now trigger a state law that allows them to reduce the speed limit to 20 mph (a law that only applies on neighborhood greenways).

And PBOT isn’t done on Clinton. In addition to the permanent diverter coming to 32nd, PBOT wants to get that last pesky segment between 21st and 26th down below 2,000 cars per day (it’s just 2,005 now). To do that they’ll place speed bumps more closely together during a scheduled repaving project coming this spring. The report released today also offers a few ideas for Clinton that were beyond the scope of this project: improve the crossing at 50th to improve safety and reduce biking and walking delay; do more parking enforcement on side streets to improve sight distances; and improve the crossing at 26th Avenue “by taking advantage of excess right-of-way to ehance safety for bicyclists and pedestrians.”

The total cost of this project — including the new permanent diverter coming to 32nd — is $230,000.

That’s a “cost-effective solution” says PBOT Commissioner Steve Novick. “Neighborhood Greenways are the backbone of Portland’s bike infrastructure,” he said via today’s statement. “If people don’t feel safe using our Greenways, they won’t use them.”

Learn more about this project and download the full report here.

— Jonathan Maus, (503) 706-8804 – jonathan@bikeportland.org

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PSU transportation class projects: Safer routes to Bridger School by Amy Wren

SE 80th looking towards Mill, right outside an elementary school.
(Photos: Amy Wren)

(Publisher’s note: This week we’re excited to highlight a few of the projects created by students in Portland State University’s Traffic and Transportation course. As we reported in a profile earlier this year, the class has had a vast impact on Portland in numerous ways by churning out over 1,200 smart and inspired graduates since 1991. We worked with class assistant Rebecca Hamilton (a graduate herself who now works at Metro) to share three of the projects that will be presented by students in class later this week. Yesterday we shared Charles Tso’s work on parking benefit districts.)

Safer routes to Bridger Elementary School – Amy Wren

Tucked between Southeast 82nd Avenue and Mt. Tabor Park, Bridger Elementary School is surrounded by streets that lack sidewalks and that are littered with big potholes and gravel. Add in winter weather and vehicle traffic and you’ve got a recipe for danger and stress. For her project, Amy Wren (who took the PSU class after reading about it on BikePortland!) asked a simple question: Would you want your kids to bike or walk on those streets?

What’s your big idea?

Amy Wren

I would like to make what is currently Bridger’s Safe Route to School actually safe. Right now the area from SE 82nd down SE Mill to SE 80th where the school is located is a flooded mess in the winter. Many students take Trimet and it drops them off on 82nd where there is a signal to cross 82nd safely. They then walk down Mill towards the school. Mill does not have curbs or sidewalks the street is slowly deteriorating forcing kids to walk in the middle of the street to avoid large pools of standing water. This is also an area where parents drive to drop kids off from school which is a dangerous mix. Now that this is also a Neighborhood Greenway route and you have a large number of cyclists trying to navigate these large areas of standing water where you cannot see the depth or where the road ends.

To fix this issue I am proposing that SE Mill between SE 82nd and SE 80th have sewer lines installed so that sidewalks and curbs can be added. Not only does it make this area after for the children coming and going from school but in increases the safety of all pedestrians and cyclists using the Greenway.

The other part of my proposal is to close the intersection of SE 80th and SE Mill to cars and create a pocket park similar to the one PBOT has created on NE Holman and 13th. On SE 80th traveling west right before you get to the intersection of SE Mill you go through an area that is one lane. It is one lane due to large trees that constrict the street, I have wrapped my head around all sorts of ways to improve this area without closing the street and I am at a loss. So, this area gets closed to cars and the street is repaved for pedestrians and cyclists using the Greenway.

What steps are you taking to make it happen? Have you made any progress towards your goal?

I have already been approved for a no parking area on SE 80th north of the large trees right before SE Mill. This means there are three fewer parking spots on the street but it gives kids negotiating the area a bit more space to walk when the pools of water are large. I have requested a stop sign to slow traffic down but am waiting on review. I have also requested to talk to one of the city engineers about the area and options for improving it. While I have my proposal I also know there are more than one way to improve things and am open to other ideas.

What have you learned about trying to make a change in your community? Has anything surprised you?

I have learned that so much of getting things done comes down to showing up and having a voice. It is so easy to complain about things on social media and to your friends but to make a difference sometimes all you need to do it make a phone call. My best example is how amazing the pothole hotline is (503-823-2867). With a quick phone call the city will fill a pothole within a couple of weeks, I call all the time and see the results. Many changes are just a phone or email request away.

I am also surprised that advocacy groups in the city continue to be dominated by white, educated, somewhat well-off people. I include myself in this category. I think the city is working hard to hear other voices but it feels like it is still a huge struggle to hear other voices. I don’t know how to fix this, but I do know you start by realizing that there are voices that are missing in the conversation.

This is the second post in a three-part series. Stay tuned tomorrow when student Ross Peizer shares his idea for a bikeway on Southwest Salmon. Also note that the final presentations for the Traffic & Transportation course will be shared live on Thursday from 6:40 to 8:40 pm at the Portland Building auditorium, 2nd Floor, Room C. The event is free and open to the public.

— Jonathan Maus, (503) 706-8804 – jonathan@bikeportland.org

BikePortland is supported by the community (that means you!). Please become a subscriber or make a donation today.

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Biking and Safe Routes to School programs come up big in $2.5 million worth of regional grants

About a quarter of the grants went to Safe Routes to School programs.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Here’s some good news: Metro just announced grants to 17 agencies and organizations throughout the region that will make it easier to get around without driving alone. The grants are worth a total of $2.5 million — money that comes from the federal government and is doled out by Metro via their Regional Travel Options (RTO) program.

Metro spokesman Craig Beebe said, “This cycle’s awardees continue the program’s trend of focusing on youth and underserved communities.”

On that note, a $178,000 grant to the Community Cycling Center will allow the nonprofit to implement a “community centered” Safe Routes to School program at Title I schools (where students come from low-income families). And the Bicycle Transportation Alliance won $203,000 for an “Access to Bicycling initiative” that will include a continuation of their Women Bike program and hands-on bike repair and riding clinics at workplaces and in communities around the region. In Washington County, the Westside Transportation Alliance will use its $196,000 grant to encourage biking, walking and transit use in areas with a high percentage of low-wage and shift workers.

All but four of the funded programs include an element that specifically targets cycling (keep in mind these grants are for educational, marketing, and access-related programs, not physical infrastructure). One of the biggest winners are Safe Routes to School programs. Four projects totaling over $640,000 were funded. Metro also directed over $320,000 toward two projects that will help community colleges make cycling a more competitive and attractive transportation option. The largest single grant was awarded to the City of Portland’s Bureau of Transportation. They received $600,000 to implement their long-running and successful “SmartTrips” program — an individualized marketing approach that encourages Portlanders to walk, bike, and take transit. SmartTrips usually focuses on specific geographic sections of the city, but this grant will target new and relocating Portlanders (especially seniors and those with low-incomes).

Here is the complete list of winners in order of grant size (descriptions provided by Metro):

City of Portland: SmartTrips, Smart City ($600,482)

SmartTrips, Smart City is focused on connecting residents and commuters to the region’s active transportation network through a multi-step approach that increases awareness, changes attitudes, offers experiential opportunities, and combines active transportation to keystone community events and projects. Whether residents and others in the region come to a community celebration, receive a SmartTrips order form in the mail, or read about a community walk in their neighborhood newsletter, this project engages people at their point of interest and provide multiple additional opportunities to connect with the active transportation network. The project’s lasting impact comes from the power of community engagement partnered with technology and marketing. This project synchronizes PBOT’s extensive work in active transportation with community partnerships to connect with underserved communities across Portland. By focusing on key community events that attract people from all over the region and online tools and marketing that transcend physical boundaries, the project benefits the entire region.

SmartTrips, Smart City targets new and relocating Portland residents and low-income and senior populations. Additionally, the project focuses on four culturally and linguistically diverse communities with lower median income levels than the rest of the city. Specifically, the project will reach 70,000 new and relocating residents and reach an additional 20,000 Portlanders in the Lents neighborhood, the Jade District, New Columbia, the Cully neighborhood, and older adult communities of Portland.

Ride Connection: RideWise Urban Mobility Support and Training ($239,440)

Ride Connection provides one-on-one travel training services to older adults and people with disabilities traveling for work-related purposes. Travel training is an individualized course of instruction designed to teach older adults and people with disabilities to safely and independently use public transportation. Training includes interviews, barrier analysis, instructional plans and goal setting, field training and post-training follow-up evaluations. Through RideWise, Ride Connection also provides classroom trainings to assist low-income individuals in accessing fixed route transportation services and other travel options as an alternative to driving alone.

Bicycle Transportation Alliance: Access to Bicycling: Bike More Challenge, Women Bike, and Community Partnerships ($203,461)

The goal of Bicycle Transportation Alliance’s Access to Bicycling Initiative is to make bicycling an option for the region’s residents no matter their neighborhood, workplace or employment status, gender, race, or cultural background. In order to reduce barriers and promote benefits for residents, the Access to Bicycling initiative will provide close to 100 clinics on site at workplaces and community spaces across the region that teach rules of the road, route-planning, how to conduct a basic bike safety check, and strategies for enjoying a safe and comfortable commute. BTA staff will lead more than forty rides across the region with bikes for those that need them and introduce people to their neighborhood biking infrastructure and route planning specific to their neighborhood destinations. These rides introduce participants to bike maps, online planning tools, bike share, multi-use paths, neighborhood greenways, bike lanes, and key network connections. BTA will continue work on the Women Bike Roll Model program links experienced bikers with other women in their neighborhoods and social networks, so women new to bicycling can benefit from friendly guidance from trusted peers. Similarly, each year’s Bike More Challenge engenders new workplace champions that exponentially multiply by bringing bike maps, bagels, bike parking, trophies, homemade cookies, route planning assistance, bike pumps, free bike maintenance help, door to door ride-alongs, and enthusiastic advice to tentative coworkers new to biking for transportation or previously intimidated at the thought of biking to work.

Multnomah County: East Multnomah County Regional Safe Routes to School Program ($200,000)

The East Multnomah County Safe Routes to School Program, led by Multnomah County, seeks to establish the framework and foundation to improve active transportation choices for kids to get to and from school in East Multnomah County, with a focus on kids and their families who attend public school in the cities of Fairview, Wood Village, Troutdale and Gresham. The project will enable a coordinated approach that will increase success of current program and give resources beyond what local agencies have been able to provide thus far. The project will track a newly developed safe walking and bicycling curriculum for grades K-2 in the Reynolds School District through a full-time limited duration Safe Routes to School Coordinator position for two years through Multnomah County. The Coordinator will develop an annual Safe Routes to School work plan in coordination with partner agency staff, including prioritizing schools to focus Safe Routes to School investments on and conducting culturally-specific community outreach methods for encouragement events and provide ongoing support for schools in the area to implement Safe Routes to School programming. Unique to the program is up to three Open Streets Demonstration Projects on school routes in East Multnomah County.

Westside Transportation Alliance: Increasing Transportation Options in Washington County ($196,000)

The Westside Transportation Alliance is the only transportation management association in Washington County, providing services to member businesses to help their employees reduce their rate of single-occupant vehicle travel. WTA will continue to work with employers to increase awareness of travel options, advocate for transportation options through our involvement in both local and regional planning processes. In addition to the need currently met by WTA services, unmet needs have been identified for parts of the county with higher percentages of low-wage and shift workers, in addition to small employers. By expanding their limited staff, WTA will be able to fulfill those needs through this project.

Portland Community College: Expanding Commuting Options through Individualized Marketing and Bike Rental Development ($191,000)

A new Transportation Specialist will plan for the expansion of PCC’s bicycle rental program to westside campuses, where the bicycle infrastructure is not as robust, pointing students and staff to existing resources, distributing maps, safety tips, and practical information such as how to load a bicycle onto a TriMet bicycle rack. Staff will reach out to both PCC faculty and staff to craft individualized transportation plans, with an emphasis on those who are new to the college. Additionally, the bicycle rental program at Cascade Campus will partner with Legacy Emanuel Trauma Nurses to provide low-cost helmets to students, as well as operating a helmet exchange program where students can exchange damaged helmets for new ones at no cost. Grant funds will also create 24 secure bike parking spaces (either lockers or a cage) to be utilized by commuters and bike program participants on a first-come, first-served basis. Additionally, grant funds will pay for secure storage for a fleet of 48 rental bicycles at PCC’s Cascade campus.

City of Tigard/Tigard-Tualatin School District: Safe Routes to School ($186,000)

Tigard is not unusual in having schools near arterials and collectors that are difficult to cross, and local streets around schools with inadequate sidewalks, signage, pedestrian and bicycle safety devices, or bike parking. Continuing the school district’s Safe Routes to School program builds on work accomplished over the past two years and continues their commitment to providing families safe options to get to school. This project will fund a full-time Safe Routes to School coordinator position in Tigard. The coordinator will be the hub of citywide and Tigard-Tualatin School District efforts to promote walking and bicycling for school and other trips. By working directly with individual schools, Tigard SRTS will reinforce the city’s commitment to being “the most walkable community in the Pacific Northwest, where people of all ages and abilities enjoy healthy and interconnected lives.”

Community Cycling Center: Community Centered Safe Routes to School ($178,080)

The Community Cycling Center is focused on transportation equity as a vehicle for change, is poised to remove barriers between youth and their ability to access education. Through the Community Centered Safe Routes to School project youth and families at Title I schools will have greater access to healthy, reliable, and fun transportation to and from school, work, and around their neighborhoods. A key component of the project is the deployment of youth and adult bicycles from CCC’s Community Bicycle Library to deliver in-school bicycle programming for every family that identifies it as need.

This Community-Based SRTS program will increase the safety and usage of existing bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, as well as identify priority locations for future safety improvements through outreach to families and stakeholders, a student transportation options and barriers assessment, events and increased information and resources about walking, biking and transit in their community.

Explore Washington Park: Washington Park Travel Options Initiative Phase I ($149,200)

TriMet’s Red and Blue MAX lines stop at Washington Park between downtown Portland and Beaverton, yet currently only approximately 16 percent of park visitors travel via transit. This project will
leverage existing investment in the MAX light rail and regional park-and-ride facilities such as Sunset Transit Center, by promoting transit to the 53,800 households that make up between 27-32 percent of annual Washington Park visits. Other investments within the Park will include intra-park shuttles, improved transit stops in the park, and customer service staff to guide people around the park via transit. The project complements TriMet’s plan for a major renovation of the Washington Park MAX station after almost 20 years of operation, to be completed in the spring of 2017.

Clackamas Community College: Expanding Access to Education ($130,000)

Clackamas Community College is continuing their efforts across their three locations to decrease the number of students and faculty driving alone to campuses. CCC will increase awareness of their Xpress shuttle service through a marketing campaign. Additionally, CCC will continue to manage a discounted TriMet pass program, and the carpool incentive program and online carpooling matching service DriveLessConnect.com.
Working to increase the number of people biking to campus, the college will implement a study to identify student barriers to biking, which will be used to launch a bike program pilot and ultimately develop a plan to initiate a permanent bike program. Lastly, making it easier for student and staff to navigate on campus by foot and bike, CCC will oversee the development and implementation of a wayfinding system to increase student awareness of walking and biking routes to key destinations including CCC buildings, transit stops, and employment centers.

Oregon Walks: Oregon Walkways: Reducing barriers and access to Open Streets ($99,208)

Oregon Walks will lead this project to galvanize community support around new funding for pedestrian safety infrastructure improvements in East Portland through Portland’s new Fixing our Streets program and Vision Zero program. East Portland sees the most fatal crashes per capita and is home to the city’s most dangerous corridors, as well as having some of the poorest connectivity of the pedestrian network. However, thanks to new programs East Portland residents will see an influx of resources dedicated to making their streets safer. Oregon Walkways events will serve as an opportunity for residents to experience what a safe and connected community can look like, by creating conditions on our streets that allow people to feel comfortable using them for walking. Oregon Walks will engage community to create the routes for the events with an eye toward identifying areas of need that can help the City of Portland in how they prioritize projects, as well as highlighting areas that are already slated to see improvements, such as the Gateway Business District and Jade District. The project will fill a necessary gap in how the public learns about, engages with, and provides feedback on infrastructure aimed at making them feel safer and thus, more comfortable walking, biking, and accessing transit.

Beaverton School District: Safe Routes to School Program (Amount awarded: $75,000)

Nearly all of Beaverton School District’s students live close enough to their school to walk or bike, or are offered bus service. This project highlights the active transportation needs in the areas where families can, but choose not to walk, bike or use the bus service provided due to existing infrastructure and non-infrastructure based barriers. The project will identify the best routes, prioritize infrastructure needs and the community will be educated and encouraged to walk, bike and bus to school safely while understanding the importance of respecting all road users. The program will result in more people knowing they have options available to get to school and throughout the community and use alternatives to single passenger trips more often. Beaverton School District will continue to collaborate with the Safe Routes to School National Partnership on their region-wide planning project to create a Regional Safe Routes to School Framework, and will use data and prioritization of schools most in need, to support their SRTS efforts in their own school communities.

Clackamas County: Active Transportation Counting Devices ($15,909)

Collecting accurate data is essential to building long-term support for walking and cycling, and improving the conditions for those who choose travel options. Clackamas County will purchase and install two fixed-location devices and one mobile active transportation counting devices that measure frequency, direction of travel and time of day of bicyclists and pedestrians in urban, unincorporated Clackamas County. Following installation, the County will prepare a reporting system for easy input of data downloaded from each device. Staff will prepare annual count data reports for departmental use as well as viewing on the county’s active transportation webpage. This project will allow Clackamas County to understand the needs in the community and prioritize where to invest more resources and increase the public’s use of travel options.

City of Milwaukie: Downtown Milwaukie Wayfinding ($15,000)

As the first phase of Milwaukie’s Wayfinding Systems Plan, the City of Milwaukie will install a total of six vehicular directional signs, eight pedestrian directional signs and one pedestrian kiosk in and around the downtown area. In addition to directing people in a safe and efficient way, good wayfinding has the ability to add to a sense of place and tie a community together. With the recent opening of the Main Street Station of the Orange Line and redevelopment of Riverfront Park along the Willamette River, Downtown Milwaukie has attracted regional attention and is making Downtown Milwaukie increasingly popular to visitors, businesses, and residents alike. A wayfinding system will better connect the existing Downtown Milwaukie assets such as businesses, parks, public parking, and other attractions and destinations.

South Waterfront Community Relations: South Waterfront Wayfinding ($13,640)

This project will place 20 bicycle wayfinding signs in the South Waterfront district. Currently there are no wayfinding signs in the district. With new walking and biking infrastructure (Moody separated bicycle lanes, Tilikum Crossing, Hooley Pedestrian Bridge, and in-street bike lanes), simple bike wayfinding signs displaying distance and time to key destinations will help current and would-be riders to understand bicycle accessibility to and from the South Waterfront. The signs will be strategically placed at intersections throughout the district , with the southernmost signs encouraging riders to venture to Willamette Park along the rail trail, and the northernmost sign displaying information to ride to Downtown and the Pearl District. Additional signs will direct travelers to the Hooley Bridge, Lair Hill access, and the Tilikum Crossing and access to the Central Eastside.

Hillsboro Parks and Recreation: Rock Creek Trail Counters ($4,760)

Hillsboro Parks & Recreation will install eight trail counters at all the accesses of the Rock Creek Regional Trail to complement two previously installed counters at Cornell Crossing. One of the greatest challenges facing bicycle and pedestrian professionals and advocates is the lack of documentation on usage and demand of infrastructure. Without accurate and consistent data, it is difficult to measure the positive benefits of investments in these modes, especially when compared to the other transportation modes such as the private automobile. The additional counters will supplement the data collection already underway, and provide a more detailed view of the overall use of this portion of the regional system, helping to better understand the accesses dynamics, improve maintenance, amenities, infrastructure, lighting and user safety.

Hillsboro Parks and Recreation: Rock Creek Trail Access Video ($3,000)

Hillsboro Parks and Recreation will create an overview video for the Rock Creek Trail that will inform people of different abilities, interests and backgrounds about the activities, facilities and challenges expected along the trail. The video will help provide context and reveal possible challenges and experiences for various groups, and be a tool for groups to gain confidence to utilize the trail.

Regional Travel Options grants are awarded every two years and the latest awards will fund projects from 2017 to 2019. Learn more about the program at OregonMetro.gov.

— Jonathan Maus, (503) 706-8804 – jonathan@bikeportland.org

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Hundreds of riders light the night at carfree Winter Wonderland event

A rare window of dry skies was an unexpected treat.
(Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)

It was a perfect night to bundle up and enjoy the holiday lights at the annual “Bike the Lights” night at Winter Wonderland. With dry and relatively clear skies, hundreds of people (organizers expected over 1,200 based on last year’s numbers) showed up for a chance to pedal stress-free around the racetrack at Portland International Raceway.

This is an event where big crowds just add to the fun and festive feel.

As they’ve done each year since 2009, organizers transform the track into a holiday-themed light display. The event runs for a month between November 25th and Christmas night; but last night was the only time it’s for cycling only. The bike-only night has grown steadily each year and now features an expo area complete with prize giveaways from vendors, free service from Bike Gallery, cheap treats for sale from Voodoo Doughnuts and more.

The event is a fundraiser for the Sunshine Division, a nonprofit that provides food and clothing for people in need.

I rode over with my five year-old and we pedaled along with a bunch of other families. One thing I love about this event is — similar to Sunday Parkways — it attracts people we never see in the bike lanes in our daily riding around town. The parking lot was full of families and friends who loaded up bikes onto racks and carpooled to the event. There were people of all ages and they covered the full spectrum of cycling experience and culture — from people who probably only ride a few times a year to experienced racers and enthusiasts. I even saw a pack of riders from the Belligerantes, a northeast Portland-based Schwinn gang.

There was a steady stream of bike traffic coming from north Portland’s Kenton neighborhood and many of the riders came from Washington.

Jim Thomas was one of a crew of about 30 people who rode over from Vancouver with their bikes fully decorated. Thomas said his group — which included people from Camas Bike Shop, Vancouver Bike Club, and Bike Clark County — got lots of honks from people as they rode en masse over the Interstate Bridge.

Costumes and lights on bikes were encouraged by the organizers.

Here are a few more photos of the fun…

This light tunnel was a big highlight.

My boy got to meet the Grinch!

Jim Thomas from Vancouver.

A lot of people took advantage of the free bikes offered by Biketown.

If you missed out, make sure this event is on your calendar next year!

— Jonathan Maus, (503) 706-8804 – jonathan@bikeportland.org

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