After last night’s rain, this morning was warm, muggy & humid. Just some low-flying clouds on the horizon… with a few more working their way in. Even when the sunrise isn’t all that spectacular… it is still pretty darn GREAT!!!
One of two Biketown parking areas in the Field Office plaza on NW Front Avenue.
(Photos © Jonathan Maus)
It’s usually a good sign when the private sector invests in a city-run transportation program. Such is the case with the new Biketown station at the new Field Office in northwest Portland.
Believing that access to bike share is an asset for their tenants and neighbors, the developers of a pair of new office buildings on NW Front/Naito between 15th and 17th have ponied up for a station and 15 bikes.
Biketown service area map. Field Office location circled in red.
Jonathan Ledesma, a partner at the real estate firm behind the Field Office project said in a statement, “We’re thrilled to be part of Biketown’s growth and hopeful other property owners and businesses will see the benefits in sponsoring a station.”
PBOT hasn’t confirmed the price tag for the sponsorship, but based on Portland’s bike share contract with Motivate, Inc, the cost of 15 bikes ($1,600 each), a kiosk ($9,500) and 15 racks would be about $35,000. On top of that, assuming Motivate is adding these 15 bikes to the system (rather than using bikes from the existing fleet), either Field Office or the City of Portland will be on the hook for an additional $2,760 per month in additional operation fees ($184 per bike).
The new station (which is part of the public system and can be used by any Biketown user) fills a void in Biketown’s service area. As you can see in the map, before Field Office stepped up there was no station in the fast-growing area now known as the Frontside District along the Willamette River north of the Fremont Bridge and east of Highway 30.
PBOT Director Leah Treat says the private sponsorship is a sign that Biketown has been integrated into the city’s transportation system. “Combined with the record breaking ridership numbers we’ve seen this month, [this sponsorship] affirms the importance of Biketown for Portland businesses and residents alike.
Advertisement
Field Office tenants include computer and software related firms, as well as a childhood education business. The two-building campus has 300,000 square feet of office and retail space connected via a plaza space that mixes natural and industrial elements. It’s just one of several new developments in this district that’s quickly changing from a relatively forgotten, industrial area to a bustling community for residents and workers alike.
Two years ago we profiled the vast potential for biking in this area as projects like Field Office come online. In January 2017 we reported that the firm behind Field Office would put $1.1 million toward a $2.6 million street update project. The project was initially slated to repave and restripe NW Front, upgrade traffic signals and intersection treatments at NW 9th, 15th, and 17th, and add buffered bike lanes to close the gap that currently exists between NW 9th and 15th.
Architect and NextPortland.com publisher Iain MacKenzie says PBOT has since upgraded their plans to include protected bike lanes, floating bus islands, a protected left turn onto NW 9th (to access the Pearl District), and median islands to improve crossing safety.
These upcoming improvements to Front/Naito (construction of which should start this summer) will connect to other recent bikeway upgrades near the Steel Bridge and along Waterfront Park. Once we make Better Naito permanent, we’ll have protected or buffered bike lanes for the entire 2.5 mile stretch between NW 17th and SW Harrison.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
Never miss a story. Sign-up for the daily BP Headlines email.
BikePortland needs your support.
The post Portland developer opens first privately sponsored Biketown station appeared first on BikePortland.org.
Scenes from the inaugural Skull in 2017.
(Photos: Harney County Chamber of Commerce)
About 130 miles east of Bend lies the small, high desert town of Burns, Oregon. For thousands of years people of the Northern Paiute tribe lived there. Today, like many eastern Oregon towns, the area gets by mostly on farming now that most of the big timber is gone.
But there’s another natural resource that is just coming into its own: unpaved roads that are perfect for bicycling. And an interesting partnership of local, state and federal agencies are leading the charge to promote them. The marketing vehicle for this new discovered asset is the Skull 120/60/30/Relay ride — a combination endurance/gravel/cross-country/sightseeing race/ride that will roll out on its second annual edition June 16th.
Billed as “America’s gnarliest gravel race,” the route takes advantage of remote dirt roads and goat tracks to lead riders on a memorable adventure in the Malheur National Forest northwest of Burns.
The Skull is the culmination of a collaboration between Harney County Chamber of Commerce, Oregon State Parks and Recreation, the U.S. Forest Service, and the BLM. “The SKULL 120 atmosphere is very casual,” says one of its boosters, Eric Herboth of Ren Cycles, “and the focus is on having fun on our public lands.”
Advertisement
Local racing veteran Seth Patla did the 120 route last year and says the Skull is the toughest gravel ride he’s ever done.
Herboth says beyond the riding, the event is about supporting resource stewardship and land conservation. “As civic-minded outdoor enthusiasts we can be quick to recite lists of what our fellow citizens in remote open spaces shouldn’t do with the land — don’t drill it, don’t mine it, don’t log it, don’t graze it, and so on. We should all know by now that a negative list of don’ts is far less effective in spurring greener avenues for rural economies than a positive list of things we can do.”
120-mile route map and elevation profile via Ride With GPS.
Route designer Cameron Sanders with the US Forest Service says the event is part of their effort to, “Increase social equity and economic resiliency through cycling and cycling-based tourism.” Sanders and other promoters of this event are looking to build the Skull into a large event that helps put Harney County’s cycling assets on the map for people from all over Oregon and beyond.
It’s just a five-hour drive from Portland and there are plenty of places to camp and stay overnight. Register and learn more about the event at AdventureHarney.com.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
Never miss a story. Sign-up for the daily BP Headlines email.
BikePortland needs your support.
The post Ready for a challenge? Harney County’s ‘Skull’ ride is waiting appeared first on BikePortland.org.
Looking east toward PSU Urban Plaza from SW Montgomery.
(Photo © Jonathan Maus)
Portlanders are still coming to grips with the traffic violence experienced downtown on Friday. While details about 61-year-old Greg Porter continue to trickle out and the women he hit still recover at an area hospital, leaders in the transportation reform community are moving from grief and shock into action.
Kiel Johnson and Sarah Iannarone (both familiar names to BikePortland readers) are organizing an event next Tuesday (June 5th) that aims to promote an inclusive Portland. Here’s the event description:
“An inclusive city is one that values all people and their needs equally. It is one in which all residents—including the most marginalized of poor workers—have a representative voice in governance, planning, and budgeting processes, and have access to sustainable livelihoods, legal housing and affordable basic services such as water/sanitation and an electricity supply.” — Rhonda Douglas
As we head toward summer, many in our community are filled with hope and joy. For others, this has also been a challenging time, including friends and family of the women injured by vehicular violence at PSU on 5/25 alongside the critical injuries sustained by PSU student Aaron Salazar on 5/15.
For this event, we will reclaim the portion of Montgomery Street between SW 6th and Broadway as an impromptu public plaza for Portlanders– free from hate or violence of any kind. We will gather to share in joy and to support each other in sorrow. We will encourage speakers who are interested in stepping up to the mic to share what an “Inclusive Portland” looks and feels like to them.
Invite your friends, bring your lunch,and join us for an old-fashioned sit-in as we shut down this block of Montgomery Street for this “Inclusive Portland Lunch-In” for a couple of hours.”
Advertisement
PSU will work over the summer to s was it barriers along the transit mall & other spots around campus need to be better protected from drivers. #LiveOnK2 pic.twitter.com/CbEQc7Oole
— Reed Andrews (@ReedKATU) May 30, 2018
“We believe that every person has the right to access their community by walking – and should not be afraid to do so.”
— Oregon Walks
The location of this event — across the street from where the three women were seriously injured after Porter drove his car into them — is strategic. Just last fall we shared an effort to make the block of SW Montgomery between 6th and Broadway carfree. A new Portland State University building spurred redevelopment of half the blockface and it was a golden opportunity to create a carfree corridor that would have stretched from SW 5th to I-405. Friday’s hit-and-run has reignited talk of banning cars on SW Montgomery.
Johnson and Iannarone hope to create a temporary carfree zone on Tuesday. They’re asking for bicycle users to help cork both ends of the relatively low-traffic street during the event in order to improve the safety of everyone.
On a related note, KATU reporter Reed Andrews posted on Twitter yesterday that PSU will consider adding bollards to better protect the Urban Plaza from errant drivers.
And yesterday, two local groups that work to make walking safer issued statements about the state of walking in Portland.
Eight people who have died while walking so far this year*.
(Graphic from PedPDX Community Advisory Committee)
The nonprofit Oregon Walks issued a statement on their blog saying, “We believe that every person has the right to access their community by walking – and should not be afraid to do so.” OW pointed out one witness from a news report that said she might take her classes online due to fears of walking. “The fact that a student feels so unsafe walking through a public space that she’s considering avoiding it all together is unacceptable. What does it say about Portland as a community when we can no longer have the reasonable expectation of personal safety when we inhabit our shared spaces?”
The 25-member Community Advisory Committee that’s working on the City of Portland’s PedPDX citywide walking plan issued a statement today honoring eight* people, “who have lost their lives in traffic violence while walking on our Portland streets this year.” “By honoring and acknowledging each person, the CAC wishes to center the gravity of safety and Vision Zero in the PedPDX planning process.”
(*You’ll note that while the City of Portland counts eight walking fatalities so far this year, we only count seven on our official tracker. This is because one of the deaths, 42-year-old Eric Griffen, occurred after he intentionally jumped from an I-5 overpass. By their own policy, PBOT excludes intentional deaths.)
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
Never miss a story. Sign-up for the daily BP Headlines email.
BikePortland needs your support.
The post Portlanders move from grief and shock, to activism following horrific hit-and-run appeared first on BikePortland.org.
Ali and Lark Reis.
(Photos: Madi Carlson)
This week on the column we’re going to share a profile of one of our readers.
You may remember Ali Reis from the “Ride Along” post Jonathan did with her three years ago. Fast-forward three years to Ali with a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter and a different commute.
➤ Tell me a little about yourself and your family.
I am a 33-year-old social worker; originally from the suburbs of NYC, I have lived in Portland for about 10 years. My husband Colin, and my daughter Lark and I live in the Overlook neighborhood. Colin was diagnosed with terminal cancer about 18 months ago, so it is just Lark and me on bikes these days. Hopefully, he will be feeling well enough to hop back on in the near future.
Lark has the best seat in the house in her Yepp mini.
➤ Tell me about your bike.
My primary bike is an Asahi, which I bought on Craigslist 10 years ago in Portland. It is a vintage road bike with upright handlebars. It came to NYC with me when I moved there for grad school and then back again when we came back. It was stolen out of my backyard in 2011 and I actually found it on the street! For a long time, I was using a Redline MetroSport, since I had a long commute, but the Asahi is perfect for cruising around town with Lark on the bike seat. She uses a Yepp mini on the front handlebars. I was sure I would hate using it when we first got it, but I love it! We also have a Burley trailer which we started using when Lark was 4 months old with an insert. The trailer is great, but it is a lot more work to take on and off, especially with school drop off and pick-up. The seat is wonderful as it comes off quickly and I leave it at Lark’s school during the day. I love having her close to me; we sing and talk (or sometimes she just sings and talks) whenever we ride. I happen to be hearing impaired, so it is especially nice to have her so close so I can hear her. Eventually we will have to move to a seat on the back of the bike, but hopefully not for a little while.
➤ Is there something you wish you had known before you took your first pedal stroke as a family biker that would have made things easier?
I don’t think so! I’ve always wanted to bike as a family, so I didn’t have too many apprehensions.
➤ Tell me about a typical ride you take in Portland.
I bike Lark to and from school each day, which is a lot of zigzagging, all on streets without bike lanes. We live near Killingsworth and Denver and her school is near Williams and Fremont. On the way home, we take Williams and Ainsworth. It’s only 2.5 miles (and then another mile to work), so it’s completely doable and easy for me. I work for Multnomah County and do assessments in peoples’ homes, so I ride all around N/NE Portland on my bike. One of my favorite rides is taking Alameda; it is just a pleasant street with hardly any car traffic.
Advertisement
➤ If there was one piece of bike infrastructure (street, intersection, bike rack, etc) you use regularly that you could change to improve your life, what would it be?
I would have a million answers to this question when Lark went to a different, farther away day care or when I worked at my old job in SW Portland! I would love to see bike/pedestrian only bike streets. I feel that Going and Holman are good examples of streets where there is very little car traffic and I take these often. I find Williams/Vancouver to be a bit of a nightmare at times with so many cars, buses and bikes at once. When Lark and I were biking home last week, someone tried to turn the wrong way onto Williams!
I love the chest strap Ali made for Lark’s Yepp seat. My own similar-but-much-less-attractive DIY closure was done with an old helmet chin strap.
➤ Have you biked in other cities and how did it compare?
Colin and I biked the entire two years we lived in Brooklyn. I went to school in Manhattan, so I biked over a bridge to get there. (I also took the subway a bunch, especially during the winter). NYC biking, in 2009-2011, anyway, is so different from Portland biking. When we moved back to Portland after 2 years in NYC, I was shocked that people did things like wait for red lights and pretty much always follow the rules of traffic. There’s pretty good infrastructure in NY for bikers, but I remember being on high alert every time I biked. There are always people walking into traffic, cars opening their doors, cabs pulling into the bike lanes, cars honking, etc. But it was pretty exhilarating, too. It’s hard to say if I would feel safe biking with a small child there; I don’t think I would do as much biking with Lark there as I do here.
➤ What’s your best piece of advice to pass along to BikePortland readers?
I bike for a lot of reasons, but the number one reason is for improved quality of life. I know there are many people who think I’m nuts to bike around town with a kid (less so as she gets older, but my mom definitely did not approve when Lark was 4 months old!), but the alternative of driving everywhere doesn’t feel like an option for me. I love being outside, able to get exercise and not have to sit in traffic to get where I want to go. And there are always parking spots! Lark went through a phase where she was really upset about having to get on the bike, but she has gotten past that and seems to really enjoy it now. She still doesn’t love wearing a helmet, but overall she is happy to ride. She has her own balance bike which she is just starting to get into, so I’m hopeful that biking as a passenger will only encourage her to ride her own one day, too.
Thank you for sharing your story Ali!
And thanks to you all for reading. We’re always looking for people to profile. Get in touch if it sounds like fun to you. And as always, feel free ask questions in the comments below or email me your story ideas and insights at madidotcom [at] gmail [dot] com.
— Madi Carlson, @familyride on Instagram and Twitter
Browse past Family Biking posts here.
Get this and other BikePortland posts delivered directly to your inbox.
BikePortland needs your support.
The post Family biking profile: Ali Reis and her daughter Lark appeared first on BikePortland.org.
Welcome back from the holiday weekend.
Here are the best stories we came across last week…
Defend our cities: With last week’s horrible hit-and-run downtown, it’s time for Portland to follow the lead of other great cities like Madrid and prohibit driving in some busy central city locations.
Good clean fun: Seniors at a Rockford, Illinois high school filled their parking lot with dockless bikes as a prank. Kids these days.
Driving is toxic: When it comes tracking fatalities, car crashes get the headlines. But when you look closely at the numbers, the emissions are what really do the damage to human beings.
Central Oregon’s dirty bike lanes: The city of Bend has a bike lane maintenance problem.
Marketing jargon: Surprise, surprise, a private corporation (Tesla) uses a word (autopilot) to market a key feature of their product that is not only deceptive, but dangerous.
Bike lanes are for cars: Seattle Bike Blog makes the intriguing case that bike lanes are really for people who drive.
Cheap gas is a bad thing: Among the basic transportation policy tenets Democrats need to master is that we need gasoline to be more expensive — not less.
Sladda recall: Ikea’s practical and smart bike has been recalled due to possible breakage of the belt drive.
Worrying sign for e-bikes: For some crazy reason, the European Commission has ruled that electric-assist bicycle riders must carry third party liability insurance.
Momentum for free transit: One reason it’s important for government agencies to educate the public about the true cost of driving is that it makes the idea of providing free transit seem much more reasonable.
Advertisement
Quick and dirty critique: There’s a debate about whether it’s best to plan large and costly capital projects on specific corridors or spread street updates out to an entire network by using cheaper, temporary designs. The experience of Calgary should be a lesson for Portland.3
An opinion about cycling activism: In a new song, Portland musician Stephan Malkmus hints that the energy of bike activists could be put to better use on other issues.
Uber’s deadly mistakes: The Uber driver’s car that was involved in the fatal Arizona crash “saw” the woman crossing the road but failed to brake. The Economist explains the tech behind the crash and says the car’s on-board computers got confused, leading to a system design failure.
Bike-to-vehicle standards: Trek, Ford and software company Tome have partnered up on an effort to make sure that the confusion from self-driving cars in the link above is less likely to happen again.
Portland’s “century of exclusion”: Housing writer Michael Andersen took a closer look at maps and zoning policy to reveal why some of our neighborhoods continue to exclude multi-family housing nearly 100 years after classist policies passed.
Promising Apple tech: If the new iOS can unlock doors, one of our smart Twitter friends @quicklywilliam wonders if unlocking dockless bike share bikes could be next.
Cycling diversity: The cycling chief of London opines that it might be time to set official diversity targets. What’s also interesting about this article is that — like some academic/activists have warned — pushing solely for a “build it and they will come” approach might result in simply more white men and no greater portion of women and people of color.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
Never miss a story. Sign-up for the daily BP Headlines email.
BikePortland needs your support.
The post The Monday Roundup: Cheap gas cheerleading, cycling’s diversity problem, Uber’s deadly failure, and more appeared first on BikePortland.org.
Kicking off Memorial Day with another warm morning along the lakefront.
Kind of exciting to see that the lifeguard chairs are coming back as the City beaches
“officially” open today!
