Incursio

East Memphis (White Station area) and Germantown are supposed to be real nice areas, at least that what the real-estate agents say.  So in a followup to my post yesterday about the Wolf River Greenway and it's problems with access and connectivity, I thought I might share a couple images.

Out in east Memphis and northwest Germantown they have some greenway bike+ped paths along the Wolf River , called the Wolf River Greenway.  It is pretty nice, and I have ridden my bicycle along it's entirety.  It is still somewhat in two main sections, the Memphis section in the west and the Germantown section in the east.   The ultimate plans are to have them all linked together and connected to some other areas as well, although those plans seem like they might be a while to completion (if ever). My thoughts on the Wolf River Greenway are mixed.

I recognize that you only drive into "the city" to work or go to a special event.  No big deal. But "the city" is also a neighborhood.  I live in "the city", so do my family and pets. So when you come in to "the city" and drive like a jackass on your way to work - you put me and my family in danger. I'll tell you what.  When you drive in to work in "the city" slow down a little, watch for crosswalks and children and pets.  And I won't drive out to the burbs and haul ass around your neighborhood. I would be really angry if you killed my child while they were walking to the bus - just because you were frustrated that you and all your suburban friends clogged up the freeways with single occupancy vehicles - and you decided to take a short cut through "the city" at high rates of speed. Just because the buildings are taller than three stories doesn't mean people don't live here.   Respect my neighborhood and I...

Kerr Bike rentals is now operating on the Willamette River, in downtown Portland. They are located at the west end of the Hawthorne bridge, at the Salmon Street Springs fountain. They rent surreys (pictured), bicycles, quad sport bikes, tandem bikes, kids bikes, and a variety of other pedal power contraptions. Prices range $6 to $30 hourly, and some items rentable by the day. Their phone is (503) 808-9955 and their website is http://www.kerrbikes.org Looks Fun!

Only 1 million payments of $4000 each!

From a recent article in New York Magazine: New York’s streets are getting new ownership. Lane by lane, curb cut by parking space, in steps so scattered and incremental that they hardly get noticed, people on foot are wresting control of the asphalt from those behind the wheel. and the basic unit of urban life: the street. There, lifestyles intersect and city dwellers co-exist with people different from themselves. It’s where we learn toleration, where leisure shares space with urgency, commerce with activism, baby carriages with handcarts. When it is narrowed by garbage or overwhelmed by traffic, then the street reverts to its most primitive use: as a corridor. But a truly public place allows people to move at many different paces, or not to move at all. The article talks about Robert Moses. Who was Robert Moses ? He was an extremely powerful developer and politician for four decades in New York City. BikePortland has an i nteresting article and subsequent discussion about...

I have been involved in many discussions held in many forums about the Portland OHSU Aerial Tram. Now, all controversy aside - one common opinion that I hear frequently concerns me. Often, the Tram will be disregarded as a valuable link in Portland's bike network. To all who would say that the Tram does not provide a valuable connection or link for bicyclists, I would suggest heading down to the base of the Tram and look around. I did.

A Portland Police officer sitting on the SE 9th Ave Pedestrian overpass clocks people coming off the Ross Island Bridge onto SE Powell Blvd. There were about 6 officers waiting down on 9th to take off and pull over the offenders. Here is the spot on Google Maps: View Larger Map

What motivation would you need to spend 4 billion dollars on one single highway project, 4 billion dollars on one single 5 mile stretch of highway. 4 billion dollars on one single project that would be considered the single most expensive public works project ever in the history of the Pacific Northwest? Would one of the nation's worst traffic bottlenecks qualify? I mean if you were going to spend twice the city of Portland's annual budget one one single project - would a nationally known and recognized traffic bottleneck be a good place to do so? If you wanted to spend four times the State of Oregon's education budget on a single 5 mile stretch of highway - would you want to cure something that was pretty bad - I mean really bad? If you were going to ignore peak oil, or climate change, or air pollution, or gas price trends, or vehicle miles traveled trends, or economic advice - and build one single massive project that is likely to suck up regional transportation fu...

You could think these are from Portland, what with all our bike culture and whatnot... Cincinatti, Ohio. Atlanta, Georgia.

Take this quick test: Consider this little test if you have friends or loved ones who ride bicycles or walk. Drive Safe...

I would like to take a minute to mention that I have had a few very good successes with some services that the City of Portland provides. If you see a traffic hazard that the city can fix - you can report it by calling (503)823-SAFE . The city has been real good about responding. They fixed the problem I reported in under three days! But there has to be a legitimate problem. You call, leave your name and information and a description of the problem on their answering system. If they need more info they will contact you. Once again, that number is (503)823-SAFE (503)823-7233 . If you have a parking concern. Such as cars parked across a sidewalk, bike lane, or a driveway - you can call parking enforcement . (503)823-5195. I even called them after hours and left a message and there was a response! If you see Graffiti anywhere in Portland, you can report it to the Graffiti Abatement office . Usually it will be removed promptly... I have had good results with them as wel...

Well, we started off with good intentions. We rode down to the Bridge Pedal this morning, and it looked more like the Bridge March. The line of people walking their bikes extended all the way over the Ross Island bridge and back through the industrial area all the way to OMSI. Packed in, curb to curb. We turned around and went home. No way I was going to fight that all day. It is time for the BTA to limit entrants to the Bridge Pedal to 10,000, and possibly break it up into two weekends. One weekend for the 8 and 10 bridge rides, and one weekend for the 6 bridge ride. Each weekend limited to 10,000 riders. As it currently is, there is just no way that I am going to do this again. And we have ridden in the bridge pedal every year since 2001. But the last 3 years it has been seriously mismanaged and poorly planned. Anyway, we put our bikes on the bike rack of our Jeep, and went and rode around the Columbia River in Vancouver. No risk of running into too many bicycles...

There has been a little bit going on with Transportation around Portland recently. One cool thing that I found is ByCycle . They have made a really cool trip planner that supports Portland . You can use it to find and map bike routes. It contains the Metro "Bike There" map, mashed up with Google Maps and a route planning algorythm. Pretty cool, check it out and play with the trip planner a bit. The funding for the new Willamette bridge from Riverplace (area) to OMSI (area) for the Milwaukie MAX and Eastside streetcar loop passed . The new bridge will also have very good bicycle and pedestrian access. This will be very good for southeast Portland, and eventually the MAX line is to run to Oregon City. I am sure we will be seeing more on this in the short term future. This comes hot on the heels of news about MAX exceeding ridership records . Good job legislators, now lets get the Sellwood bridge rebuilt . I came across a site called GoLoco which could be a gre...

Portland police have lately been operating "stings" against bicyclists. They have been watching for things like not staying within bicycle lanes or not coming to complete stops at stop signs (including putting your foot down). They have been targeting areas like SE Clinton around 26th, Ladd's Circle, the area between OMSI & the Springwater Corridor, the area on the east side of the Broadway bridge, and several others. (Google "Portland bicycle enforcement action" to find lots of reports). I have personally seen the ones between OMSI and the Springwater corridor, including one tonight. Often these "stings" will use massive amounts of manpower, the one at Ladd's Circle had at times six to ten officers on motorcycles and in cruisers. Tonight there were two motorcycle cops issuing citations. According to Jeremy Van Keuren, Public Advocate for the office of the Mayor Tom Potter: "In an average month, the Traffic Division will issue ...

In a comment I made to BikePortland they censored the word "Jerks". They censored three words I used. The first was "Asshat", which while I clearly don't think that to be a terrible word, I will at least give them the leeway to censor that on their own site. However I am not sure what the problem was with the word "Jerks". Here is the original text of my comment: Too bad River City Bicycles is staffed by clueless asshats. I went in there twice in the last couple years to buy some moderately expensive bike things (a couple at about $300 each). The first time they were jerks, I chalked it up to maybe a bad apple or someone having a bad day. Last week we tried again and they were jersks again. So we left and spent our money elsewhere… Too bad too, I am in the market for a new Cannondale and they won’t get my business. (Note, the second occurrence of "Jerks" contains a typo extra s, I understand that already - no need to comment a...