Bike Boulevard Tour
Posted by: ScottJun 20 2006, 12:00 pm
The BTA hosted a Bicycle Boulevards Vision on Saturday. Fifty participants rode this two-hour guided tour of Portland’s low-traffic Bicycle Boulevards. Riders had an opportunity to experience some of Portland’s best low traffic bicycle streets and the held and interactive dialogue about these bike routes.
Here’s a sample of what we heard:
* People really liked the trees, shade, scenery and low traffic…they saw the value of the bike boulevards and felt that they were safe.
* On safety, as more bikes go down a bike street it makes them easier to notice and motorists expect them.
*The Lincoln Street corridor has highly desirable bicycling conditions … the Tillamook route is nice though the flow is not optimal because of placement of stop signs.
* Riders liked the traffic diverter on NE 16th / Tillamook, it allows bike through but not cars.
* Most folks did not like riding on 28th Avenue, it feels to fast paced and narrow. We need other options.
* People also don't feel "seen" in downtown.
* People love being able to get off of Hawthorne and ride on Ladd and Harrison even if it is a bit out of the way sometimes.
* I had a couple of folks on my ride who this was the longest ride they had ever done. Awesome!
(Map courtesy of Alta Consulting, Photo by Bikeportland.org)
Did anybody out there in BTA land ride the Tour de Blast this year?
Hot day– the organizers allow 300 walk-ons to ride and then run out of food all the key rest stops including Johnstong Ridge… crazy!! So it's 90 degrees at Johnston Ridge and I wait in line for 1 – hour to buy a hot dog (blucchhh)! Lucky I had some cash with me.
Can we get a local bike club to compete for next year's permit to organizing this ride?
It's always been an excellent place to ride– but the Rotary Club in Longview has ling done a lousy job organizing this event. How about the Vancouver Cycling Club? They could get it done the right way!
when's the next one? =)
Keep your eye on the BTA site. We will hold more….
Mr. Hanna,
If you have something to say about the Tour de Blast why don't you start your own blog, instead of spamming every portland bike blog with your gripes?
Please respect this site (and every other one you've spammed) and keep your comments on the topic.
Thank you.
–Jonathan Maus
BikePortland.org
Something needs to be done about the intersection of 7th and Tillamook. It is difficult to manuever around the traffic circle. Otherwise I love the idea of continuing to focus bike traffic on safe streets especially for kids. Yay.
Shara, I agree, 7th Avenue doesn't function well enough for such a bike-intensive district, and it's particularly frustrating that the Tillamook crossing is so poor when we're directing hundreds of bicyclists every day to that conflict point.
I encourage you to call the City's Traffic Safety hotline and let them know about your concerns. Perhaps there's something they can do to improve conditions.
Cheers,
Jessica Roberts
Metro-Area Advocate
Bicycle Transportation Alliance