Downtown Portland Moves Forward on Bike Lanes

As one might expect, a lot of people want to bike in Portland, Oregon. But the central city's network of bike lanes is still sub-par. Michael Andersen covers the ongoing effort to fix this.

One problem: cyclists crossing the Willamette River into downtown do not encounter straightforward routes of travel. "'Our central city, particularly our downtown, is transit-rich, pedestrian friendly, pretty easy to access by car,' city project manager Gabe Graff said Tuesday. But 'cyclists coming across the bridges from the east side into downtown Portland feel like the infrastructure is not as intuitive, is not as comfortable.'"

In addition to $3.4 million from local sources, the bike lane project will get $6 million in federal funding, but only after the state signs off. "In other words, the city can't get money until it tells the state what it's going to do. But the city says it can't tell the state exactly what it's going to do until the city has taken the time to talk to lots of interest groups about their needs. [...] The next major step in the project, [city spokesman John Brady] said, is to convene a stakeholder committee to choose exactly which streets should be improved and in what order."

The article also notes that Portland's bike-share program is on track to launch mid-July.