With the help of many of you, we recently managed to find Metro funding for a bicycle boulevard in the east 70′s.
Unfortunately, our work is not done.
At a work session yesterday, the Metro Council decided to support the original staff funding recommendation (which did not include the boulevard), rather than the recommendation of the regional transportation leaders advisory group know as TPAC (which did, thanks in part to your calls). Tomorrow there is a meeting of a regional advisory group called JPACT, which is reviewing the funding proposals. Councilor Rex Burkholder chairs that group.
So we need you to make another phone call or two — TODAY!
Please call Councilor Rex Burkholder and ask him to revive the 70s bike boulevard project. Explain to him why you like bicycling on lower-traffic streets, and why you think bicycle boulevards are important to gettting more people on bikes and to improving bicycle safety.
Contact Rex at (503) 797-1546, or burkholderr@metro.dst.or.us.
Also contact the vice-chair of the committee, Metro Councilor Rod Park, at (503) 797-1547, or parkr@metro.dst.or.us.
Our surveys have shown that we could dramatically increase bicycling by building more low-traffic bicycle boulevards. Here’s your chance to help get a new Bike Boulevard funded! The City of Portland has requested $3.8 million from Metro to fund a new 7.8-mile north-south route in Northeast and Southeast Portland along the streets in the 70′s (71st to 76th, depending on the area). This project would run almost the whole length of the city, connecting the Springwater Corridor to NE Killingsworth.
While the Metro staff did not initially recommend funding for this project, TPAC recommended that $1.8 million be moved from another project to this one.
Thank you!
