We’ve heard a lot about bicycle boulevards lately. From New York videos to action alerts about “the 70s Bike Boulevard” to TE and MTIP and NE and N… it’s enough to make one’s head spin.
Well, here’s an attempt to clarify what’s going on.
The City of Portland currently has 30 miles of bike boulevards (Clinton, Lincoln, and Ankeny are the best examples). As part of our bicycle boulevards campaign, we’ve been encouraging them to build more (and improve the boulevards that we have).
When we looked at the city, we found the most obvious gaps were in North and Northeast Portland. Those neighborhoods have favorable demographics and geography for bike ridership, but have traditionally been underserved by really good bike facilities. We’ve decided to work on expanding bike boulevards there (first) and then take what we’ve learned and apply it to the rest of the city and state.
Meanwhile, Portland’s bicycle coordinator Roger Geller saw another gap (and one that’s also highlighted in our Blueprint for Better Bicycling): north-south connections on the eastside. Roger and PDOT got together and applied for funding for three main corridors, in the east 20s, 50s, and 70s (exact street numbers shift a bit depending on where you are on the route).
50s and 70s Boulevards
PDOT applied for funding for the 50s and 70s through the Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Project (MTIP) funding process. This is a relatively small pot of federal money distributed by Metro to our region; it comes in two-year cycles. Thanks to your help, we managed to get both projects on the “first cut” list, and we’ll continue to push for these projects until a final decision is made by Metro in March 2007.
20s Boulevard
PDOT asked the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) for funding of the 20s Boulevard through federal Transportation Enhancement (TE) funding, a competitive statewide pot of money set aside for bike, pedestrian, and other non-highway projects. There are about four times as many projects as can get funded, and an ODOT advisory group will make the decisions on what to fund.
So, we’re asking you to help get funding for all those projects.
Get more info on:
Supporting the 50s and 70s
Supporting the 20s
And we’re continuing to work on selecting the right streets and designs for bike boulevards in North and Northeast Portland. We’ve been moving slowly for a moment until our new Metro-Area Advocate starts in a couple weeks.
Any questions?
