Bike advocacy in Hood River has picked up of late thanks to the Hood River Valley Residents’ Committee and local partners.
Photo courtesy of HRVRC.
One of the first issues the HRVRC is tackling is bike access to the Hood River Bridge. The bridge is almost a mile long, with two narrow lanes and no sidewalks. Walking or biking across the bridge is prohibited. At two discussion fora organized by the Columbia Gorge Earth Center last year, residents expressed their frustration at not being able to bike across the bridge. The Mayor of Hood River has pointed out that, with auto parking in downtown Hood River costing as much as $30,000 per spot, investing in bike access to the bridge could be very cost effective.
Together with the Port of Hood River (which owns and operates the bridge) HRVRC hired an intern this summer to look at ways to make the bridge traversable by bike in the near future. HRVRC is also bringing Safe Routes to School programs to kids in Hood River (Executive Director Jonathan Graca attended the National Safe Routes Conference last month).
One way you can support their work is by joining them on the Hood River Harvest Ride on September 26th. Learn more here.
