Last Saturday, Portland City Commissioner Nick Fish joined BTA staff, board, volunteers, and community partners for a tour of bike boulevards and infrastructure in North and Northeast Portland. A midsummer morning ride through the newly sharrowed neighborhood greenways of NE Going and NE Bryant provided the perfect context for a rolling discussion about connecting bike boulevards and infrastructure to parks to housing opportunities for community members – and a chance to enjoy and ride for miles without any major traffic concerns or speeding traffic nearby.
Commissioner Nick Fish, Volunteer Kiel Johnson, and Board Member Tommy Brooks
CCC's Laura Koch highlights the importance of providing equitable access to transportation options.
Community Cycling Center’s Laura Koch and Parks & Recreation’s North/Northeast Zone Manager Sue Glenn shared their wealth of knowledge and experience. Both have been intimately involved in community based work within the New Columbia housing development in North Portland.
As a follow up to their Understanding Barriers to Bicycling community needs assessment conducted in 2009, the Community Cycling Center is focused on strengthening community partnerships and tailoring their programs to engage youth and adults who have multiple barriers to bicycling.
“Through our partnership with New Columbia and in collaboration with Parks and Recreation, Janus Youth and the Bureau of Transportation, we’ve engaged over 113 youth and adults at New Columbia this spring through our Bike Club at University Park, our Create a Commuter workshop, quick fixes and community ride to Sunday Parkways and a Bike for Kids event,” Laura explained.
During the ride on Saturday, Egbevado Ananouko, a community member who works with Janus Youth’s Village Gardens caught up with our ride in McCoy Park to share his experience. Egbevado was one of 12 adults who earned a bicycle through the Community Cycling Center’s Create a Commuter program in May and volunteered for the Bikes for Kids event on July 11th. Egbevado’s bike was recently stolen from a TriMet bus but he was proud to show us the new bike he purchased so he can keep on riding. Egbevado was excited to be more involved in his community to promote bicycling and encourage young people to wear their helmets.
Commissioner Fish is officially responsible for Parks and Housing, but he’s also a strong voice of funding for active transportation – recently he voted in support of complete street priorities at a contentious JPACT funding meeting as an alternate to the Mayor. The BTA appreciates his leadership and looks forward to engaging in more conversations about better integrating transportation options with other valuable community services.
Thanks for giving me good information.Ensure safe and secure delivery to your precious goods such as delicate materials, paintings, heavy machineries, etc.
Looks like Planning Commissioner Chris Smith was along for the ride too.