Printer-friendly version Email story link

Still spinning

• Cyclist fatalities shift attention to mean streets Ñ and how to avoid them

By Jennifer Anderson

The Portland Tribune, Sep 23, 2005, Updated Oct 30, 2009

ADVERTISEMENTS

Jason Bietz has 30 years of cycling experience under his belt, but he still won’t ride on congested routes like Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard or lower Southwest Skyline Boulevard at dusk.

“Many drivers don’t realize how easy it is to knock a bicyclist off their bike or just flat-out kill them,” he says. “You’re putting your faith and trust in people’s awareness. It’s a big leap of faith.”

Instead, 38-year-old Bietz Ñ a mountain biker who moved here from Ashland seven years ago Ñ prefers to take alternative routes around town and ride out in the country when he can.

It’s not surprising, he says, that most of the bike fatalities in Portland occur on arterial streets such as Southeast Foster Road, where high speeds, lots of traffic, multiple lanes and many driveways make for dangerous situations.

In fact, city transportation officials say that while arterial streets account for 30 percent of the bike system (most bike lanes are on residential streets), arterials account for 80 percent of the fatalities.

That’s why the city is updating its focus for reducing accidents between bicycles and motor vehicles. The Portland Office of Transportation in the past few years has spent federal grant money on bike safety measures for lesser-used, parallel roads. Now it is launching a three-year effort to improve bike and pedestrian safety on arterial streets, too.

Specifically, the city will use a $100,000 federal “safe communities” grant to study safety measures including stricter enforcement of photo radar and adding red-light cameras, crosswalks and median islands. Officials also will look at how to reduce crashes caused by drunken drivers and young motorists.

City leaders will bring bike safety to the forefront next month at a transportation safety summit set for Oct. 3. Pedestrian and car safety also will be discussed.

Mayor Tom Potter and Commissioner Sam Adams will host the summit on International Walk to School Week. Potter also will proclaim Oct. 5 Walk and Bike to School Week and Walk and Bike to School Day in the city.

One panel at the summit will focus on ways to reduce crashes, injuries and fatalities in different parts of the city. A second panel will focus on speeding, drunken driving and other concerns facing pedestrians, motorists, bicyclists and motorcycle riders. To register for the summit, call 503-823-5051, or visit the city’s Web site at portlandonline.com.

Stats hint at ‘tipping point’

Four cyclists have died in crashes this year in Portland; the number has ranged from zero to five each year over the past 10 years, city officials say.

At the same time, the number of cyclists in the city has grown.

City officials estimate there are 9,000 cyclists in the city, up from 3,000 in 1991. New numbers from PDOT this week also show that cyclist traffic on the Hawthorne, Broadway, Burnside and Steel bridges is up 15 percent from last year.

City Bicycle Coordinator Roger Geller says the daily combined bicycle traffic on the four bridges was 10,192 this year, up from 8,875 last year.

“Bicycle use continues to grow in popularity,” Geller says. “It seems like we may be reaching, at least in some parts of the city, a tipping point Ñ a point where more and more people will see the bicycle not as something for exercise or recreation solely, but just as a good vehicle for moving around the city. In fact hopefully many people will find it the best vehicle.”

Geller hopes the new numbers will add fire to Portland’s effort to become the first city in the United States to receive a platinum rating from the League of American Bicyclists, a nonprofit organization that promotes bicycle advocacy.

Currently, Portland has a gold rating from the league, along with Corvallis; Palo Alto, Calif.; and Boulder, Colo. Portland’s strategy for reaching platinum involves increasing bike use, holding events to celebrate bike culture in the city and getting the message out about how cycling can improve residents’ health and safety.