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Portland rolls out its latest for family riding

2009-11-20T21:39:40Z

North Portland resident Joe Hagedorn rides a cargo bike from Joe Bike with his son and friends aboard.
-Slideshow below/Gallery
(Photos © J. Maus)

Last month, as part of the six-week Oregon Manifest event, Portland families got a chance to get up-close and personal with the latest bikes, accessories, and services to outfit the human-powered lifestyle.

This Workcycles had a very
stable front seat.

Event organizers took over a parking lot in Northwest Portland, filled it with vendors, and closed an adjacent street so people could use it as a carfree test-riding zone. The turnout was dampened by rain, but the people that did show up stayed very busy pedaling a wide variety of bikes and hearing about various ways to their carry kids, groceries, and other precious cargo on them.

And the kids. Wow. You’d think we were in Disneyland or something. They couldn’t get enough of all the bikes and were running from one to the other, pleading with me to take them on this one or that one “Just one more time!”

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A Surly Big Dummy with e-assist!

The family biking stalwarts at Clever Cycles had a busy tent. They shared their latest Xtracycle and Dutch bike set-ups. Their Surly Big Dummy with the Stokemonkey electric assist (created by one of Clever Cycles’ owners) is a tried and true winner. Its small footprint (compared to some other cargo bikes), versatility, and dependable power make it a tough option to beat. Clever Cycles also had Workcycles city bike with a very stout child seat arrangement. No plastic here, just steel bars, sturdy pegs, a solid seat for the little one — all positioned right in front of the rider.

This Carrier Pigeon from Joe Bike
has a locally-made front rack.

Joe Bike, who’s created a niche in the local cargo market by modifying existing designs, shared some of his shop’s latest creations. Using the chassis of front-loading, bakfiets-style cargo bikes he imports from China, Joe Bike partners with local builders and his own imagination to come up with some great options. The front ends have locally-made cargo bins configured in a number of useful ways. I especially like Joe Bike’s highly modified front loader with an additional top tube for reinforcement and an ingenious front rack. The kids couldn’t get enough of this one.

Bike Gallery brought along the Madsen rear bucket bike and the “Bullit” a Dutch import from the curiously named company Larry vs. Harry. The Bullit is built for speed and cargo, not necessarily kids, but it still handles beautifully even with three of them loaded on it. I could swing into turns with full confidence, and the kids — white knuckles and all — loved it.

Up Periscope.

Co-motion Cycles came up from Eugene to show off their Periscope Tandem. I’ve always loved the concept of the Periscope, but this was the first time I could see it in action. It’s essentially a regular tandem, but the rear (stoker) has a tiny seat tube and telescoping seat post so it fits a very wide range of heights. This is the ultimate solution for taking your kids on long event rides and tours.

In addition to test rides was the booth of safety promotion group Think First Oregon. They had literature about safe transportation behavior and helmets and an eye-catching prop to drive home the point — a human brain. Yes, my girls got to hold a (plastic of course) human brain and think about how precious those heads inside their helmets are.

Later in the afternoon, Oregon Manifest hosted a Family Biking Solutions Workshop. Clever Cycles co-owner Martina Fahrner helped to organize a panel discussion and breakout sessions where attendees focused on three ingredients to a thriving family biking culture; community, infrastructure and products. The information gleaned from the workshop will be put into a white paper that will be used as a resource for families curious about doing more by bike.

This event validated what many already know — family biking is surging in Portland. With family biking, perhaps more than any other market segment, the right products are essential, so it’s great to see Portland businesses filling that niche.

Watch the slideshow below for more of the action:

Job of the Week

2009-11-20T18:51:14Z

This week’s job opportunity puts the candidate deep into the push for developing active transportation options. Are you detail oriented? Do you geek out over maps and transit schedules? Check out the BikePortland Job Listings for details on this and other gigs.

Public transportation information consulting data engineer — Trillium Solutions

For a complete list of available jobs, click here. If you’d like more information about the BikePortland Job Listings, contact us, or visit the Job Listings page.

You can sign up for the all the latest job listings via RSS, email, or by following us on Twitter.

These are paid listings, so when you apply, please remember to tell them you saw the job on BikePortland.org!

Gordon Price on the rise of ‘motordom’ and its urban impacts

2009-11-20T21:10:19Z

Gordon Price addresses the crowd
during his presentation yesterday.
(Photos: Adams Carroll/BikePortland)

About 60 people gathered in the Portland Building last night to hear professor and former Vancouver B.C. city councilor Gordon Price share his insights on transportation, land use, and urban planning. Price’s presentation, which was part of the traffic and transportation course at Portland State University, detailed the problems of auto-centric planning in North America and offered some practical solutions from Vancouver.

Vancouver, a city that Price labeled ‘post-motordom’… The downtown population has doubled in ten years while the rate of car trips has decreased over the same period.

Price began his lecture focusing on the achievements of ‘motordom,’ an early twentieth-century coalition of auto businesses and interest groups who managed to bring about a “social reconsideration of the street.” At a time when most people got around on bicycles, streetcars, or by foot, these auto advocates succeeded in re-purposing streets primarily for car travel.

The pinnacle of motordom, Price said, was the creation of the interstate highway system, which allowed drivers to travel coast-to-coast without ever seeing a red light. Price also explained how our system is now being mimicked by China, a country with aspirations to build a 50,000 mile system even larger than our own. Although highways have never solved the problem of congestion – “efficient, free rapid flow of automobile traffic can’t even work on its own terms,” said Price – they have created a host of other problems.

Mr. Price.

Price said that proponents of motordom realized there was a simple way to make the car succeed: “Get rid of the cities.” Thus, our trajectory toward sprawl was set. But, Price added, this isn’t about being anti-car. “Motordom is not about the car, it’s about what the car makes possible: auto dependent urban form… the problem isn’t cars, it’s that we overdid it, drove out choice… we’ve made ourselves vulnerable.”

A proponent of dense, thoughtful development, Price called in to question traditional congestion mitigation solutions, asking his audience, “where is there a good example of an urban region that successfully dealt with traffic congestion by building more roads and bridges?” According to Price, the best way to solve the problem of congestion is to isolate it to bridges and highways while developing the appropriate densities and facilities needed to support transit, cycling, and walking in urban areas.

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These solutions have been effective in Vancouver, a city that Price labeled ‘post-motordom.’ Vancouver has left the vibrant urban villages created by its original streetcar network intact, adapting them to support twenty first century population growth. The city’s downtown population has doubled in ten years while the rate of car trips has decreased over the same period.

Portland stands to learn much from Vancouver’s achievements, but also faces additional challenges.

Freeways, as seen from the Burnside Bridge,
dominate Portland’s urban form.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Unlike Vancouver, Portland has major highways running through its urban core that feed congestion into the city’s grid and enable sprawl in suburban neighbors like Vancouver, Washington. Price, however, believes that the days of the suburb are numbered. Peak oil and the global financial crisis are “radical, unexpected changes” that have eliminated the cheap energy and land necessary for suburban growth. As a result, we can expect to see more suburbs reconfiguring themselves after an urban model, especially by redeveloping expansive parking lots into dense, mixed used neighborhoods*.

[*This is already happening in inner Portland neighborhoods. For example, The Oregonian reported this week about a new apartment development on N. Mississippi Ave. where 70% of tenants do not own a car.]

Price said that a specific challenge of the Portland Plan (which is holding a series of public workshops through December) should be to determine how to reallocate the space left behind by auto-centric infrastructure in the wake of the diminishing use of cars. He also suggested that serious accommodation of cyclists should be a high priority and pointed out his concern that the Portland Plan’s focus on “20 minute neighborhoods” doesn’t quite ring true. “That’s too much time,” he said.

In the past month, we’ve heard loud and clear from visiting experts that it’s time for Portland to focus on the elephant in the room — cars. From a European business expert, politician, advocate and engineer working in cities our Bureau of Transportation says they want to emulate, to a marketing expert who has done work for the City of Copenhagen, the message has been loud and clear: Building bikeways will only get us so far, we must begin to institute policies that discourage automobile use.

We know our city bureaucrats and elected officials have heard this message, the question now is, when will they start to heed the advice?

Gordon Price is the director of the City Program at Simon Fraser University and the author of Price Tags, an e-magazine on urban issues, and a blog of the same name.

River View Cemetery board rules on bike access

2009-11-19T23:10:01Z

An issue that has been simmering since April 2006 has finally reached some resolution. The River View Cemetery Association Board of Trustees has met several times in the last few weeks to address the issue of bicycle traffic going through their property. The issue reached a boiling point in September when the cemetery installed a series of speed bumps that many felt were draconian and unduly severe (they caused several injuries).

After forming a committee to look into the issue further and inviting a representative from the BTA from PBOT out to look at the roads, the non-profit’s Executive Director David Noble has announced, “for the time being, no restriction on bicycling has been enacted.”

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However, Noble added that safety for their visitors and employees and liability exposure remain their top concerns and the trustees will take up the issue again several months from now. While bicycles are allowed to continue to use the roads, Noble says the cemetery will enact the following measures before re-considering bike access into the future:

as soon as practically possible, post signs at the 4 entrances and throughout the cemetery to advise autos and bicyclists of River View’s long-standing, internal speed limit of 15 MPH,

retain a traffic safety consultant for input regarding the design of the existing speed control devices; as well as recommendations regarding the need for additional such devices and/or the need to change or enhance signage or road stripping in connection with these devices,

consult with a representative from our insurance carrier to determine how they view the “non-cemetery” usage of bicycle commuting - specifically, whether our liability coverage or rate of premium would be impacted were we to face any damage claims by either an injured bicyclist, or a vehicle owner or pedestrian who might be struck by a bicyclist,

continue to dialogue with BTA, PBOT other interested parties in the bicycle community regarding ways to create the safest possible environment for all parties.

Noble says the trustees biggest concern is people riding through the cemetery outside of their posted hours of operation (8:00 am to dusk). When the gates are locked, people on bicycles have been going around the gates, over grass and grave sites to get onto the road. Michelle Poyourow from the BTA told the Portland Tribune that “It’s happening enough where you can see wear in the grass where they’ve been going through.”

Noble’s hunch is that the trustees will vote in favor of continued bike access, but that “some curtailment of after hours riding will be put into place.”

Access for bicycles in River View Cemetery is a privilege and we’re lucky Mr. Noble and his colleagues have allowed it to continue. Let’s do everything we can to be respectful of the property in order to maintain this valuable resource.

Hey, guy from Vancouver BC, we’re listening

2009-11-20T03:19:19Z

Vancouver gives plenty of space and
separation for people walking and biking
along their waterfront. We should do the same.
(Photos © J. Maus)

Tonight, Portland is set to get schooled once again by the highly engaging and sharp Gordon Price from Vancouver B.C. Price is the director of the City Program at Simon Fraser University and he’s a noted thought leader on urban planning and transportation.

Vancouver’s transportation network and urban form is something to admire. They’ve done a lot that we should pay attention to.

For starters, according to the flyer for his talk — which is titled, The Vancouver Recipe: How to increase density and reduce fat — Mr. Price is going to share how Vancouver has added residential development to their inner City while the number of cars has gone down and biking and walking have jumped.

Bikes crossing. I like it.

I also recall riding around Vancouver back in 2007. They not only already had bike boxes (although they’re not bright green like ours), but they had well-developed bike boulevards (which we are only now building).

What I loved about Vancouver’s bike boulevards was the little things. They were marketed with catchy names (not just the name of the street) like “The Mosaic”. The theme of that one was mosaic tile, which you’d see in roundabouts and on diverters and median islands. The theme made the street marketable and added a powerful sense of identity. Another thing Vancouver’s bike boulevards had were signs on the major crossings that let motor vehicle and other traffic know that they were crossing a bikeway.

Another area where Vancouver has advice to offer is with bridges. The Oregon Daily Journal of Commerce published a detailed article yesterday about the differences in how Vancouver dealt with congestion on their Lion’s Gate bridge and our struggles with the same issue with our Interstate bridge project debacle (of course, Vancouver doesn’t have a separate state and DOT to deal with either).

Here are the details on tonight’s event:

Gordon Price Presentation

Elly Blue is posting live updates from the presentation on our Twitter account.

Greenway Trail gets boost from The Oregonian; but it needs more

2009-11-19T18:52:10Z

Riding along the river on what
should be a fully connected and
developed trail.
(Photo © J. Maus)

The North Portland Greenway Trail is on the cover of the “InPortland” section of The Oregonian today. The exposure for the project is an important boost to the project — whose backers need more political support to make it a reality.

The story lays out how the trail has made some small steps of progress, but that its actual construction is still far off (the advocacy effort behind the trail is already four years old):

“Even its lead advocate, however, sets 10 years as an optimistic timetable for the Greenway to receive funding and be fully constructed.”

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While the trail is mentioned in a number of key city planning documents (it’s also a favorite of Metro) and its benefits as both a recreation and transportation corridor are numerous and sorely needed, it is still languishing in limbo.

Leader of the Willamette Pedestrian Coalition Steph Routh is quoted in the story as saying the issue is funding, which she rightly points out is just “a matter of political will.” Added to funding though, are a myriad of other complicated issues including garnering right-of-way easements from a number of different property owners and navigating through a former toxic waste dump site.

But projects like this are never easy and excuses are always easy to come by. This project — which shares many of the same challenges as its cousin, the Sullivan’s Gulch Trail — lacks more than just funding and right-of-way. It lacks a political champion who will put it on their shoulders and carry it to the front of the line.

We got the Eastbank Esplanade in large part because former Transportation Commissioner and now U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer and former Mayor Vera Katz made it a priority. It was expensive, scoffed at by critics, and it floats on water for crying out loud! But it got built because Blumenauer and Katz believed in it and helped make it so.

There’s a race for Metro president looming, now would be a great time for one of the front-runners to capture the excitement around either one of these big trail projects and use some of their political capital to push it forward. Or how about Mayor Adams?

Which savvy local politician will make the North Portland Greenway Trail or the Sullivan’s Gulch Trail their legacy?

Weekend Event Guide

2009-11-20T22:14:07Z

It’s time to gear up and hunker down — this weekend, take a ride to a nice, warm, indoor location. Build up your repair and riding skills, learn to make informed investments in winter gear, or have a warm drink while enthusiastically debating the big picture.

Or take the opportunities below to just head out there and ride for miles and miles in cheerful company.

Thursday, November 19

5:00pm - 7:00pm: Car-Free Happy Hour
Social hour, business networking. Floyd’s in Old Town, 118 NW Couch. Everyone welcome! Every third Thursday. A group will leave around 6:00pm for the Gordon Price talk.

6:30pm - 8:30pm: Gordon Price at the Portland Building
Gordon Price is a planning professor and former transportation commissioner in Vancouver, BC who gives great talks about the real costs — economic and otherwise — of car-oriented infrastructure. 1120 SW 5th, 2nd Floor Auditorium.

Friday, November 20

6:00pm - 8:30pm: Bike Gallery Winter Bike School
Come to the Bike Gallery at SW 10th and Yamhill for food, drinks, presentations about the latest bikes and gear, tips for winter riding and bike maintenance, and discounts on what you need to stay warm and dry.

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10:00pm - early: Dropout Freakbike Ride
Meet at Colonel Summers Park, ride til dawn. Music provided. Every third Friday.

Saturday, November 21

8:00am - 4:00pm: Wine Country Tour Populaire
Try out the art of randonneuring with this tranquil, 70-mile ride through the Yamhill valley. No fees, but bring some cash for wine tastings along the way and the hot tub at the end of the day. Leaves from Forest Grove at 9am.

10:00am - 12:30pm: N/NE Community Forum: Impacts of the Columbia River Crossing
Spend a rainy Saturday morning learning about and discussing the potential impacts of the CRC project on communities in North and Northeast Portland and the region as a whole. New research on the project’s impacts will be presented, and a speaker will address environmental justice issues. Redeemer Lutheran Church, 5431 NE 20th Ave.

1:00pm - 2:00pm: All-Season Cycling Class (Bilingual)
Este taller se presenta en ingles y espanol. Sin dudas, Oregon es un estado muy húmedo, pero con preparación especial puedes andar en bicicleta todo el año. Únete a esta sesión interactiva en la que algunos ciclistas experimentados compartirán sus experiencias y técnicas para mantenerte seco, cómodo y seguro mientras pasea en bicicleta todo el año. Sure it gets wet in Oregon, but that shouldn’t stop you from getting around by bike. Come hear about strategies for staying dry, safe, and seen during the dark and damp months. Roosevelt HS, 6941 N Central St, Room 106.

Sunday, November 22

8:30am - 4:00pm: Kruger’s Crossing
Mud, a bonfire, and beer mark this annual cyclocross favorite, held on a farm at Sauvie Island with all the fences, berry patches, and cornfields you could desire.

3:00pm: Bike-In Potluck Dinner at the Bike Temple
Thankgiving-ish celebration of food, community, and of course bicycles. All ages, all diets. There’s a sign-up sheet online. NE 9th and Going.

6:00pm - 7:30pm: CityBikes Fix a Flat Class
BYOFlat and learn how to change a flat tire, patch a tube, roadside tricks to keep your bike rolling, and identifying handy ways of avoiding flats. Taught by Beth Hamon, who knows everything you could possibly want to learn about fixing flats. Free or $5 donation. At Citybikes Annex, SE 8th and Ankeny.

Company releases analysis of ‘Should cyclists pay road tax?’ ad campaign

2009-11-19T17:59:47Z

Should cyclists pay a road tax?
A majority of respondents said no.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Back in July a local web marketing company Webtrends wrapped a MAX train with the question, “Should cyclists pay a road tax?” I wasn’t too thrilled with it and made my concerns clear in an editorial about the campaign.

The campaign stirred quite a bit of debate and news coverage about the issue. Now Webtrends has released a follow-up report and analysis about their findings from the campaign. The company’s original plan was to create a follow-up MAX ad sharing the results of their findings (the ad in the photo above is still running).

However, according to report author and Webtrends’ Senior Manager for Social Media Marketing Justin Kistner, “The sides are too polarized and the topic is too complex for a Max ad to help advance the discussion or adequately educate people on both sides.”

Instead, Kistner has put together a six-page report on the campaign which they plan on posted to their website later today (download it here if you don’t want to wait).

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Of the 946 comments tracked in the campaign (through blog comments, mentions on Twitter, etc…) more than half (55.3%) of the responses that actually answered the question were against the idea of having “cyclists” pay a road tax. Of the anti-tax respondents, the number one reason (67%) given was that people who ride bicycles already pay taxes that fund roads (those folks might want to check out the new jerseys at UK-based IPayRoadTax.com.)

Among the pro-tax respondents, the number one reason (44%) was along the lines of “The bike-only infrastructure only benefits people who cycle, so people who cycle should pay for it.”

Interestingly, more than half of the responses to the campaign did not event answer the “Should cyclists pay a road tax?” question. Of those “non-answer” respondents, 21% said the question was biased and 9% insulted Webtrends for asking it.

According to the report’s conclusion,

“The primary conflict among commenters came down to this: Does cycling infrastructure benefit only cyclists, or all road users? And thus, who should pay for it?”

Based on their analysis, Webtrends came up with three recommendations that “interested parties should address”:

more education about how roads are funded is needed (”The amount of misinformation shared throughout this campaign was staggering”),
more explanation of how bike infrastructure benefits all road users (”..it seems necessary to explain these shared benefits [less congestion, safer streets] to those who believe cyclists should pay for cycling-only infrastructure”),
too many people riding bikes ride dangerously (”If these perceptions are deemed to have statistical merit, there may be a need to increase bike safety training within communities or schools”).

I stand by my criticisms of Webtrends’ approach to this entire campaign. However, despite those feelings, their analysis can be a useful tool for advocates and planners looking for guidance on this issue and it’s always interesting to hear what someone outside the bike bubble thinks about these hot-button issues.

Report from ‘An Evening with Roger Geller’

2009-11-19T09:12:51Z

Roger and me.
(Photos: Adams Carroll)

Thanks to everyone who packed into Plan B tonight to listen to my interview with City of Portland Bicycle Coordinator Roger Geller. As a special bonus, we also streamed the event live right here on BikePortland thanks to the technological magic of Dan Kaufman from Crank My Chain CycleTV. What a thrill to know folks from all over were tuning in via the web!

After some mingling and ordering of food and drink, we settled in for about a one-hour interview and conversation followed by an open Q & A session. We even took a few questions from the Internet audience.

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Mr. Geller and I covered a wide range of topics, from wonky stuff like the Bicycle Master Plan, sharrows (did you know the City had a plan to put them on every street downtown?) and bike boulevards — to the importance of having 5,000 naked people on bikes rally at City Hall, how bicycling improves your sex life, and more.

For some reason (maybe because it’s 1:00 am?) I’m drawing a blank trying to remember specifics of what Geller and I talked about. So, if you were there tonight, feel free to share your thoughts about the event in the comments below.

Thanks again for spending your Wednesday night with us. If you missed it, stay tuned for the video recording (which I hope to post shortly).

On February 3rd, I’ll sit down for a chat with Ginny Sullivan from the Adventure Cycling Association. Ms. Sullivan is project manager for the ambitious and exciting United States Bicycle Route System. Stay tuned for more details about that event.

Burkholder responds to criticism of Metro’s Regional Transportation Plan

2009-11-18T23:56:28Z

Metro’s update to the 2035 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) — which will guide $20 billion of investments in our regional transportation infrastructure over the next 25 years — is coming under fire from advocacy groups, Portland Mayor Sam Adams, and others.

Among Metro’s stated goals for the plan are to create an “efficient urban design”, “expand transportation choices”, “enhance safety”, and “reduce pollution”. But critics of the plan say it falls short in the key metric of reducing greenhouse gas emissions (34% of Oregon’s emissions come from transportation) and that it invests too much on highway widening and road projects. Metro Councilor and RTP point man Rex Burkholder stands behind the plan

In total, 659 projects totaling $19.4 billion dollars were submitted and have been included in the draft RTP.

The Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) has come out against the plan, saying in official comments and on their blog that it is “not sufficient towards changing the overall reliance on automobiles and the associated consequences.”

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The BTA also pointed out a finding from Metro’s own analysis showing that “the region would get closer to meeting greenhouse gas emission goals by not building out the RTP project list.”

Some advocates were alarmed at this graph from Metro about the RTP’s impact on emissions, but Burkholder says it’s not a fair criticism.

The non-profit Coalition for a Livable Future (CLF) puts a sharper point on their criticisms of the plan. They issued a detailed critique (PDF here) headlined by the claim that the RTP would “increase global warming pollution by 50%”. CLF’s disappointment caught the attention of the Willamette Week newspaper, who gave Metro a “Rogue of the Week” award at the end of October.

“I can’t support the RTP in its current form.”
— Sam Adams, Mayor of Portland

Biking and environmental advocates aren’t the only ones questioning the RTP.

Portland Planning Commissioner, citizen activist, and all-around transportation thinker Chris Smith wonders if it’s “time to reboot the RTP.” And Portland Mayor Sam Adams, in a meeting last week of a Metro transportation policy advisory committee said, “I can’t support the RTP in its current form.”

Rex Burkholder

So, what’s going on with Metro’s plan? Why is it attracting so much rancor from sustainable transportation advocates and others? I asked Rex Burkholder what he makes of these criticisms.

Is it time to scrap the plan and start over? Far from it says Burkholder:

“Scrapping all the work done, especially the adoption of new policies and performance targets, as is called for in the Portland Transport Article, is just silly rhetoric.”

Burkholder acknowledges that the plan isn’t perfect, but adds that the problem is with outdated modeling methods and the task of changing an entrenched transportation planning mindset — not on Metro itself.

“Do I wish we could have gone farther? Of course. But this is a dance with many partners, or to mix metaphors, a giant ship that we are turning.”
— Rex Burkholder, Metro Councilor

“We are limited by existing models that were developed to model pollutants like CO and Ozone, not CO2. They do the former well but we aren’t very happy with how the CO2 modeling performed.”

Burkholder also laments models used in the RTP don’t account for biking or walking. “We don’t actually model biking or walking yet… Without actually being able to predict future walking and cycling rates, the models show higher car use than is likely, ergo, more carbon emitted.. this is also why the numbers for future cycling and walking are disappointing. ”

As an example, Burkholder said that modeling of the traffic on SW Broadway would have showed more motor vehicle traffic with the installation of a cycle track. But, Burkholder says, “It had to be done on faith because the right models don’t exist.”

Metro is currently working with Portland State University on a new modeling tool that will be used in the next RTP update.

One of the key criticisms made by the CLF is that Washington County’s list of projects in the RTP shows they’re “trying to build their way out of congestion”. Burkholder responds by saying Metro’s plan must account for an influx of 600,000 new residents and that, “The reality is more people will require more transportation facilities.”

And those transportation facilities, according to Burkholder, must be well-connected, requiring new roads to be built.

“Because you’re building cities, you need infrastructure to provide access for all the new development that’s going on. They’re [the streets] are multi-modal and you can design them well. Think about Washington and Clackamas Counties, a big chunk of their roads are isolated. We have connectivity standards; in new areas you have to have a minimum of 16 connections per mile. That’s what we’re trying to do.”

Burkholder maintains that the proposed road projects in the RTP “are community building projects” and that the idea is to create the type of dense grids present in East Portland — the same type of grids that facilitate walking and biking. And those roads, says Burkholder, come with policies and guidelines that require them to be complete streets.

“The street guidelines are in place. If you don’t believe they will have the desired result than… it takes vigilance [to make sure those guidelines are followed] but it doesn’t mean the plan is lacking.”

Burkholder also points out that the RTP only reflects projects and expenditures eligible for federal funding. One criticism from the BTA was that not enough was going into maintenance. But maintenance, says Burkholder, is locally funded.

Even while standing up for the RTP and rebuffing some criticisms, Burkholder acknowledges that it could be different. “Do I wish we could have gone farther? Of course. But this is a dance with many partners, or to mix metaphors, a giant ship that we are turning.”

When asked if people are warranted in saying the RTP should be more bold, Burkholder reponded,

“I think our policies are very bold. We’re one of the first to have an outcomes-based planning model using real performance measures, using real traffic counts, looking at environmental health. It’s not easy, that’s why it’s incremental. It is bold, but to translate into making change on the ground takes time. Things are moving in the right direction.”

Metro staff will complete this RTP update in early 2010 and open a 45-day public comment period on the document in April prior it going up for a vote by Metro Council in June.