I'm sorry.

I would like to publicly apologize to my bike. I was a little harsh on it the first couple days back from my trip to the Netherlands and I have much appreciated my Trek hybrid the past couple of days. I wouldn't have been able to make it up Portland's abundant hills without it's many gears and light frame. Lucky to say, I fell back in love with my bike because it is the kind of bike I need to ride around in Portland, the way that I want to ride.

When I'm biking to work, the only reason I want to take my time is so that I don't sweat so much. But I still want to get to work as quickly as possible, just like I want to get home to my kitty as quickly as possible. My hybrid allows me to do that and I don't think my little Dutch bike could get me up some of our hills the way I want to go up them.

I would still like a Dutch bike for those leisurely rides to dinner or to the park. Maybe I can save up for one and paint it pink :)

Cycling in Portland - post Holland trip

First ride back: a leisurely catch up session with my husband

After arriving back in the US at noon on Sunday I wanted to try and get back on west coast time. To stay awake, Ian suggested we go for a bike ride. A bike ride! Of course I wanted to go for a bike ride! We installed our rear wheel locks that I picked up for us at HEMA (much easier than I anticipated), filled up our water bottles, put on my biking shoes, adjusted our helmets and we were off! It was more work to get ready for our ride than in the Netherlands where you can just walk out the door and go. But I  guess it's my choice to clip-in and wear a helmet. 

Normally I would map out our route beforehand so that we were always in a bike lane or on a bike boulevard but this time I just wanted to get out and ride. So we decided to just follow bike boulevards and decide our route as we went. It was a fun hour long ride over to St. Johns, up towards Pier park and back home. We caught up on my trip and I showed Ian the street where I proposed advisory bike lanes on my blog.

A couple of good things I realized:
- After spending long hours on a bike in the Netherlands I realized I wasn't looking at my watch or counting miles. Instead I was just enjoying the ride and not treating it as a workout or trying to be as efficient as possible.
- I really fell in love with biking in the Netherlands, just like everybody said I would :) I want to continue biking now. Beforehand I would commute (when the weather is nice) to work maybe 2 -3 times a week. I would also go on long weekend rides (10-20 miles) with  Ian on a pre-mapped route that was mostly on separated paths. And I would ride over to Alberta or Mississippi to get food and drinks with friends. I hope that I can start biking more for utilitarian trips and short trips. (Fast forward to day 2 back in America - it may not happen as much as I would like).

Some bad things I realized:
- After experience "nice" drivers in Holland, I have become desensitized to cars here. I wasn't scared of them like I normally am. Ian and I rode next to each other in the bike lane even though we were stretching over into the car lane. Before the trip I would ALWAYS ride single file but I had no problem cycling socially.
- I ran a red light. It was a pedestrian half signal so not as bad as it sounds. I could see that no cars were coming on the side street and I didn't want to wait so I just went! Beforehand I would have just waited at the signal because I didn't want to break the law.
- I kind of didn't like my bike. I used to LOVE my bike. But I was hunched over, my neck and wrists hurt, I couldn't look around at the scenery and I wanted my Dutch bike back. My Dutch bike was so much more comfortable! I don't think I could spend the number of hours I spent on my Dutch bike on my hybrid bike. However, my bike here felt really light and I still enjoyed clipping in :) (I have a TREK hybrid men's bike)
- We went up what would be considered a baby hill in Portland and it was bigger than anything I experienced in the Netherlands. Even bridge approaches. I was out of breath by the top and realized how much that hinders people from riding.

Second ride: we need food for the grill!

We have friends from Africa in town and I needed to go to the store to get stuff for dinner. Driving wasn't an option because I lent the car to them so they could run errands. However, we have three grocery stores really close to us and I was eager to get back on my bike.

When I was thinking about riding to the grocery store (I always drive) I thought about how I would get to Fred Meyer and I realized I couldn't get there in a bike lane. I would have to get on the neighborhood street that runs behind it and cross Interstate Ave at a signal, go in the back way and ride on the sidewalk over to the bike rack. If I went to New Seasons, which is a bit further and more expensive, I could ride in a bike lane on Denver Ave, get in the left turn lane with cars to get onto Rosa Parks, yield to oncoming cars and then take the bike lane all the way to the New Seasons parking lot.

I chose to go tot New Seasons because it was an easier route. When I was trying to turn left onto Rosa Parks there were so many oncoming cars I ended up riding through on the yellow and red. Besides that, getting to New Seasons wasn't too difficult but leaving was tough! There is no bike lane on Interstate and cars were queued back further than the driveway anyway so I couldn't get into the left turn lane there. I couldn't go out the other driveway because I would have to cross four lanes of traffic to get into the bike lane. So I rode on the sidewalk, rode in the crosswalk then got off my bike and lined up behind two other cyclists waiting in the bike lane at the signal. It was an eye-opening ride for me and made me realize how important that missing link is when making mode choices. I always drive to the store and I will probably continue to drive because it is easier.



I start my last class of graduate school tomorrow but I still have a lot of blog posts I want to write up. However, class is 5 hours both Tuesday and Thursdays for a month. And I have weekend plans every weekend so no promises on how quickly those will get posted but please stay tuned!

Redesigning the 6th Avenue Transit Mall in Portland, OR for Bikes

I worked with three other students on our final project, please check it out here!

Houten: Photo Tour

Today we visited Houten, a unique town in the Netherlands that in the 1960's the government decided they would prioritize bicycle and pedestrian safety and mobility above vehicles. With the future projection of large growth, they expanded the city with a large ring structure and small connecting roads and bike paths inside the ring. There are two large ring roads around the city and inside of them are the city centers (the rail line runs straight thru) and branches of small roads out to the residential areas. At times, it is faster to bike from one part of the city to another versus driving. This is because the ring road allows much faster travel than the narrow, curvy and indirect roads within the ring. 

 Please read this study for information on Houten.

A bicycle and pedestrian bridge over the railway. The railway runs north and south right in the center of Houten.

Another bicycle and pedestrian bridge over a man made lake. This bridge is the only cable-stayed bridge I saw in Houten. I went over a handful of bike/ped bridges and none of them seemed the same.

The most impressive thing to me was the wayfinding system. There were so many of these signs showing where you were located and all the colored and numbered routes in town. If you want to travel along one of these routes it's hard to stray from the route.

I've rode over these many times in the Netherlands and finally stopped to take a picture. They are like speed humps but they dip down instead. They are used on bikeways in order to slow scooters down. If you don't remember from my Amsterdam post, there are two types of scooters: slow and fast. The slow scooters can ride in the bikeways and they have governors on them so that they cannot go above 35kph.

Part of the wayfinding system, you can see the colored route numbers with the destination names.

Typical Dutch parent riding with a child - you can see the mom's hand on the child's back to help them ride.

I observed many different characteristics in the housing in Houten. The houses had different textures, number of stories, setback distance from the road, different angles, yards and no yards, how close they were, etc. The colorful houses pictured above were both loved and loathed by the students today. Some people felt they were artificial and "Disney-land" esque. Others enjoyed the different colors and details. I enjoyed these house and they stood out to me in a good way.

This is an important photo that shows the wayfinding system on the light pole AND the way the roads are designed in Houten. There is a black 5 marking on the pole to show that you are still on bike route #5 in case you weren't sure. This roadway is for cyclists only - and it is on the front side of the houses. So when you look out your front window you will only see cyclists riding by, not cars. The roadway for cars is on the backside of the houses. Can you imagine looking out your window and only seeing cyclists? Can you imagine not hearing cars and busses zooming by?

A final note about Houten - I saw more wildlife than I thought I would. I saw horses, chickens, cats, dogs and all the normal birds and ducks. I met a cat names Bram and got to see this baby duckling walking on the bike path.

Advisory bike lanes

On Wednesday we went on our second tour of bike facilities in Delft and observed underpasses and bridges designed for bicycles and pedestrians, bike lanes and advisory bike lanes. In this post I will be discussing advisory bike lanes and where they could be implemented in Portland.

What is an advisory bike lane?

An advisory bike lane is different from a bike lane in that it can also be used temporarily by vehicles. The bike lane stripe on the travel lane side is dashed for vehicles to be able to drive into them. Advisory bike lanes are used on roadways that do not have enough width to install a standard bike lane. No centerline is striped on the roadway and vehicles are guided to drive in the center of the road and use the advisory bike lane to pass oncoming cars. In the Netherlands, many are painted red just like a bike lane.

According to Dr. Furth, the Level of Traffic Stress is the same for cyclists in advisory bike lanes as it is for bike lanes showing that cyclists feel just as comfortable and safe in advisory bike lanes. I felt just as comfortable in them and mostly because cars respect cyclists. Vehicles didn’t drive too close to me and I even saw people riding side by side in the advisory bike lane. When oncoming cars needed to pass each other they moved into the advisory bike lanes with no problems. 

The following table is from the PortlandBicycle Plan for 2030 Appendix D: Bikeway Best Practices and shows the design standards as designated by various guidance manuals (CROW – Netherlands, FGSV – Germany, London example). 

One of the roadways that we measured on the outing only had a two way travel lane of 11 feet they are using a much smaller width than the German guidance manual.  Right now, advisory bike lanes are not in the MUTCD but Minneapolis is testing them.

Advisory bike lanes in Portland

I chose Chautauqua Boulevard because it would create a better and more direct northsouth route for cyclists as well as connect the popular Willamette Boulevard bike lane to the separated shared use path along N Columbia Boulevard. The other north-south routes are not as direct and have less safe crossings on Lombard. Existing conditions include centerline striping only and parking on both sides of the street. There are no striped bike lanes.

According to portlandmaps.com the ADT on Chautauqua near Winchell has an ADT of about 4100. The cross-section is 40 feet along Chautauqua with a posted speed limit of 30mph. 

My proposed cross-section would include two 7.5’ parking lanes, two 5’ bike lanes and a 15’ two way travel lane.

What do you think? How would you feel riding in an advisory bike lane? Should the advisory bike lane be green?

A woonerf in...Portland?

Yesterday we toured five different bike/ped facilities that have been implemented here in Delft, Netherlands. They included a woonerf, protected intersection, single lane roundabout, bicycle boulevard and a two way cycle track. We observed the locations and discussed them with our small groups. Our task was to document those observations and propose a place in our own cities where one of the facilities could be implemented. I chose the woonerf and to implement in my own neighborhood, Kenton.

A woonerf is a shared space for pedestrians, bicyclists and autos that is designed to limit speed and force users to interact and communicate their intended movements. There are usually no markings and only a single sign demarcating the woonerf area. Woonerf is a Dutch word meaning woon = live and erf = homestead. It a livable and usable space for everyone and is not dominated by auto traffic. The area that we observed today was possibly the first woonerf in the world and was implemented in a poor neighborhood that was experiencing a lot of cut through traffic.

This area containing woonerven is shown in red below:

We walked around this area and observed the elements that make up a woonerf. We walked up the main area and had no interactions with autos. I only saw one van drive through and a handful of bicyclists. There was a woman sitting on a park bench outside talking with a man. It was a pretty quiet area. A lot of people had their names printed on their door which is something I haven’t seen elsewhere or maybe just haven’t noticed. Also, there was parking on one side of the street and sometimes it would switch sides on each sides of the intersection.

Below are pictures of the area.

Even though the cars were very small they didn’t always fit into the parking spots.

A woonerf sign

Michael and Astrid live here :)

The sidewalks are very narrow and sometimes impossible to walk on. Some are covered in vegetation. There were small concrete bollards in front of doors.

The woonerf uses many textures to define the spaces. The picture below shows part of an intersection where the “sidewalk” texture covers the whole intersection and each leg has a transition of the “auto” texture with a slight ramp up to the “sidewalk” texture. There are no crosswalk markings and the curb radiuses of the buildings are very small which makes the intersection feel smaller. It also requires vehicles to slow down more when turning. 

Intersection within a woonerf

As a resident of the Kenton neighborhood and a resident of a house on Denver Ave, I experience a lot of noise from vehicular traffic especially trucks and busses but not to mention loud cars or motorcycles. Drivers speed on Denver Ave, sometimes running stop signs in the “main street” section Denver Ave. Thru traffic on Denver Ave is usually headed to I-5 Northbound because there is no northbound ramp at the nearest interchange on Lombard. You can take Interstate Ave north to get on I-5 NB but going up Denver is easier as there are no signals. Also, the Lombard at Interstate Ave is over capacity and sometimes you have to wait multiple cycles to get through the intersection. That same intersection is also a Top 5% SPIS site so it’s one to avoid if you can. 

A location map and street view picture are shown below:

The historic Kenton main street area is very unique and has many amenities. There are restaurants, bars, residential above the commercial stores, pet store, antique and consignment shops, screen printing store, meat store, library, liquor store, a dance shop, a boxing gym, a coffee shop, a fly fishing store, a hari salon, two barbershops, a bike shop, a post office, a large park, a wellness center and the list goes on. Not to mention the Dancing Bare (strip club) and the Kenton MAX station. Bus Route #4 runs on Denver Ave and there is a large Paul Bunyan statue that greets visitors on the north end.

The Kenton neighborhood closes down a side street for the farmer’s market every Friday in the summertime but it’s not on Denver Ave. They do close Denver off to vehicles during their annual street festival which brings a lot of visitors. As previously mentioned, there are so many destinations that are desirable to reach on foot or bike.

It would be interesting to implement the woonerf concept on Denver Ave to reduce the cut thru traffic and slow down vehicles. If you kept the parking (which is definitely used) then even the cut thru traffic that wants to stop to get coffee or grab a bottle of liquor will still stop. Even if there was a slight delay to their trip they would probably enjoy being able to grab coffee then walk across the street safely to get some beignets from Po Shines for breakfast. They wouldn’t need to walk up to an intersection and they would feel more invited to run their errands in the area.

In my mind there would be bigger sidewalks with curvature that slows drivers down and more bicycle parking. It would be ideal to keep the same amount of parking to ease business owner’s minds and maybe allow some spaces for food carts. Outdoor seating for the restaurants would be ideal with umbrellas and heaters. Denver Ave in this area has a 60 foot cross-section so there is a lot of room to work with. I also wonder if you could restrict large trucks in the area.

Some things to keep in mind would be to keep the same or more parking, accommodate busses and emergency vehicles and to study the business impacts. If this were implemented then the Lombard at Interstate Ave intersection should be improved to mitigate for the additional volume using that intersection if they divert there. A Better Blocks exhibit could be done there to see how it might function.