Wednesday, September 9, 2015

A review of Scenic Bikeways

I was marginally involved in the creation of the Tualatin Valley Scenic Bikeway.  Today I was invited to attend a meeting to discuss what went well, what needs work, and what happens next.  The meeting was scheduled to begin at 1:30 PM and end at 3 PM. Perfect timing to allow a commute by bike.

It was a 15 mile ride into Beaverton.  I arrived in plenty of time.  I had a good choice of seats.

15 miles so far,  to the Washington County Visitor's Association where a discussion of the Oregon Scenic Bikeways program will be underway shortly. (sent from my Verizon 4G LTE smartphone)

I took the opportunity to once again voice my displeasure with routing the scenic bikeways through busy downtown streets to appease business partners.  I argue that routing on less busy roads, and signing off route loops for "commercial services" would still allow those that need supplies to get them (and keep local businesses happy) while keeping those that did not need to stop on a safer route.

The meeting facilitator agreed that even she rides the old pre-reroute route in the Keizer area on the Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway.  She noted my displeasure with the current Tualatin Valley Scenic Bikeway going right down the middle of Banks.  With the higher traffic, increased chance of right hooks, left crosses, and folks pulling out in front of bikes as they pedal along hidden by a row of parked cars, it just doesn't look like a good place to send cyclists of varying skills.

It was a good meeting, and a good ride back (tailwind!)

.......Road bike........Rollers.......MTB.......Lifecycle....Total
Today.......31...............0..............0..............0..............31
Jan..........765.............0..............0..............0.............765
Feb..........248............0..............0..............0..............248
March......183...........0...............0.............0...............183
April........228...........0...............0.............0...............228
May.........200............0..............0.............0...............200
June.........199...........0...............26...........0...............225
July..........246...........0...............0.............0...............246
August.....502...........0...............0.............0...............502
Sept...........246...........0...............0.............0................246
Total........2817.........0...............26............0..............2843

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