Sullivan Gulch Bikepath

~

News Article from The (Portland) Oregonian - August 2, 2007

Brad Perkins has long envisioned a bike path stretching 4.3 miles from
Portland Peace Memorial Park beside the Steel Bridge to Northeast 122nd
Avenue along Sullivan's Gulch, giving eastside bicycle commuters a
direct -- and safe -- route downtown.

Because of the unstinting efforts of dreamers like him, the proposed
Sullivan's Gulch Corridor Trail is a quarter of a million dollars closer
to reality. In March, Metro, through the Metropolitan Transportation
Improvement Program, contributed $224,000 to study the engineering
problems, legal obstacles and construction costs. The city donated an
additional $26,000.

Perkins, an Irvington resident, hopes the future trail will encourage
more Portlanders to ride their bikes. He says many would-be riders are
frankly afraid to share the street with cars and trucks, even in marked
bike lanes. The Sullivan's Gulch trail would give bicyclists their own
thoroughfare.

The proposed route will follow the north slope of Sullivan's Gulch above
Interstate 84 and the eastside MAX line and stitch together such parcels
as vacant property under overpasses.

Some day, Perkins sees bicyclists jumping on the trail near the Lloyd
District, riding past Hollywood and landing at the Gateway Transit
Center. The path passes under more than 17 overpasses and by 10
neighborhoods.

Perkins said the city will push for easements through areas that are
densely covered with parking lots, warehouses and railroad tracks.

Decade of dreaming

Bicycling advocates have long eyed a Sullivan's Gulch corridor as a
possible off-street bikeway. In 1996, the route was included in
Portland's Bicycle Master Plan, but it remained an unpaved idea. A group
of Portland State University students designed an engineering plan for
the Sullivan's Gulch Corridor Trail as a class project. Again, nothing
happened.

And finally one day, Perkins peered out of a MAX train window and saw
the "industrial wasteland" below him as a biker's dream. Amid freight
trains and a barren landscape, he saw the possibilities for a bike path
that was safe and convenient.

So he organized a seven-member Sullivan's Gulch Corridor Trail
Committee, which met once a week for 18 months to do the grass-roots
organization. They notified 23 neighborhood associations, designed
brochures and recruited local officials such as Metro Councilor Rex
Burkholder to support the program.

In March, all the work paid off when Metro approved the study grant.
Perkin's committee had turned a PSU class assignment into a city
project.

"You can make what you visualize a reality," Perkins said. "You just
have to do a lot of work."

Now Portland Parks & Recreation, with Metro as a partner, is taking the
lead on the project and will start the study in fall 2009. Perkins said
he hopes the city completes the plan within that year because he hopes
to see commuters on the trail in five.

Avid Portland biker Chris Achterman is ready to test the trail on his
lime green Trek bicycle, but he said the proposed bike trail can offer
more than recreation. Achterman said the 16- to 20-foot wide path will
nudge property owners to give abandoned areas under overpasses a
face-lift, so MAX riders coming from the airport can peer down at more
pleasing views than discarded shopping carts and dead auto parts.

"The overpass at Sullivan's Gulch is ugly and full of junk, you don't
necessarily see our best side," he said. With the trail "visitors will
see Portland as this bike crazy town."

Property payoff

Perkins said the bikeway will serve property owners, too. As more people
pass through the area, he predicts that property values will rise. "It's
all this land not being used to its full potential," he said.

Guy Kyle of Sullivan's Gulch Neighborhood Association said the trail
might entice some Portlanders to switch from a car to a bike.

"When you're on the bicycle you can feel threatened by the traffic,"
Kyle said. Until that day, Perkins will ride around in his candy red
Toyota Camry Hybrid while his bike collects dust in the garage.

~

On Thu, 2 Aug 2007 07:43:53 -0700, (~ Paul Berg ~)
wrote:

~

News Article from The (Portland) Oregonian - August 2, 2007

Brad Perkins has long envisioned a bike path stretching 4.3 miles from
Portland Peace Memorial Park beside the Steel Bridge to Northeast 122nd
Avenue along Sullivan's Gulch, giving eastside bicycle commuters a
direct -- and safe -- route downtown. ...

Sounds like a Fine Idea! A bike path that is something more than just
lines painted on a city street.

Drivers and cyclists ought to be pleased with such an outcome.

In article ,
Don Homuth dhomuthoneatcomcast.net wrote:

On Thu, 2 Aug 2007 07:43:53 -0700, (~ Paul Berg ~)
wrote:

~

News Article from The (Portland) Oregonian - August 2, 2007

Brad Perkins has long envisioned a bike path stretching 4.3 miles from
Portland Peace Memorial Park beside the Steel Bridge to Northeast 122nd
Avenue along Sullivan's Gulch, giving eastside bicycle commuters a
direct -- and safe -- route downtown. ...

Sounds like a Fine Idea! A bike path that is something more than just
lines painted on a city street.

Drivers and cyclists ought to be pleased with such an outcome.

This should be a bike/pedestrian path otherwise it wont fly.

--
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and
carrying a cross."
Sinclair Lewis

On Thu, 02 Aug 2007 09:51:54 -0700, Ockham's Razor
wrote:

In article ,
Don Homuth dhomuthoneatcomcast.net wrote:

On Thu, 2 Aug 2007 07:43:53 -0700, (~ Paul Berg ~)
wrote:

~

News Article from The (Portland) Oregonian - August 2, 2007

Brad Perkins has long envisioned a bike path stretching 4.3 miles from
Portland Peace Memorial Park beside the Steel Bridge to Northeast 122nd
Avenue along Sullivan's Gulch, giving eastside bicycle commuters a
direct -- and safe -- route downtown. ...

Sounds like a Fine Idea! A bike path that is something more than just
lines painted on a city street.

Drivers and cyclists ought to be pleased with such an outcome.

This should be a bike/pedestrian path otherwise it wont fly.

More than likely it will function in Precisely that way.

Don Homuth dhomuthoneatcomcast.net wrote:

On Thu, 2 Aug 2007 07:43:53 -0700, (~ Paul Berg ~)
wrote:

~

News Article from The (Portland) Oregonian - August 2, 2007

Brad Perkins has long envisioned a bike path stretching 4.3 miles from
Portland Peace Memorial Park beside the Steel Bridge to Northeast
122nd Avenue along Sullivan's Gulch, giving eastside bicycle commuters
a direct -- and safe -- route downtown. ...

Sounds like a Fine Idea! A bike path that is something more than just
lines painted on a city street.

There ar a Lot of them in the more Progressive Communities of the
Portland SMSA.


Drivers and cyclists ought to be pleased with such an outcome.

In article ,
(~ Paul Berg ~) writes:
~

News Article from The (Portland) Oregonian - August 2, 2007

....

Property payoff

Perkins said the bikeway will serve property owners, too. As more people
pass through the area, he predicts that property values will rise. "It's
all this land not being used to its full potential," he said.

Sometimes people who are opposed to bike paths advance
the argument that they'd attract and facilitate crime.

In reality, and to the contrary, bike paths and the
traffic they generate serve to remove the furtive
environments in which crime thrives. Bike paths enhance
adjacent neighbourhoods' security, as well as intrinsic
property values.


cheers,
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca

On Aug 2, 9:51 am, Ockham's Razor wrote:
In article ,
Don Homuth dhomuthoneatcomcast.net wrote:



On Thu, 2 Aug 2007 07:43:53 -0700, (~ Paul Berg ~)
wrote:

~

News Article from The (Portland) Oregonian - August 2, 2007

Brad Perkins has long envisioned a bike path stretching 4.3 miles from
Portland Peace Memorial Park beside the Steel Bridge to Northeast 122nd
Avenue along Sullivan's Gulch, giving eastside bicycle commuters a
direct -- and safe -- route downtown. ...

Sounds like a Fine Idea! A bike path that is something more than just
lines painted on a city street.

Drivers and cyclists ought to be pleased with such an outcome.

This should be a bike/pedestrian path otherwise it wont fly.

Frankly, this city needs some pedestrian-free bicycle corridors. For
that matter, Springwater Corridor needs some sidewalks. There's too
much bicycle traffic for that to be safe for bicycles or pedestrians
much longer without them.

On Aug 4, 7:51 pm, Dan S. Milagros wrote:
On Thu, 2 Aug 2007 07:43:53 -0700, (~ Paul Berg ~)
wrote:



~

News Article from The (Portland) Oregonian - August 2, 2007

Brad Perkins has long envisioned a bike path stretching 4.3 miles from
Portland Peace Memorial Park beside the Steel Bridge to Northeast 122nd
Avenue along Sullivan's Gulch, giving eastside bicycle commuters a
direct -- and safe -- route downtown.

Because of the unstinting efforts of dreamers like him, the proposed
Sullivan's Gulch Corridor Trail is a quarter of a million dollars closer
to reality. In March, Metro, through the Metropolitan Transportation
Improvement Program, contributed $224,000 to study the engineering
problems, legal obstacles and construction costs. The city donated an
additional $26,000.

Perkins, an Irvington resident, hopes the future trail will encourage
more Portlanders to ride their bikes. He says many would-be riders are
frankly afraid to share the street with cars and trucks, even in marked
bike lanes. The Sullivan's Gulch trail would give bicyclists their own
thoroughfare.

The proposed route will follow the north slope of Sullivan's Gulch above
Interstate 84 and the eastside MAX line and stitch together such parcels
as vacant property under overpasses.

Some day, Perkins sees bicyclists jumping on the trail near the Lloyd
District, riding past Hollywood and landing at the Gateway Transit
Center. The path passes under more than 17 overpasses and by 10
neighborhoods.

Perkins said the city will push for easements through areas that are
densely covered with parking lots, warehouses and railroad tracks.

Decade of dreaming

Bicycling advocates have long eyed a Sullivan's Gulch corridor as a
possible off-street bikeway. In 1996, the route was included in
Portland's Bicycle Master Plan, but it remained an unpaved idea. A group
of Portland State University students designed an engineering plan for
the Sullivan's Gulch Corridor Trail as a class project. Again, nothing
happened.

And finally one day, Perkins peered out of a MAX train window and saw
the "industrial wasteland" below him as a biker's dream. Amid freight
trains and a barren landscape, he saw the possibilities for a bike path
that was safe and convenient.

So he organized a seven-member Sullivan's Gulch Corridor Trail
Committee, which met once a week for 18 months to do the grass-roots
organization. They notified 23 neighborhood associations, designed
brochures and recruited local officials such as Metro Councilor Rex
Burkholder to support the program.

In March, all the work paid off when Metro approved the study grant.
Perkin's committee had turned a PSU class assignment into a city
project.

"You can make what you visualize a reality," Perkins said. "You just
have to do a lot of work."

Now Portland Parks & Recreation, with Metro as a partner, is taking the
lead on the project and will start the study in fall 2009. Perkins said
he hopes the city completes the plan within that year because he hopes
to see commuters on the trail in five.

Avid Portland biker Chris Achterman is ready to test the trail on his
lime green Trek bicycle, but he said the proposed bike trail can offer
more than recreation. Achterman said the 16- to 20-foot wide path will
nudge property owners to give abandoned areas under overpasses a
face-lift, so MAX riders coming from the airport can peer down at more
pleasing views than discarded shopping carts and dead auto parts.

"The overpass at Sullivan's Gulch is ugly and full of junk, you don't
necessarily see our best side," he said. With the trail "visitors will
see Portland as this bike crazy town."

Property payoff

Perkins said the bikeway will serve property owners, too. As more people
pass through the area, he predicts that property values will rise. "It's
all this land not being used to its full potential," he said.

Guy Kyle of Sullivan's Gulch Neighborhood Association said the trail
might entice some Portlanders to switch from a car to a bike.

"When you're on the bicycle you can feel threatened by the traffic,"
Kyle said. Until that day, Perkins will ride around in his candy red
Toyota Camry Hybrid while his bike collects dust in the garage.

Sounds great...Spring Water bike path (no motorized vehicles allowed)
is great. Plus tons of black berries are ready for the picken.

More dedicated bike paths are needed...and also wouldn't it be nice if
whatever government is in charge of such things would add a bike tax
to help finance it...kind of like how motorists help pay for road
usages through some kind of taxes.

Let us not forget that roads are something motorists are merely
privleged to.

In article . com,
Paul Johnson wrote:

On Aug 2, 9:51 am, Ockham's Razor wrote:
In article ,
Don Homuth dhomuthoneatcomcast.net wrote:



On Thu, 2 Aug 2007 07:43:53 -0700, (~ Paul Berg ~)
wrote:

~

News Article from The (Portland) Oregonian - August 2, 2007

Brad Perkins has long envisioned a bike path stretching 4.3 miles from
Portland Peace Memorial Park beside the Steel Bridge to Northeast 122nd
Avenue along Sullivan's Gulch, giving eastside bicycle commuters a
direct -- and safe -- route downtown. ...

Sounds like a Fine Idea! A bike path that is something more than just
lines painted on a city street.

Drivers and cyclists ought to be pleased with such an outcome.

This should be a bike/pedestrian path otherwise it wont fly.

Frankly, this city needs some pedestrian-free bicycle corridors. For
that matter, Springwater Corridor needs some sidewalks. There's too
much bicycle traffic for that to be safe for bicycles or pedestrians
much longer without them.

True, it would be wonderful if there were both car and truck corridors
also. But that is not to be. Cars and trucks will be mixed and bikes
and peds also. Unless the bikers want to fund some of their own paths.

I have lost every vestige of understanding for bike people and their
tribulations as I have been accosted many times while trying to walk on
a bike/ped path. Two days ago walking with a 5 year old grand child, a
biker came up behind us and when about five feet away (unseen or warned)
he screamed "watch out" as he sped by at about 25 mph. I have been
forced into the bushes several times by bikers riding side by side and
simply bearing down on me with apparently every intention of hitting me
if I did not yield to them.

I have now taken to walking with a 5 foot heavy pole (from a closet)
which I carry side ways. that way they can tangle with it or give me
some room.

--
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and
carrying a cross."
Sinclair Lewis

Ockham's Razor wrote:
In article . com,
Paul Johnson wrote:

On Aug 2, 9:51 am, Ockham's Razor wrote:
In article ,
Don Homuth dhomuthoneatcomcast.net wrote:



On Thu, 2 Aug 2007 07:43:53 -0700, (~ Paul Berg ~)
wrote:
~
News Article from The (Portland) Oregonian - August 2, 2007
Brad Perkins has long envisioned a bike path stretching 4.3 miles from
Portland Peace Memorial Park beside the Steel Bridge to Northeast 122nd
Avenue along Sullivan's Gulch, giving eastside bicycle commuters a
direct -- and safe -- route downtown. ...
Sounds like a Fine Idea! A bike path that is something more than just
lines painted on a city street.
Drivers and cyclists ought to be pleased with such an outcome.
This should be a bike/pedestrian path otherwise it wont fly.
Frankly, this city needs some pedestrian-free bicycle corridors. For
that matter, Springwater Corridor needs some sidewalks. There's too
much bicycle traffic for that to be safe for bicycles or pedestrians
much longer without them.

True, it would be wonderful if there were both car and truck corridors
also. But that is not to be. Cars and trucks will be mixed and bikes
and peds also. Unless the bikers want to fund some of their own paths.

I have lost every vestige of understanding for bike people and their
tribulations as I have been accosted many times while trying to walk on
a bike/ped path. Two days ago walking with a 5 year old grand child, a
biker came up behind us and when about five feet away (unseen or warned)
he screamed "watch out" as he sped by at about 25 mph. I have been
forced into the bushes several times by bikers riding side by side and
simply bearing down on me with apparently every intention of hitting me
if I did not yield to them.

I have now taken to walking with a 5 foot heavy pole (from a closet)
which I carry side ways. that way they can tangle with it or give me
some room.

Real cyclists ride on the roads when they want to get somewhere, not on
the linear parks.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
The weather is here, wish you were beautiful

--
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