Sellwood's Bike Blvd. could be first of many

PORTLAND, Ore. - The City of Portland is known for cycling, and city leaders say they are now one step closer to getting one in four drivers on bikes by 2030.

Portland has officially opened its first "next generation" Bike Boulevard, something Portland Mayor Sam Adams says he has been campaigning for for years. Southeast Spokane Street in Sellwood has been turned into a Bike Boulevard, with "pinch point" intersections that transportation officials say make drivers stop and take notice.

Saturday some in Portland's Sellwood community said they were thrilled to finally have a dedicated place for people on two wheels. It is a day of excitement for kids, but little do they know some of their parents are even more excited because they believe they've fixed a major neighborhood problem.

"A lot of parents don't want their children on streets riding their bikes because they're not safe," said Sellwood resident Paul Notti. With this, "you create a bit of a greater awareness for drivers to slow down."

Most people know Sellwood because of its Southeast Tacoma Street, backed-up as drivers try to get over the Sellwood bridge. That's exactly why the Bike Boulevard is a block away, taking cyclists completely out of the congestion.

"Once you get on the Bike Boulevard," said Portland Mayor Sam Adams out for a ride on the newly cleared Spokane Street. "You don't have to go through stop signs, which none of us want, and you don't have to put your foot down to stop."

He's hoping this is the first of many new-style boulevards across the city. This comes at a time as the City of Portland pushes to get 25 percent of drivers to travel by bike.

"Even if you never plan to get on a bike," Adams said, "you should be supportive of others, of our efforts to take more trips by bike."

This Sellwood path is not Portland's first dedicated bike route. Other streets in downtown Portland operate on what even Mayor Adams calls a "rudimentary" bike grid.

He said he hopes this new, clear-steet version will get more people to take their bikes on the road.