Portland Planning Commission enthusiastically endorses Bicycle Plan
Last Tuesday the Portland Planning Commission voted 5-0 to endorse the Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030. It aims to reach an impressive 25% bicycle mode share by 2030. The plan builds upon the 1996 Bicycle Master Plan, which has lead to a doubling of bicycle lanes in Portland over the past 10 years. Now, nearly all Portlanders live within ¼ mile of a bicycle facility. The 2030 Plan focuses on extending the network of “family friendly” bicycle facilities, including Bicycle Boulevards, protected bicycle lanes and cycletracks.
But Portland bike advocates argued for an even stronger 2030 plan than currently proposed.
In its submitted comments, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance called for stronger interim goals, including a 20% mode share by 2015, and a commitment to fund the proposed projects.
Portland Planning Commissioner Chris Smith tried to push his colleagues into even more aggressive recommendations. He urged the Planning Commission to consider the Plan’s “25% of all trips by bike by 2030″ as only an “interim target”. He wanted the Commission to “establish a goal to be in the top tier of world class cycling cities, with a bicycle mode share in excess of 40%.” Smith wrote that, “City Council should immediately raise our level of investment comparable to the best practice in Europe, on the scale of $25-40 per capita per year [which would be $12 to 20 million per year], prioritizing investment in cycling above other modes as necessary to achieve this. Ultimately a level of funding slightly higher than this will be required to build out the projects envisioned by the Plan within a 20-year timeframe.”
Portland currently leads the country in bicycle mode share at 6%. Minneapolis is second with 4.3%.
Portland has been hard at work updating its 1996 Bicycle Master Plan since 2006. After conducting an extensive Existing Conditions report in 2007, holding 6 public open houses and 5 drafts for public comment, they're now in the final stages of bringing their vision of a "world class" bike plan before City Council.
Meanwhile, the Minneapolis Bike Master Plan update has included only one public meeting, a kick-off in April 2008. There is no comparable Existing Conditions analysis and no apparent opportunities for upcoming public involvement. As a result, the current proposals fall far short of Mayor R.T. Rybak’s promise that "we are going to beat Portland and we are on our way to No. 1." If true, we’ve got a lot of work to do. We need a Bike Master Plan with a strong vision for increasing bicycling in Minneapolis, and details on how we are going to reach the level of commitment to cycling seen in Portland.
Comments
Mpls bike plan?
Mpls' bike coordinator decided to break the plan into two parts. The first part is a guide to infrastructure development. That guide is going through a third round of somewhat closed review. It will soon be available for public review. Once that first part is done, work will begin on the second part.
Work is proceeding slowly, but a project like this has no precedent in the US.
Mpls needs to hurry
"...a project like this has no precedent in the US."
Doesn't the post above directly contradict that statement? Portland is one precedent. Here is a link to dozens:
http://www.bicyclinginfo.org/develop/sample-plans.cfm
The City of Minneapolis has already failed its citizens who do not drive their own cars. They were thrown under the proverbial bus last year when the council adopted the Design Guidelines for Streets and Sidewalks, which prioritizes cars over all other modes.
The Design Guidelines make it even more urgent for the city to complete its Bike Master Plan, because it prohibits Public Works from including bike facilities on any street that isn't specified in the Bicycle Master Plan. Please note that Public Works can put automobile facilities anywhere they please, but uniquely among all modes bike facilities are prohibited anywhere they are not included on this map.
Unless the Design Guidelines are extensively revised, or jettisoned and replaced with progressive guidelines, Minneapolis will never become a livable, green, just and inclusive city. But who cares? After all, it will continue to be a place that is easy for rich white people to drive through.