Alliance > Media center > People Powered Blog

Entries tagged: Bikes

On 2009 Bike to Work Day, Cascade Bicycle Club introduced bikewise, a place to learn about and report bike crashes, hazards, and thefts. “By sharing our experiences with each other, and with researchers and relevant agencies, we aim to make biking safer and more fun.” They have already gathered reports from over twenty-five states and eight countries.

Visit http://www.bikewise.org to ad your reports, or check out http://www.cascade.org for more information.

Portland‘s Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) is celebrating the unveiling of the city’s first cycle track on August 31st.

The new cycle track runs on Broadway, from southwest Clay to southwest Jackson, and separates cyclists from parked cars by a 3-foot striped buffer zone. This seven-block section has always had heavy bike traffic and few right turns for cars, which makes it the perfect location to test this innovative concept.

In addition to the bicycle-friendly lanes, the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) has painted green markings throughout the track to facilitate left-hand turns for bikers. Known as “Copenhagen lefts,” they are the first of their kind being used in North America.

The BTA helped in getting this project started by creating the proposal and presenting it to the city staff.

This cycle track is the latest development in an extremely successful summer for Portland after finishing three Sunday Parkways, a new uphill bike lane on North Mississippi, and buffered bike lanes on several main streets. The PBOT believes that this track will prove safer and more comfortable for bikers and drivers alike. They plan for similar projects throughout Portland in the future.

For more information, go to http://bikeportland.org/2009/08/31/first-look-at-portlands-inaugural-cycle-track/

According to New York City’s Transportation Alternatives (T.A.), “The completion of Brooklyn’s new Sands Street protected bike lane makes getting on and off the Manhattan Bridge as easy as pedaling. It also closes a painful chapter in the history of New York City bike advocacy.” In 2005, Noah Budnick, T.A.‘s Senior Policy Advisor, was seriously injured when he hit a pothole while biking on Sands Street and crashed. After four years of hard work, T.A. celebrated the opening Sands Street Bike lane (aka “Budnick Bikeway”) on August 7th.

For more information on T.A., visit here…