This year, Portland was once again named the nation's
most bicycle-friendly city by
Bicycling Magazine.
Part of the credit goes to the Portland Department of
Transportation's innovative bike and pedestrian program,
which acted as an official voice for the anti-auto crowd
on city projects.
Now the program may be on the brink of collapse, worrying
Portland's bike and pedestrian advocates.
Department of Transportation Director Vic Rhodes heads
the "reorganization" that will eliminate six of the
eight staff positions in the bike and pedestrian program.
Instead, there will be two full-time "modal specialists"
who will move from a program focused exclusively on
bikes and pedestrians to the broader Project Management
Program. The remaining staffers will be transferred
to other city jobs. Rhodes hopes to have all changes
in place by Aug. 4.
Under the new plan, Rhodes promises that every staffperson
in the Department of Transportation will be accountable
for promoting bike and pedestrian travel. The idea,
he says, is that Portland values bikes and pedestrians
so much that the city is now ready to focus on "mainstreaming
that objective into our culture."
But all four of Portland's bike and pedestrian advocacy
groups harbor serious concerns about Rhodes' plan. "In
concept, I think we all agree this is a great idea,"
says Rick Browning, a member of the Bicycle Transportation
Alliance, a Portland-based nonprofit group. "I think
it's a question of timing though. I don't feel very
mainstream out there on MLK [Boulevard] on my bike.
No one sat down and looked at this objectively."
Activists aren't calmed by Rhodes' assurances that
the reorganization doesn't signal a shift in priorities.
While there used to be four full-time bicycle advocates,
for example, the new plan essentially calls for just
one. "How does one person accomplish what four people
did?" asks Catherine Ciarlo, executive director of the
BTA. "Our opinion is, if the system's not broken, don't
fix it."
The four cycling and pedestrian advocacy groups claim
that even under the current system, the city has occasionally
overlooked cyclists' needs. One example is the reconstruction
of the Broadway Bridge, a crucial byway for commuters
from Northeast to Northwest Portland. Ciarlo's group
was alarmed when it realized the plans did not include
rebuilding the comprehensive bike path that is in place
today. After meeting with bike advocates, Rhodes says
he will try to work their concerns into the plan for
the Broadway Bridge. "I think there is reason to believe
we can get a bike lane there," he says.
Still, Rhodes hasn't promised anything, and the experience
has soured some bike activists. "If the present system
could fail to meet the needs of bikers, I don't understand
how the new system, with less of a focused group on
bikes, will change that," Ciarlo says.
The reorganization comes as bike advocates lose one
of their strongest allies in City Hall. Mia Burke, the
director of the city's bike program, stepped down June
10 for unrelated reasons.
Some activists say Rhodes' passion is in light rail
and trolley lines, not bike and pedestrian paths. "I
think that PDOT genuinely wants to increase alternative
modes of transportation," Ciarlo says. "I just think
this decision shows a lack of understanding of how important
bicyclists can be."
Ellen Vanderslice, a former city staffer who advocated
for pedestrians, says activists' concerns about the
city's commitment are understandable. "It's not clear
whether the city is ready to accept a paradigm change
to where the automobile is no longer considered the
primary means of transportation," says Vanderslice,
who quit her post in June to devote time to a national
pedestrian group. "I think the city is mixed--some people
are ready to embrace this idea, and some aren't."
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Willamette Week | originally
published July 28, 1999
