Yesterday brought a news of an important reopening and of significant bits of non-local transportation news.
Santiam Bicycle Reopens
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| Painting at Santiam Bicycle, late September - via IG |
Back in April a fire next door to Santiam Bicycle closed the shop for extensive recovery and remodeling, much complicated by the conditions imposed by the Pandemic.
On Monday they announced they were back open for business!
They'll be open 10am to 5pm, seven days a week at least for the holidays. 10 people at a time in the shop, masks required. Never a bad idea to call ahead - (503) 363-6602.
Return of Mayor Pete
President-elect Biden announced his pick for Transportation Secretary, and transportation advocates are generally positive about Mayor Pete in that role.
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| Mayor Pete at the DOT |
Maybe there will be more to say, but he would likely bring to the Department of Transportation more focus on "fix it first" and maintenance over expansion, better support for non-auto travel and safety, and a real interest in vibrant city streets. Some have noted his lack of larger government experience, but philosophically as a former mayor he seems to be in a good place.
See notes from January at Streetsblog on his plan when he was an active candidate for president and this thread by a South Bend resident and urbanist on his projects there.
Revisiting the Bike Bill
BikePortland breaks the news in a fascinating piece that The Street Trust will pursue a major amendment and expansion to the 1971 Bike Bill.
What a great 50th anniversary present that would be!
The proposal envisions
boosting the legal funding requirement to 3% [from 1%], removing vague language from the bill, creating clear design standards, and setting up an advisory board and performance metrics to make sure ODOT stays on course.
Senator Prozanski of Eugene will lead the Legislative effort, and this is something we will want to lobby our own Representatives and Senators on. At a minimum: Senators Courtney and Patterson; Representatives Evans, Clem, and Alonso Leon. (Maybe the others, but they seem unlikely to be receptive. It's crazy that the original was a creation of our once-great Republicans.)
Read BikePortland for the full discussion. We will be revisiting this for sure in the winter and spring!
2 comments:
Mayor Pete is now Secretary Pete, confirmed with a bipartisan 86-13 vote.
That is good news. Here are notes from Streetsblog on his confirmation hearings, and additional posts about him and the DOT. Broadly speaking things look good, though of course there are details to debate.
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