First Wednesday Corral Attracted Lots of People on Bike - Updated with Video

The bike corral for First Wednesday looked like a fine success.

First Wednesday Bike Corral on Court Street

13 bikes at this moment, and people just came and went. One person was taking a time-lapse all afternoon and evening, so I'm sure there will be even more dynamic documentation of the ebb and flow!  Over the course of a day, it doubtless served a whole lot more people than two car stalls would have. (See end for video!)

Both City Manager Linda Norris and Downtown Revitalization Manager Sheri Wahrgren walked by discretely, counting no doubt out the corner of their eyes.  It is rumored the City may have interest in piloting an officially sanctioned corral this summer, so the bikes and lively sidewalk cafe scene was hopefully confirmation that bike mean business.

Brooks Cavalcade of Curiosities

On the vacant lot at State and Commercial, right next door to Scott's Cycle, Gallagher Fitness hosted the "Brooks Run Happy Cavalcade of Curiosities." With the old-timey-carnival-sideshow thing, it seemed more than a little like the Tour de Fat. With On Your Feet Fridays, the running tribe is really doing a good job of creating community happenings!

Enjoy First Wednesday by Bike and Save 20%

Downtown merchants Venti's, Bike Peddler, and Fox Blue have teamed up to offer on-street bike parking in front of Venti's tonight.

The weather looks glorious! Ditch the car, enjoy a bike ride, and get 20% off food at Venti's!

Appeal of Planning Commission Decision Shows Weakness in Bike and Walk Salem

Cheers for the Sunnyslope Neighborhood Association!

For reasons that are not entirely clear, last month on May 7th the Planning Commission excised a path connection for walking and biking between a cul-de-sac and new apartment complex.  Staff had recommended the path as "condition 7" of approval, but the Commission did not accept this part of the recommendation.

On Monday, June 24th, at City Council, there will be an appeal.  The date promises to be long, with the continuation of the third bridge hearing also scheduled.  It will also be ironic, as here is an example of a way that city process and procedure sometimes (or maybe often) slights cheap transportation solutions like walking and biking in favor of things like an $800 million giant bridge and highway.

Site Plan with abuting cul-de-sac

Current conditions with cul-de-sac

From the appeal:

The Board of the Sunnyslope Neighborhood Association requests that this decision be remanded to the Planning Commission, because the Planning Commission's decision did not include a condition that an appropriately sized pedestrian/bike pathway be constructed to connect the property with Jennifer Court...We did not oppose the apartment proposal [in general], and the property owners graciously made numerous changes to their plans to accomodate neighborhood concerns. While...some residents of Jennifer Court do not want a connecting path, the future residents of this apartment complex will also become our neighbors.

Without a path connection, the association points out, kids and adults will have to walk along Skyline and Kuebler.  Low-traffic connections, folks!  Geez.

It's amazing that even after we go through the Bike and Walk Salem rigarmarole, we still struggle with basics like this.

This should be a no-brainer...but you never know.  So it's great to see the neighborhood association looking out for basic mobility.  Thanks, Sunnyslope!

A Movie on Obesity and Two Meetings

You've probably already seen this New Yorker cover.  If you haven't, take a good look at it!  In a nutshell it captures a lot of our schizoid attitudes towards exercise and health and transportation.

Movie:  The Weight of the Nation (and an $800M bridge?)

Next week on Tuesday there's a movie that touches on this!  From the paper:

Marion County will host a viewing of a documentary on America’s obesity epidemic on Tuesday, June 11, at Marion County Public Works, 5155 Silverton Road NE.

The Weight of the Nation screening will include information booths run by health-related organizations, such as Salem Hospital, Kaiser Permanente and Salem Family YMCA.

The evening will start at 5 p.m. with soup and healthy snacks. Beth Hawk, safety and wellness coordinator for Marion County, will deliver a keynote speech. There will be an opportunity for discussions and questions.

Panelists include:

Beth Hawk - Safety & Wellness Coordinator/ Marion County - Panel Host & Monitor
Nancy Baldwin - Health Educator
Dr. Suzanne DeSchamps - Kaiser Permanente Physician
Anita Lesser - Kaiser Permanente Health Coach
Pamela Heilman - Public Health Division Director
Janice Naimy - Sr. Director of Health Innovations YMCA

Much of the talk around obesity is framed as making better individual choices, especially in eating, but not so much about the way our communities are planned and designed to make healthy choices more difficult. Auto-centric communities make walking and biking difficult and costly in time, for example. The choice for moderate exercise should be easy, not seem heroic!

(Is it worth pointing out that the county site on Silverton  Road is for most people effectively in reach only by car?)

So while we talk about spending $800 million on a giant bridge and highway that will make it easier to drive, we don't also talk about the way all that driving creates inducements to a sedentary lifestyle and the problems with diabetes and obesity it entails.  Additionally, we also ignore the way the driving and its emissions contributes to asthma and increased cancer rates.

Salem Health promotes non-healthy and expensive infrastructure

Transportation should also be a public health issue.  Imagine how far $800 million could go if we spent it on public health!

Legislative Update, Week 17 - Dead, dead, dead!

Ha ha ha!  All your good ideas
are but dung to me!

Just like Game of Thrones, practically everything died last week.

See week 12 for longer list of bills that died in committee after the first winnowing - all the rest of 'em died in the second winnowing. Maybe a select few might find a second life in a gut-n-stuff resurrection, but that seems highly unlikely.

Only three bills look remotely active and it's hard to muster much enthusiasm for them.  Click through for hearing information if you find yourself with a sudden passion.

Paying for the Roads

Gambled and Lost!

• Studded tires.  House Bill 2277 is the survivor! In committee, though, it was watered down from genuine action to a call for the proverbial "further study" on the "impact" of studded tire use. It may have died in committee.
• House Bill 2453 - "Requires persons operating certain high-mileage motor vehicles to pay per-mile road usage charge or flat annual road usage charge." It's possible this died in committee...anyone know for sure?  

Road Safety

• HB 3047 would double the length of a motor vehicle license suspension from 10 to 20 years.  

All of this year's legislative updates are tagged 2013 Legislative Session.

If you know of something of interest, or if through inattention and indifference I've missed something, please add it in the comments!

Dribs and Drabs in the Neighborhood Associations and the News

Several neighborhood associations meet this week, but many are having annual meetings and picnics with light agendas. Predictably enough, the farther you get from areas directly affected by the proposed giant bridge and highway, the less often it appears on the meeting agenda. Perhaps not coincidentally, the City is much more zealous about outreach on the proposed streetlight fee than on the giant bridge and highway.

Monday, West Salem
June 3rd, 2013
7:00 P.M.
Roth’s West, Mezzanine
1130 Wallace Rd NW

This week's agenda doesn't have anything new transportation-related, but the minutes from the previous meeting do make an interesting point about the allocation and timeline of urban renewal dollars:

Courtney Knox-Busch...presented update on renewal area...on the Way-Finding Project (4 new welcome centers, 18 wayfaring [think that's supposed to be wayfinding] signs, and Edgewater Blades), Toolbox Projects Gateway Area Strategic Plan to develop concepts for the West Salem Gateway Area, including hotel/market study, traffic impact, analysis and assessment study, and bicycle/pedestrian accessibility. Funding has been drained by the Second Street Project but it is anticipated by 2018, there will be money available for seeking these studies. [italics added]

The insatiable appetitite for free on-street parking in an area that is nowhere close to 85% utilization of existing on-street stalls has pushed out other projects until 2018.  The Parking Consultant notes that "Currently, the on-street supply is occupied at a very low level (35 percent in the peak hour)."

Thursday, Grant
Grant
June 6th, 6:30 p.m.
Salem Alliance Church Annex (East of Broadway Commons)
1305 5th Street

Fairgrounds turns onto Hood, with Church in-line on Fairgrounds

At the Grant neighborhood's annual meeting, Director of Public Works Peter Fernandez, City Traffic Engineer Kevin Hottmann will talk more about the proposed barrier on Hood and Fairgrounds where speeding drivers fail to navigate the turn and crash into the church and school building. (See here and here for more)

Proposed Median from Norway to Broadway in Yellow

Minutes from the May meeting also contain additional information about the Downtown Mobility Study:

Cara reported that the final meeting will be June 6th, 9:30 am-Noon. Computer generated models of the proposed traffic pattern changes will be presented. An open house with the same information will be held on June 12th from 4:00-6:00 pm in the Anderson Room of the Salem Public Library.

There will be several years of lag time before many of the recommendations can be implemented. The grants that financed the recent curb extensions in downtown mandate that the work cannot be disturbed for 10 years. Changes that do not affect the new construction, such as revising paint, can be made. One significant proposal is to eliminate the double turn lanes which are hazardous for pedestrians.

The fact that the curb extensions can't be touched for 10 years was news to me.  That's another reason to be more cautious with them.

Not sure about your neighborhood association?  Check the City's guide here.  Links to agenda and minutes are here.

Bicycling Best to Appreciate Preservation League's Most Endangered Places

Yesterday the Historic Preservation League of Oregon revealed their 2013 list of "Most Endangered Places."

One building is in Salem, and a group nomination has several representatives nearby in rural Marion and Polk counties.

Historic Preservation League:  Most Endangered Places
Phillips House in middle photo

The group nomination, for Pioneer Farmsteads of the Willamette Valley (1840-1865), shows, but does not name, the Phillips and Waldo Houses. The Phillips House is out in Zena, and the Waldo House is out in the Waldo Hills naturally enough.

Red dots show demolished houses; black dots show remaining.
Several remain in Polk and Marion counties.

There are several more in and around the hills and prairie surrounding Salem. Geercrest Farm, the home and farm of R.C. Geer on Sunnyview near Silverton, might be the best known. You're likely to bike by them on your rides!  (You can see the full infographic here.)

The building in Salem is the Dome Building at the State Hospital on the north parcel slated for sale and redevelopment.

Dome Building last fall

Dome Building in winter, South facade

Does bicycling have any necessary connection to these? Nope.

But the scale of a good mixed use redevelopment at the State Hospital will be perfect for bike travel to downtown, to many employers, and for many errands.

The Pioneer Farmsteads are often set back from the road, invisible to speedy car travel, and most accessible by bike. They are also spaced out at horse-and-buggy or footspeed distances, and bike travel is perfectly suited for traversing these. I would argue that there's a harmony, a fitness, between bike travel and the disposition of 19th century farms.  And as people on bike we should be more attentive to them.

There's a cluster of black dots in Keizer and it will be interesting to learn more about it.

As the weather will be glorious this weekend, as you're out-and-about, be alert for really old buildings!  They might be some of the early settlement farmhouses!