Notes from 29th June Council Ride.

[Winston Lumpkins]

Thanks so much to everyone who came out on the Council ride! 

Welcome new list members! 

Thanks to Emma for doing a great job as sweep, & for bringing her knowledge & enthusiasm along (not the mention... the Bike Party!), and to John for co-leading the ride!

We had 25 folks along, including Mayor Kate Snyder & Councilor Andrew Zarro, the chair of the Sustainability & Transportation Committee. 
We had a great deal of good discussion & learned a few things. 
We're going to write up a report for the councilors who couldn't make it, which we'll also publish on the website & on Facebook. 
In the meantime, here are not quite perfect notes! 
Here's a link to add to the notes via a google doc

We started from the steps of city hall, and threaded our way through the old port to Commercial Street. 
Some folks pointed out how wide the right of way is between union Street & the Caso bay bridge- there isn’t a bike lane at all until high, which is a little awkward. 
Folks mentioned Commercial being ok because congestion allows you to easily take the full lane.  It is however very dangerous if you ride on the edge of the lane due to diagonal parking. 

The commercial street path is awesome, though accessing it can be inconvenient for many.  There is sufficient right of way for it to extend all the way to Park Street- are there plans to do this? 

C-click fix the ada ramps along the fore river parkway- it should be any easy fix, and deterioration could cause a pinch flat

Fore River Trail- any plans to connect under the bridge?  Many commented on how frustrating it is to ride down the trail that seems to lead to Thompson's Point, but stops with no trespassing signs, so close that you can see it.   Railroad issues, could be too narrow, though very frustrating. 

We need a similar safe path on the other side of the peninsula & across the Peninsula- The planned Union Branch connection is the trail on the other side, as for across…

Lots of disconnected paths in Portland, a lot  of frustration about parts of bike lanes that only last for a mile and then end, often at a dangerous intersection.  Some discussion & clarification about recent progress, and things in the works. 

DOT village partnership possible in Nasons corner?

Parking is going to be removed between dartmouth and roundabout
(later on Zarro mentioned that in non-agenda items in the coming council meeting it would be acceptable to mention any advice re- the plans for the better bikeways). 

The sidewalks around the veterans memorial bridge could be more inviting to cyclists- the signage doesn’t make it clear that it’s a bike path. 

The slip land onto the fore river parkway is dangerous if you’re trying to cross & get to/from South Portland.

The transition from the path onto commercial street is awkward & dangerous for commuters riding into downtown, and tourists too.  (could the path continue until the intersection of Park & congress?  What could be done in the interim to make the transition safer?)

The funding to build the trail connection between Hadlock & the fore river parkway could be included in the Capital improvement plan for 2024, on which the manager will start work soon; she should be emailed along with the S&T committee- probably an official PBPAC advisory email & letter writing campaign.

There was some concern that the new design in the smart growth plan for exit 6 didn’t look a lot better- ideally a bike does not have to wait twice in one intersection.  Someone mentioned pedestrian & bike sensors, and maybe smart lights so you wouldn’t have to wait when someone is coming/get hit making a run for it when you think no one is coming. 

The bayside trail as it goes along Kennebec would have been a great place for raised sidewalks.  Everyone was in favor of raised sidewalks, in more places throughout the city.

Trader Joes: 
A letter writing campaign to TJs is probably the only way forward, or through the other end of the parking lot.

Franklin & Marginal:
Really bad curbs- they should be reported or something, they will cause someone a flat. 

There are apparently plans to rip this intersection up again, almost as soon as they finish paving it- it doesn’t have to go back this way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There are plans in the Bayside transit plan & the Franklin study, as well as maybe another, more recent plan- Eric? Markos? Some of those plans don’t have a 2 stage crossing for bikes, which is something we all want to see gone. 

The Bayside trail, between Marginal & Plowman Street: should have yield or stop signs for cars, and either yield signs for bikes or bikes should have right of way.  There’s often no traffic, so people ride this way anyway.. 

There was some excitement about the idea of an ordinance forcing the DOT to comply with a complete streets plan for the arterials- Grayson would be interested in helping in some way & is interested in forcing the DOT to comply with something like that for all urban areas through Augusta. 
Something like this has been done in other Cities, and from Sommerville & Cambridge spread to the Mass DOT.  We might need to be first, possibly leading other towns if not the whole DOT.

Overall a very productive & fun evening! 

Thanks again,

Let me know if you have trouble getting into the google doc! 

~Winston

Winston Lumpkins IV (he/him/his)

Vice Chair, Portland Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee
https://www.portlandbikeped.org/

winston....@gmail.com
207-408-1508