Despite a few specific complaints, the members of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance board were generally receptive Tuesday to Metro staff's growth report, saying it emphasized goals of reducing greenhouse gases, protecting the environment and making transportation more usable.
"I find it really exciting, the way Metro is thinking," said Mary Roberts, the board's chair. "It's not just about bicycle transportation. It's about what we want as a community and as a state."
The board met with Metro staff and District 5 Councilor Rex Burkholder to discuss Metro chief operating officer Michael Jordan's report, "Making the Greatest Place: Strategies for a sustainable and prosperous region." The report encourages channeling most growth inside the existing urban growth boundary, investing in repairing and maintaining existing buildings and infrastructure, and holding Metro and its local government partners accountable for the goals they put in place for themselves and the region.
But putting the ideals of Metro's growth report into practice is an ongoing process, and some issues still need to be addressed. Some board members reserved particular rancor for crowding on Portland's Eastbank Esplanade bike corridor.
"I am so mad by the time I get home, I'm like 'what was the point of cycling?'" said Mary Fetsch, who chairs the board's recruiting and nominating committee.
And board member Susan Otcenas said bike trails in Vancouver, British Columbia, act as major thoroughfares for bicyclists, not out-of-the-way recreation areas. She wants to see more of that in Portland, she said.
"The trails go through places that people want to be," Otcenas said. "They actually take you places."
The Regional Transportation Plan has an answer for Otcenas. Calling it "the backbone of bicycle transportation" through the region, Metro transportation planner John Mermin said Metro's planned Bicycle Parkway is a highlight of the plan.
One concern was coordinating Metro's efforts with those of the City of Portland. Mermin said local plans will be updated to reflect the new regional plan, though he added that there would be "a little bit of lag time." Mermin is also involved with Portland's bicycle planning efforts. Burkholder said the city must update its own plan within a year after Metro adopts the new Regional Transportation Plan.
Board member Hugh Bynum, a Portland photographer and member of the Oregon Freight Plan Steering Committee, asked about freight traffic and how large trucks would be directed around a city that caters heavily to bicyclists. Burkholder said the freight industry has been very helpful in targeting specific areas that trucks need to go. Usually, they're not where cyclists are, Burkholder said.
"Most freight goes to very specific places. They don't just drive around city streets," he said.
– by Sean Breslin