- Greg Kletsel
Sure, it’s easy enough to while away your Pedalpalooza in a whiskey fog of eyeliner and elaborate costumes, but snap out of it today—for a few hours at least. Organizers are planning a day full of demonstrations designed to pressure city council to enforce the plans it’s so fond of crafting.
Consider: The 2030 bike plan’s great, but gets little traction. City council just adopted Vision Zero—the notion that roads need to be planned for safety, not throughput—but balked at putting any hard deadlines on eliminating traffic deaths. The council’s taking up amendments to its Climate Action Plan tomorrow, which will set the tone for how Portland deals with big issues like propane terminals and fossil fuel divestment in coming years. Oh, and the 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness did nothing of the sort.
Rather than pushing these issues a la carte, organizers have wrapped them up in an “all-day protest” made up of four distinct Wednesday Pedalpalooza events—part of an ongoing resurgence of bike-related activism here in town.
From the Facebook page for the rides/rallies:
The City of Portland has proven itself a master of creating ambitious, forward-thinking plans… and then not following through! Let’s put some pressure at City Council to give these already-approved official city plans for the future some lovin’… Pedalpalooza style! Bring signs, bring kids, bring costumes, and bring a yearning for progress!
The four events that comprise this all-day protest are:
“Safe Streets Rally”
Starting at 8am at City Hall (1221 SW 4th Ave)“Climate Action Ride”
Starting at 11am at Salmon Street Fountain (SW Salmon St & Naito Pkwy)“SantaCon Homes for the Homeless”
Starting at 3:45pm at Portland Rescue Mission (111 W Burnside St.)“Downgrade Portland Ride”
Starting at 4:30pm at North Park Blocks by the Elephant (NW Park Ave and Couch St)
I’ll be in City Hall anyway. You should come by and make it interesting.
For all of those independently wealthy biker riders who don’t need to work during the middle of the week! Huzzah!
An apt criticism of anyone testifying at a weekly city council hearing, Pollo.
Uh, yeah, no thanks.
Laundry to do.
Bikes!!!
bunch of entitled a-holes that feel like cars are sharing the road with them when its definitely the other way around. If every bike rider would simply ride like every car can’t see them and every car isn’t going to be able to stop in time, there would be no fatalities on the road. Feel free to assume any responsibility you douche bags. Instead what are they going to do? F up traffic in multiple places at once, further aggravating motorists even more… genius!!! Since when is being annoying the best way to get what you want? You wouldn’t reward a child with the same behavior.