"Don't fix those potholes!"
Here's a wild one in the NW Examiner: The City of Portland is getting ready to repave West Burnside Street between I-405 and the hills, but the usual suspects in the city's loud car-hater "community" want the project stopped and replaced by one of their "better street" monstrosities that would reduce motor vehicle traffic to one lane in each direction.
That's like what they did to Naito Parkway along the waterfront. The evil, evil cars got choked down to a single lane, and the relatively underused Bike Virtue Lanes™ got equal real estate or more.
It's all part of Portland's message that if you have a job, or kids, or a real life, or are retired and still getting around, you are not wanted here.
You wonder what the people who actually live and work in the neighborhood think. I would bet that if asked, a majority would prefer something more than a simple new pavement but nothing like the "better" madness.
What the city's done on Broadway in inner northeast Portland is pretty good. Pedestrians are now safer and car speeds have been "becalmed" without choking the four-wheelers down to one lane. But that's not enough of a slap in the face of the normies to satisfy the "coalition."
Remember when Sam Adams was mayor and they were going build a streetcar on West Burnside? I remember Mike Powell was a big fan of the idea. I guess they couldn't figure out how to get the little guys to pay for it.
Anyway, I'm sure City Hall's solution to the Burnside controversy will be to repave the street now, then rip it all out for the "better" version in a few years. It will all be very vibrant in the end.
People who live or work around west Burnside don’t have any clout. Which is perfect for the bureaucracy that knows what’s best for everybody but themselves. Many of the computers that use west Burnside don’t live in Portland and that makes their opinion valueless to the bureaucrats.
ReplyDeleteYou said it perfectly Jack. By their own actions they are basically saying that you are barely welcomed here. It’s not “your kind of town”, even though you have paid the bills for decades.
ReplyDeleteAnybody getting tired of the bike crowd? It is about the most unfair mode of transport for likely close to 90% of the residents of the city. It only works mostly for young people with hardly anything or anybody to carry. I'm guessing bike lanes are the most unused portion of the road. I used to ride my bike to work from NE Portland to inner NW way back in the day- when I was in my early 20s and there were no bike lanes. So I'm not against bike infrastructure but enough is freaking enough- and we've gone way past that point in my ancient perspective.
ReplyDeleteI want to know what company manufactures the green paint so I can invest. That stuff is plastered in streets world wide!
ReplyDeleteAnd I’m waiting for the “youngsters” to need hip and knee replacements…they won’t be riding bikes then but could be relegated to battery powered golf carts with those orange flags in the bike lanes?
ReplyDeleteWhich they also will ride on the sidewalk.
DeleteThank you for highlighting this, Jack! I couldn't believe it when I read it in the Examiner-- which usually has more common sense than this.
ReplyDeleteI was so worried when you disappeared from Blogspot yesterday. Glad you didn't get banned or some such.
ReplyDeleteAnd at the same time, this Council excitedly supports Uber, while public transportation loses funding. A private company with labor issues that adds many-more vehicles to the mix vs. a proper well-funded public transportation system.
ReplyDeleteYep, they're "Socialists".