Bike Traffic - April 2006

April 2006

Oregon cities like Portland enjoy growing bicycle ridership thanks to effective advocacy and policies like the state’s “bike bill.”

Oregon's Law Shows How Complete Streets Fits In
Advocacy Still Needed for Smaller, More Popular Routes

By David Callahan

Complete Streets policies vary around the country, but even the best law is no silver bullet.

Oregon has the most effective statewide Complete Streets policy in the U.S. Even so, it is but one piece of a multi-pronged advocacy effort.

Nowhere has the concept of Complete Streets been embraced more profoundly than in Oregon. Since its so-called “bicycle bill” was adopted in 1971, 50 percent of the state’s 700 miles of urban state highway have been fitted with sidewalks, bike lanes or shoulders wide enough to accommodate bicyclists. The state’s coastline alone boasts 377 miles of bikeway.

Oregon also backs up its law with funding. The Complete Streets law sets aside 1 percent of state transportation funds for bicycling and walking facilities. The state’s design standards meet or exceed those of the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials documents (which bicycling advocates point to as a model) and the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility guidelines.

But Scott Bricker, policy director for the Portland-based Bicycle Transportation Alliance, points out that the “bike bill” must be complemented with good planning on local routes.

Because the law requires bike lanes where roads are expanded, built or rebuilt, a significant portion of new bikeway is built alongside high-volume, high-speed suburban connector roads where they are – in many cases – little used, Bricker said. The law doesn’t mandate retrofitting smaller neighborhood streets with bike lanes.

“It’s a really good policy,” Bricker stresses, “... all streets should have facilities and in Oregon they basically do, although this often mean bike lanes on big streets.”

Bricker said his organization focuses its advocacy on winning projects that are the “most cost effective in the sense of increasing bicycling,” which means BTA’s advocacy is driven toward low-traffic routes or “smaller, more pleasant places that are going to require a different approach than a Complete Streets policy to create.”

Many Chicagoland communities could benefit from a multi-level approach if Illinois adopts a Complete Streets policy (see article on previous page). In Homewood, where Chicagoland Bicycle Federation is consulting the village on its proposed bike lane network, a state policy would mean that 183rd Street (a busy state route that is a barrier to many bicyclists) could be integrated into the village's bike network when the state rebuilds it.

Bike signage in Portland suggests a successful partnership between cyclists and traffic engineers. (photo: Nick Jackson)

“In our advocacy we can also push the bike bill button,” Bricker said. “I think in the long haul many bike lanes have been added because of the bike bill and we have used it at least once as a way to sue the city (of Portland) to ensure that facilities were built.”

Bicyclists nationwide are familiar with Portland’s bicycling facilities and high ridership. The city has more than 150 miles of on-street bikeway, and the bicycle is a key means of transportation for thousands of residents. More than half of the city’s residents own a bicycle and bike trips account for between 5 and 10 percent in the central city precincts. Significantly, the bike crash rate there trends downward as ridership explodes.

Bricker credits the state’s Complete Streets policy with getting some project done in the city, but he points out that Portland’s success is owed to “a whole host of people approaching this from different sides,” including political leaders, engineers and citizen advocates.

David Callahan is managing editor of Bike Traffic