Poll:
Will more bike paths convince you to give up your car?
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Supporters see the 2030 Bike Plan as smart investing. Opponents see it as another example of Portland budget trickery and wasteful tax policy.
Politics aside, the City Council's unanimous February vote makes it the official, long-term, $600 million transportation policy for Portland.
Miles of new bikeways
The plan calls for creating 650 miles of new bikeways across the city, tripling Portland's existing network of bike paths, lanes and bikeways, and decreasing vehicle speeds in city limits. Google Maps Bikeways
Bicycle Coordinator Roger Geller estimated the plan's cost at roughly $600 million.
Supporters of the plan, including Mayor Sam Adams, point to Census data and a 300 percent increase in bicycle commuting in metro Portland over the last 15 or so years.
By 2030, Geller says one in four people may use a bike to get into Portland. They may have a bike freeway that follows I-84, according to the plan.
"So the cities that are really world class in bicycling have created conditions so that people from nine to age 90 can get out on the roads on their bicycle and be safe," he said in February. Portland Bicycling
The 2030 Bike Plan included input from residents, businesses and neighborhood planners and cost millions to produce, much of which came from regional transportation funding dollars.
TriMet earmarked regional transportation dollars for a complementary project, the pedestrian suspension bridge slated for Southwest Portland, which was designed for bikes, commuter trains and pedestrians instead of trucks, buses or vehicles.
