A blog for better streets and public spaces in Portland, Maine.
Some exciting news from the Maine DOT, courtesy of a recent press release:
"As the first step to opening the new Martin’s Point Bridge to traffic, CPM Constructors will allow pedestrians and bicycles onto the new multi-use path around midday next Tuesday, June 3. The path will be open to pedestrians and bicyclists only. All motor vehicles will continue to travel over the old bridge."
The bridge between Portland and Falmouth is still under construction, so the car-free status is only temporary — enjoy it while you can!
My old college buddy Elly Blue, whose name you might recognize from her writings in places like
Bicycling Magazine or
Streetsblog, is making a stop in Portland Maine for her "Dinner and Bikes" tour in a couple weeks, on Monday June 9. She and her partner, a vegan chef, will be serving dinner with a few short films about bicycling and bike activism.
Because dinner is included they'll need to plan how much food to make, so buying tickets ahead of time is highly recommended. You can buy tickets and learn more about the details from Space Gallery's website:
http://www.space538.org/events/dinner-and-bikes
See you there!
Judging by the bike traffic I've seen these last few days it's been Bike to Work Day all week this week, but Portland's official "Bike to Work Day" celebrations happen this Friday. Downtown commuters can enjoy coffee, breakfast snacks and basic tune-ups in the morning in Monument Square. In the afternoon, South Portland bike commuters can stop by Bug Light Park between 4 and 5 for pizza and giveaways.
The weather forecast says that it will be partly cloudy all day, warming up from the mid 50s in the morning hours to the low 60s when it's time to head home. Perfect biking weather.
And in other news, the U.S. Census Bureau announced this week that bicycling is the fastest-growing mode of travel for U.S. commuters — our numbers grew from an estimated 488,000 in 2000 to 786,000 in the 2008-2012 period. Even after that growth spurt, we're still a pretty small slice of the commuting pie — a little less than 5% of all commuters in Northeastern cities. Still, it's worth noting that Portland, Maine in 2014 has roughly the same proportion of bike commuters as Portland, Oregon did in 2000. With continued efforts to make the city's streets safer and more enjoyable for everyone, there's no reason why we couldn't attract thousands of new bike commuters in the coming years.
See you in Monument Square on Friday morning.
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