SW Neighborhoods, Inc. Empowering Citizens since 1978

At the October SW Trails meeting, we talked about using a forum on the SWNI site to trade ideas on bike routes through SW Portland. We were invited to take a SW Trails Map and mark it up with our comments. An effort is being made to solicit input from all of the neighborhoods about bike routes. I didn't see that anyone else had posted to this site relative to this topic, so I'm taking the liberty of initiating a discussion here. What follows are my comments on routes through Maplewood and SW Portland in general.Specifically, within Maplewood, the existing Bike Route suggestions on the SW Trails map are all good, but I would add:

Urgently need sidewalks/bike lanes on Vermont Street between 45th and Oleson and between 35th and Capitol Hwy.

Vermont should be improved with a bike trail between Oleson and Nichols. I'm still amazed that the students at Montclair School cannot walk/bike from their neighborhood to school. This would also allow for travel to more distant westward destinations using Scholls Ferry Rd without being forced to risk one's life at the Oleson/Scholls Ferry/BeavHillsHwy intersection, one of the worst messes in SW Portland from a cyclist's perspective. Plus it would save a lot of time.

Nevada would better serve as a bike route if the stairs at 60th were removed allowing passage to 63rd.

I generally skirt the stairs by leaving Nevada at 54th and going south to Logan Ct, through April Hill Park to SW Miles and out to Oleson that way. Often I'll leave Miles at 63rd and head north to Peyton Rd, which intersects Oleson at a point of good visibility.

When riding from Maplewood to Hillsdale and points beyond, I prefer to use Vermont all the way to the Mary Rieke parking lot and work my way between Rieke and Wilson to the signal at Capitol and Sunset. This way I avoid the congestion in Hillsdale and can either turn right on Capitol and pick up Terwilliger or continue down to Barbur (I usually only go this way when the traffic is light). My preferred route, though, is to cross Capitol and take Sunset to DeWitt turn right, then left on Cheltenham St and right on Westwood Dr to Terwilliger. If I'm heading to Council Crest, I turn left off Cheltenham at Westwood Dr and follow that to Westwood View and on to Mitchell and Fairmont.

I also recommend showing Highland Rd as a connector between SW Canyon Ct and SW Fairview Blvd. This is a nice alternative to cutting through the zoo parking lot, which often times is a "zoo". I'm always open to alternate routes, so chime in with your comments.

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