Beaverton city staff takes on bike commute challenge

By Kat Lynch

The Beaverton Valley Times, Jul 22, 2010 (1 Reader comment)

Jeff Basinger / Pamplin Media Group

Public Works Director Peter Arellano cycles past city hall with fellow cyclers.

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Beaverton city employees like a challenge. So, when members of the city’s Bicycle Advisory Committee challenged the entire City Hall staff two months ago to use two wheels instead of four to get to work at least one day a week, many of them took up the cause.

Many others, however, were way ahead of them.

“I’ve been biking since college – it was how I got to class,” said Jason Wachs, a Southeast Portland resident who works with city neighborhood programs. “I’ve been biking to this job since I started four years ago. Now I bike for exercise, to save money and for the environment.”

“It’s good to break it into pieces and work your way up to it,” said Terry Priest of Highland Hills, who manages the city’s storm, wastewater and streets maintenance for Public Works. “I started biking as a personal challenge in May, and now I bike four miles to work everyday. I took my bike into the shop today, and I already miss it.”

The city is in the process of improving major streets and adding some bike and pedestrian paths to make bicycle commuting easier. The latest effort is on Southwest Lombard Avenue, where the city hopes to set up new bicycle lanes and limit some street parking.

The city plans to spend $140 million for road projects that will accommodate both cars and bikes, such as adding 10 feet to some streets for a bicycle lane. That’s in addition to the 2035 Transportation System Plan draft from December that calls for $16 million in bike-only projects. The city is working on realignment of the Fanno Creek Trail from Highway 217 to Allen Boulevard at Scholls Ferry Road, the Beaverton Creek Trail and the Westside Trail’s new segment from Davis Street to the Tualatin Hills Nature Park.

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