GEARs Members,

We recently learned that there is going to be a re-paving project on Willamette Street from 29th Avenue to 32nd Avenue and that the city “left out” plans to add bicycle facilities.  This runs contrary to the city’s own policy of adding bike facilities to road reconstruction projects, especially those called out in TransPlan.  While this is a serious error, especially given the fact that the Willamette and 29th area was highlighted at the last Advocacy Committee meeting as a top problem spot for biking, it is not irreversible.

The current project the city is repaving is 29th to 46th. We would like to ask the City to pull the section from 29th to 32nd off the table for repaving this year until the right measures can be taken to facilitate including bicycle facilities on this section of roadway.

We are asking you to write your city councilor (click here to find out who your councilor is) to put pressure on the Public Works Department to correct this problem before the pavement is laid and the paint dries.

Below is an example letter:

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Dear [Councilor’s name],

I am writing to express my concern about an upcoming road project on Willamette, from 29th to 32nd Avenues.  This major commercial and residential area is in urgent need of bicycle facilities, and as part of TransPlan it has been identified to include those facilities. Unfortunately this was missed by staff.  This  violation of the city’s own policy needs to be addressed.

We are asking that this section of the project be pulled out of the current scope of work until the proper work can be done to install the required bicycle facilities.  Please talk to Public Works staff to make sure that this oversight is corrected before new pavement is laid and the paint dries on restriping.

Sincerely,

[Your name

Your address]