Soup is soul food, satisfying and warming on a cold day or night. Sometimes, though, you make a pot of soup that’s good and fine, but maybe you wish it were a little bit… better. Maybe you want to take this soup to the next level, and give it something extra to improve the taste, texture, or complexity of flavor.
Here are a few tips to take you beyond the recipe and make all your soups sing.
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PBOT’s temporary plans for the block of NW 14th between Flanders and Glisan.
Remember the bike lane on NW 14th Avenue we highlighted last week?
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)
The lane had disappeared without any warning, forcing road users into stressful and dangerous situations. While they still haven’t explained why they didn’t catch the problem earlier, the Portland Bureau of Transportation told us the bike lane vanished because of a construction project on one side of the street and a new, wider sidewalk that was installed on the other side of the street. “These two things have narrowed the roadway,” PBOT’s John Brady said, “and we need to install some temporary striping to fit the new road conditions.”
Now we have the details on what that temporary striping will look like.
In a letter and email sent to nearby businesses and residents today, PBOT Capital Project Manager Scott Cohen explained the problem and showed a cross-section drawing of the “temporary operational plan” that will be in place for the next year.
Here are the elements of that plan (emphasis mine):
• Offering pedestrian and ADA access to all legs of the intersection during construction.
• Improved sidewalk corridor in a busy Central City neighborhood.
• Providing space for people bicycling on a busy corridor.
• Improving existing auto lane shift north of NW Glisan that addresses safety issues for merging vehicles.
• Improving freight turning movements and helping move vehicles through the intersection more intuitively.
Cohen says city staff will monitor traffic for the next year to determine the best way to permanently configure NW 14th after construction is completed. Hopefully by next year we’ll just keep this wide bikeway in place for good — since 14th plays a starring role in the future protected bike lane network PBOT is working on.
As for why PBOT failed to catch this before the bike lane became blocked by the sidewalk, we never got a reply when we asked about it. However, our smart commenters seem to have figured it out. Here’s the salient exchange from the comment thread of our post last week:
Maccoinich:
When the protected walkway was put in the striping was moved west, which can be seen in the first photo. When that traffic control plan was approved the person who reviewed that was likely unaware of the planned widening of the sidewalk on the east side of the street (to the same width as the block faces to the north and south). My guess is that no one realized the combined effect of these two separate projects would be to remove the bike lane, i.e. PBOT messed up here through a lack of internal coordination rather than through any kind of bad intent.
Momo:
Correct. Permit jobs are reviewed independently, often by separate staff, and I can see how this got missed. Unfortunate, but these things happen.
If you have feedback about PBOT’s plans for 14th, you can reach Scott Cohen at (503) 823-5345 or via email at scott.cohen (at) portlandoregon.gov.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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The post Here’s how PBOT will fix the bike lane that disappeared on NW 14th Ave appeared first on BikePortland.org.
Sunday’s blue sky was a real treat up on Powell Butte.
(Photo: Doug Hecker)
After what felt like weeks of incessant rain, Portland was gifted a dry day on Sunday. It was a rare full day of dryness with even a bit of sun thrown in here and there. Temps even reached the 60s!
I took a walk around the neighborhood and saw all manner of people out and about on bikes. The parks were packed with families who dusted off their rigs and the bike lanes were full of group riders and errand-doers.
One of our friends on Facebook, Doug Hecker, shared this great image of he and friends up at Powell Butte Nature Park. I asked him to share a bit about it:
“On Sunday afternoon I tried to convince my partner to go on an off-trail waterfall hike but they weren’t feeling up for it so I suggested riding from our Brentwood-Darlington abode and hopped on the Springwater Corridor towards Powell Butte. It has been 2 years since I had been on the Springwater. I had previously hadnt taken my bike on dirt trails before so I was pleasantly surprised. We rode a couple of laps on the Elderberry trail, Summit Lane, and exited via the Pipeline Rd. We scored a neat picture of Hood while we were there and dreamed of future excursions. The car parking situation is tough on a sunny Sunday afternoon and it seems that the crowds are nicely spread out so you will definitely see plenty of other people and pets. I viewed as a nice urban escape.”
A perfect day for a ride to Arbor Lodge Park in north Portland.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)
I too haven’t ridden there in years and now I’m really itching to go back. With the Springwater as an access point, Powell Butte’s off-road bike trails are accessible by nearly everyone.
Did you get a chance to take advantage of Sunday’s weather?
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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The post Did you get to ride in that dry, warm weather on Sunday? appeared first on BikePortland.org.
Let’s get this thing started!
(Graphics: City of Portland)
Nearly four years after was unanimously supported by Portland City Council, the Foster Road Streetscape Plan is finally poised to begin construction.
The City of Portland put out a bid for construction services last week and ground-breaking for the project is expected to begin in early May.
The project has already been delayed about a year due to some wranglings with funding and process-related red tape between the City of Portland and the Federal Highway Administration. The main project is funded by the federal government to the tune of $5.25 million. Last spring the City of Portland decided to add $3 million of its own money to rebuild and repave the section between SE 82nd and 90th. That work required additional environmental approvals which delayed the project. Now with those contractual and funding obligations all ironed out the project is ready to move forward.
The Portland Bureau of Transportation wants to update the design of the road to make it safer and less stressful to use and live around. Foster is currently a designated High Crash Corridor with over 1,200 crashes and eight fatalities in the last 10 years. The current configuration of the 50-foot wide street includes five lanes for auto users and narrow, five-foot wide sidewalks. The new cross-section will have three lanes for auto users, two lanes for bicycle users, and wider, nine-foot sidewalks on both sides of the street. The project will also add new street tries, better lighting, safer crossings, and new transit shelters.
PBOT says, “The changes on Foster Road will help turn it into a successful Main Street by providing greater accessibility for all modes and a safer and attractive corridor that supports businesses and neighborhoods.”
While the project enjoys widespread support, there are some business owners and community members who fear the project will slow driving times and exacerbate gentrification in the area.
The city says construction is slated to begin in early May.
(In other east Portland project news, The Oregonian reported today that the Division Transit Project has been delayed due to cost overruns.)
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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The post SE Foster road diet finally out to bid: Construction will start in May appeared first on BikePortland.org.
Welcome to the week. We’ve got a lot to cover; but first let’s look back at the best stories we came across in the past seven days…
Cars vs bikes, literally: Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi is meddling in the business of dockless bike-share companies in what looks like an effort to tame their growth.
Better boardwalks: We love this brilliant, modular sidewalk expansion method from London. Where could we put wider sidewalks to use in Portland?
Funding boost: Jump Bikes (formerly Social Bicycles), the bike share company that provides bikes and tech for Portland’s Biketown bikes, received an influx of venture funding after winning an exclusive permit for dockless e-bikes in San Francisco.
Effective bike marketing: If you want your city to make real progress in getting more people on bikes, you need to internalize and implement these eight rules from Modacity.
Hey that’s cool: A paper on robot-controlled bicycles from researchers at Caltech (PDF) included this cool graphic (below) that shows the tire marks of 800 bicycles being pushed until they fall over (aka ghostriding).
Tire marks of 800 bicycles being pushed until they fall over.
(Image: Caltech)
Riding indoors without shame: “Traffic” author Tom Vanderbilt has come to not just tolerate riding inside. Because of Zwift and “smart” trainers, he actually loves it.
TriMet’s dirty buses: Did you know our regional transit provider is behind-the-times when it comes to using electric buses? Climate Solutions says 60 percent of TriMet’s trips are still taken on diesel buses and they want the agency to make a full transition to electric.
“Petextrian” is the new “jaywalker”: Both terms blame the victim and are pushed by the same forces that want to maintain a status quo that offers unfettered access for the most dangerous and harmful urban road users — people who drive. This must-read from The Baffler lays it all out.
Race-based complaints: “Black Urbanist” writer Kristin Jeffers calls out dockless bike share critiques that she feels are rooted in bigotry.
Wrong side, ACLU: The Americal Civil Liberties Union has inexplicably joined a lawsuit that bans the use of photo radar cameras to catch speeders. That’s dangerous and it shows the org’s “windsheild bias” says Streetsblog.
Wrong side, Sierra Club: Another example of a “progressive” org that doesn’t understand transportation and livable cities is the Sierra Club: They oppose a California bill that would encourage transit-oriented development.
Cities for kids: Financial Times breaks down what makes a kid-friendly city. No surprise that it’s all about density, proximity to parks and streets built for people, not cars.
Freeways and poor neighborhoods: This story about a poor area of Orlando that’s encircled by toxic freeways is heartbreaking — and a great example of who the City of Portland should not support any expansion of I-5 through the central city.
More inspiration: London’s walking and cycling commissioner says their protected bike lanes move five times as many people per hour than regular lanes. Best part of the article is the lead photo that looks a lot like Naito Parkway and Waterfront Park (hint hint PBOT!).
Portland’s Naito Parkway could should look like this. (Photo via The Guardian)
199-year old bicycle: A collector uncovered an extremely rare and completely fascinating “hobby horse” bicycle which was first patented in 1818.
Existing traffic is a tax on the poor: Here’s a solid argument in reply to concern trolls who say congestion pricing is regressive and unfairly targets the poor.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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The post The Monday Roundup: Dockless bigotry, TriMet’s dirty diesels, the 199 year-old bike, and more appeared first on BikePortland.org.
Barley is one of those grains that your grandmother probably always had in her pantry. And like many other treasures tucked away on those shelves, barley is chic now and a star ingredient on many trendy restaurant menus.
With this modernized recipe, we’re adding barley to a pot of vegetarian soup along with both dried and fresh mushrooms, and seasoning it with a surprising combination of soy sauce and balsamic vinegar.
The bowls of soup have a satisfying saltiness and an alluring sweetness—it’s an entirely new take on traditional mushroom barley soup.
Continue reading "Not Your Grandma’s Mushroom Barley Soup" »
Being stationed in Germany for six years gave me a deep appreciation for two things: beer and bratwurst (sausages) of all kinds.
This Brats and Beer Cheese Dip was born out of my love for this German fare and for hosting Super Bowl parties. Honestly, I have no clue about how football is played—I just love any reason to have a party.
Continue reading "Slow Cooker Brats and Beer Cheese Dip" »
