Automotive abuse continues on a bit of the I-5 bike path north of Marine Drive.
Final Thursday, BikePortland reader Israel L., was headed again to Vancouver from Portland and had simply left Delta Park en path to the Interstate Bridge. As he crossed the I-5 offramp towards the bike path he seen the driving force of a big, black tow truck flip left (west) from N Union Courtroom. That appeared odd to Israel, because the truck driver was headed onto a one-way off-ramp. “I believed, ‘Oh they could be doing a little form of bizarre freeway entry maneuver,’” Israel shared.
“Then to my horror, they didn’t go onto the off-ramp, they went onto the bike path.”
Israel was on an electrical bike and saved driving whereas he tried to course of what he was seeing. “Then it dawned on me: The truck driver simply used the bike path to get round site visitors.”
Israel mentioned the driving force was honking their horn to warn potential path customers of his presence.
The motive force stayed on the trail and headed north underneath NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd after which twisted round towards the underpass of the I-5 freeway ramps. Israel didn’t assume the truck would match underneath the quick tunnel, but it surely did. He pulled out his digital camera and took video of the driving force on the trail contained in the cloverleaf of freeway ramps simply as he exited the trail and continued onto I-5.
Right here’s the trail the driving force took (in response to Israel):
Regardless of being on an electrical bike, Israel mentioned he wasn’t in a position to catch up and get shut sufficient to get a license plate.
Chalk this as much as one more breach of what’s speculated to be protected infrastructure for non-drivers. The Oregon Division of Transportation should do extra to forestall drivers from utilizing these paths. What’s subsequent, it exhibits up on Google Maps as a option to bypass site visitors?!
In keeping with readers, automotive and truck drivers use these paths fairly often. That is the third occasion I’ve shared. In July 2024, somebody was driving northbound on the trail over the Columbia River, and earlier this month a BikePortland reader was pressured off this path by the driving force of a big SUV. The Oregon Division of Transportation (ODOT) is conscious of this drawback, however has up to now not shared a plan to forestall it from occurring.
