Bike commuting from Vancouver/Camas to Portland? (Beaverton, Sandy: house, teaching jobs)

[texasdiver]

Are there any Portland area bike commuters here who might comment on the bike commute (infrastructure and conditions for year round night and day biking) from East Vancouver or Camas to central Portland or the Lloyd Center area?

By way of background. I lived in Portland in the 80s and bike commuted from SE (Near Reed) to downtown and also to Beaverton on the Beaverton/Hillsdale Highway so I'm pretty familiar with bike commuting around Portland as it was back then. But don't have any idea what it is like in NE Portland to Vancouver.

Now my wife and I are looking to move back to the Portland area except that she is a physician and has more interesting job prospects on the Vancouver side of the Columbia, and apparently Washington is more friendly for out-of-state doctors in terms of reciprocal licensing. So there is a greater likelihood that my wife's career would lead us to relocate in Vancouver or possibly out towards Camas where the schools are apparently better. It would be more crucial for her to be near her employment than me so that would lead us to living in Vancouver.

I don't have any particular job at this point but the agency I used to work for is located in one of the offices next to the Lloyd Center so if I went that route and didn't look for work in Vancouver I'd be commuting to there. Looking at the maps it looks like one might reasonably bike across I-205 from Vancouver or Camas and then catch the light rail from one of the stops near the airport if one didn't want to bike the whole way. But I have no idea what is reasonable and what the roads are like for biking. I'm not talking about just sunny afternoons in the summer but year round in the rain and dark.

One think I don't want to do is be stuck in car traffic. I'm trying to understand what other options might be available for biking some or all of the distance.

[bler144]

Egads.

To my knowledge the 205 bridge doesn't support bikes at all. The I-5 bridge does though I hear it's not for the faint-hearted, esp in weather.

On the south end of the bridge I believe it empties out by the raceway, and then it's a climb up the hill at Denver. From there to downtown you'd probably go via Greeley, which is pretty nice; or to Lloyd probably either via Interstate or Albina.

But that's one heck of a journey to do 2 directions every day if you're thinking east side/camas. Taking the Express Bus from Cascade Park to downtown would make infinitely more sense.

Plus Vanc/Camas isn't that expensive and MDs get paid well. Personally unless you have gambling debts to the mafia that need to be paid I'd probably just settle in and take your time looking for something on the Vanc side. Biking from Camas to most of Vancouver is still going to be a serious workout, but it's much easier to get around most of Vanc by car.

[J24]

Originally Posted by bler144

Egads.

To my knowledge the 205 bridge doesn't support bikes at all. The I-5 bridge does though I hear it's not for the faint-hearted, esp in weather.

On the south end of the bridge I believe it empties out by the raceway, and then it's a climb up the hill at Denver. From there to downtown you'd probably go via Greeley, which is pretty nice; or to Lloyd probably either via Interstate or Albina.

But that's one heck of a journey to do 2 directions every day if you're thinking east side/camas. Taking the Express Bus from Cascade Park to downtown would make infinitely more sense.

Plus Vanc/Camas isn't that expensive and MDs get paid well. Personally unless you have gambling debts to the mafia that need to be paid I'd probably just settle in and take your time looking for something on the Vanc side. Biking from Camas to most of Vancouver is still going to be a serious workout, but it's much easier to get around most of Vanc by car.

The 205 bridge does support bikes. It has a lowered bike/pedestrian "trail" in the center of the bridge.

[bler144]

Originally Posted by J24

The 205 bridge does support bikes. It has a lowered bike/pedestrian "trail" in the center of the bridge.

Interesting, I drive the bridge fairly often and I've never seen anyone on it. Edit - though if it's sunken in the road bed, that's perhaps why.

[J24]

Originally Posted by bler144

Interesting, I drive the bridge fairly often and I've never seen anyone on it.

Yeah, it doesn't have heavy traffic by any means, but sometimes you'll see a decent number of bikers on it. I drove it twice a day all of last year, and I'd see bikers and joggers semi-frequently.

[PDuckX]

I regularly commute from NE Portland to Downtown Vancouver. It's really not too bad once you settle in on a route. There is definitely a bike path on the 205 bridge. It's not very pleasant, loud, close to traffic and bumpy, but it works. If you were taking the MAX you can catch it at 205 and Sandy just to the south of the bridge and the bike path dumps you right there.

Very doable.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by PDuckX

I regularly commute from NE Portland to Downtown Vancouver. It's really not too bad once you settle in on a route. There is definitely a bike path on the 205 bridge. It's not very pleasant, loud, close to traffic and bumpy, but it works. If you were taking the MAX you can catch it at 205 and Sandy just to the south of the bridge and the bike path dumps you right there.

Very doable.

Thanks, that's kind of what I was thinking. In the winter when it is more grim one could leave a bike at the park and ride area up there somewhere and catch the MAX into the Lloyd Center and when the weather is nice, bike the whole way. I guess it would depend to some extent on how secure the bike parking is from theft.

Life is about compromises and my wife is the higher earner and harder worker between the two of us at this point in our lives. We would need to live near her employment not mine which seems more likely to be the Vancouver area. She's also not as urban as me and is more likely to want a house in a more wooded edge type area rather than an older urban area. As long as I have a reasonable chance of avoiding sitting in traffic in a car I'm flexible.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by bler144

Egads.

Plus Vanc/Camas isn't that expensive and MDs get paid well. Personally unless you have gambling debts to the mafia that need to be paid I'd probably just settle in and take your time looking for something on the Vanc side. Biking from Camas to most of Vancouver is still going to be a serious workout, but it's much easier to get around most of Vanc by car.

Yeah, I think first priority would be to look for work in the Vancouver area. I currently teach HS Science in Texas and would look for teaching jobs in the Vancouver area. Washington has reciprocal teacher certification with Texas so that is not an issue. Formerly I worked for years with NOAA in Seattle, Alaska, and Washington DC and all the NOAA regional offices in the Portland Area are all in one of those office towers next to the Lloyd Center so if I tried to go back to my previous profession I'd likely end up there.

No gambling debts or Mafia on our tail but we do have 3 daughters who will be approaching college in 1, 6, and 8 years so there's that. We'll likely already be paying 1 college tuition when we make the move with 2 more to come.

[pdxmilw]

I'm a pretty wimpy rider in terms of riding in/near traffic, and I went from my house in NE Portland over the 205 bridge with no trouble.

I do remember 205 over the bridge being loud, but on a sunny day, the view's nice. Could be a long commute, though.

[NWGirl74]

I've only ridden the path on 205 once. Crossing into OR was great, coming back was definitely much more of a workout! I don't know if there is bike parking at the Park and Rides but I wouldn't chance it.

I'm also not sure about the Camas to the bridge part of the ride. I come down a busy street in another part of town with a bike lane and I've almost been run over several times and was almost hit by a bus while in the bike lane. Vancouverites, in my experience, are NOT friendly to bicyclists compared to Portland. I go through two extra subdivisions and will ride on the sidewalk to make my commute as safe as I possibly can and to minimize time spent on major roads.