Biking from Sellwood during construction (Portland, Tualatin: 2014, neighborhoods, living)

[Kcolsen]

I am moving with my family to Portland in June 2014 to start jobs at Ohsu. We have two young children, and after looking around at neighborhoods, are leaning towards the Sellwood/Westmoreland area. My wife and I are both planning on bike commuting to OHSU. Once both the new Sellwood bridge and the Max bridge are done, it looks like biking or taking the Max from Sellwood to OHSU will be pretty easy. I was wondering what it will be like biking during the year or so we will have before the construction projects are finished. Is biking over the temporary Sellwood bridge possible/safe, or will we have to cross at the Ross Island or even Hawthorne Bridge? Thanks for the input of any current bikers.

[hamellr]

The people over at the BikePortland.org Forums maybe be able to better answer your questions.

The bridge is open for bikes as far as I know, and the cemetery over on the West Side has been good in allowing bike traffic to short cut through their property - even adding direction signs for bikes.

If you are not a confident bike commuter it may not be the best route though, you'll have to judge for yourself. The old bridge is pretty narrow and not a good bike route. Outside of that Sellwood to OHSU is not a bad ride, but until the bridge is replaced you may want to avoid it.

Ross Island Bridge is a bit better of a bike ride, but it doesn't connect to the South Waterfront very well for Bikes. You have to go a bit out of your way and then loop back. But then you need to do that in a car also.

A lot of bike commuters are looking forward to that new MAX bridge, it's going to end up being well used.

[skiffrace]

If you are going to work at OHSU, you will do well living on the west side as well.
The Sellwood bridge has a *very* narrow bike "path", on 1 side only. Did I mention it is narrow?
2 cats cannot pass without jumping over each-other. When 2 cyclists need to pass, typically one has to stop or dismount, or risk falling onto the traffic lane.
Once you cross the bridge, then you need to get to OHSU. Cyclists typically take the (illegal) shortcut through River View Cemetery. Currently, the cemetery owner (barely) tolerates that, but it can change any moment. Recently there has been heated discussion on the subject in Portland Tribune.
As an alternative, you can ride on the trail through Willamette Park till you get to the Aerial Tram. This is actually a quite nice route.
Still, why do you insist on Sellwood? It is a nice neighborhood, but there are similar, and even nicer (certainly less crime) on the west side, adjacent to OHSU. Are you a rower, kayaker, canoeist, stand-up paddleboarder etc? Then Sellwood, absolutely - the best access to the Willamette river, and several clubs in place.

PS. Bicycle commuting in Portland is a glorious activity. In summertime.
6 AM on a December morning, dark outside and pouring rain, you will wish you could get to your job some other way.
Hint: think "good bus connection to OHSU"

[EnricoV]

There aren't any neighborhoods adjacent to OHSU that have the same level of services, nor (IMO) the same community feel that Sellwood/Moreland does.

I like John's Landing, but it's so small and cut-off that there's not a lot available there - though certainly more than there used to be.

[skiffrace]

There aren't any neighborhoods adjacent to OHSU that have the same level of services, nor (IMO) the same community feel that Sellwood/Moreland does.

I should've said "within reasonable bike-ride distance", which to most people is say, 5 or 6 miles.
Many places like that on the west side, more upscale and safer than Sellwood.
Hillsdale, Goose Hollow, Healy Heights, Bridlemile, Sylvan, to name a few
.
Sellwood is a great place for bicycle-commuting to downtown Portland - the multi-use trail that is the extension of Springwater Corridor is an expressway for cyclists. Commuting to OHSU is another matter.

[EnricoV]

I don't think any of those neighborhoods have the same community feel that Sellwood/Moreland does. There're few services, for one thing. Where's the nearest grocery store to Goose Hollow ... Freddies on Burnside? It'd be a better commute than the others, but it doesn't sound like they want to live pretty much right downtown.

And maybe it's just because I'm lazy (and because I really like Sellwood-Moreland) ... but having the West Hills/Tualatin Mountains between me and my destination doesn't look fun on a daily basis. And it's not just the incline, it's the doubling of the mileage for all the curves. I'd just head for the tram - it's free for employees, isn't it?

[NickyBilly]

OHSU is on a massive hill that even the heartiest bikers have a tough time navigating. I'd have second thoughts on biking and consider the new Car2Go program where you can use cars to get you from point A to point B for minimal costs

[EnricoV]

Interestingly enough - Google's suggested bike routes (I didn't know it had that feature) from Sellwood to OHSU are along the bike path on the west bank of the river, then up the hill (it doesn't include the tram as the option for going up the hill). And gives the travel time as 43 minutes. I'd think cutting out biking up that hill would cut out a fair chunk of time, if you rode the tram up.

[skiffrace]

OHSU is on a massive hill that even the heartiest bikers have a tough time navigating

It looks like a "massive" hill only if you were born and lived your entire life in Florida. Otherwise, it's just a hill, 500 to 600 feet in elevation. Every morning, there is a parade of cyclists, of all ages and in all kinds of shape, that make it up that hill from downtown on Terwilliger Boulevard, and from the Hillsdale, on Terwilliger as well. It's just a matter of low gears.

[Kcolsen]

Thanks for the thoughts about biking from Sellwood. We definitely aren't set on living there and are exploring some of the west side neighborhoods as well. As others have said we just like the neighborhood feel of Sellwood and the ability to take public transport to OHSU easily by bus or soon by train. If biking wasn't going to be an option for a year due to construction though, it would rule out Sellwood as a place to live. As far as getting up the hill, one of us will be working up the hill and the other at the waterfront so someone will likely be taking the tram, which is free with a OHSU ID.