Wouldn’t it be great if Portland removed the redundant part of I-5 right here. It would be an extreme minimal impact to anybody driving in the area but it would be a MASSIVE boon to the city itself, being able to remove a vast and expensive section of the interstate that is devaluing what ought to be a multi-billion dollar segment of river front property! What’s your thoughts?
I’d love to see I-5 just ripped out between point 1 and 2 on the map. It’d be easy to do and the capacity issues with the two merges at that point would be removed too, it’d just become seamless turns and instead the state and feds responsible for I-5 could stop wasting Portland’s time and money and instead focus on the other connection point of I-84 and I-5 that has, would, and continues to this day to exist in north Portland.
As I departed Pasco on the Amtrak Empire Builder, the sun rising in the east came in through my roomette window, and let me tell you it was stunning! Check the VLOG for footage of that site, but always know, VLOGs and photos and all that are fun but they compare in no way to being there in person! The tranquility of a roomette, as we roll along on steel rail, with the rising sun is absolutely stunning every single time I get to experience it!
When we arrived into Portland I detrained and went to baggage pickup. Within just a minute or two the bike arrived in the ole’ bike box. I slid it out and with the two tools I brought, I had the bike up and going in just another 90 seconds or so. Slung my backpack back on and out the doors of the station I went.
With a ride, almost parallel to my original departure from Portland the day before yesterday I alternated to the Williams St corridors for the majority of the trip back. In doing so I got to race the Trimet #44 bus! What fun, what excitement, what a slow and relaxing race! The real question though, who will win!
After the race I arrive back to Office PDX and make a cup of coffee with the MiiR pour over and it is excellent! I also use some techniques that you might not always use, but it’s worth a watch just so you can give it a try if you ever need to give it a try! It kicks off at 9:42 in the video.
0:21 – Leaving Richland via Pasco on the Empire Builder. Catching a stunning sun rise!
2:38 – Reclaiming PDX Orange from baggage, getting her back in riding condition. Tips + tricks on boxing your bike and unboxing it.
3:30 – Departing the station and a tip for egress from Union Station via the Broadway Bridge.
4:19 – Watching the Empire Builder cross the Steel Bridge, buy why, learn about it here!
4:48 – Bus🚌 Leap Frog🐸 with the #44! Some thoughts on the buses, their speed, and the fact that I basically pace the bus for the whole… well, listen to the segment and you’ll see. Along with the oddities and other things along the way.
6:50 – Riding through Peninsula Park. With odd unexpected elements! 😬
9:00 – The final stretch, do I defeat the #44 or do I get beaten by the bus!!! It’s soooo close!
9:42 – Caffeine Induction System from Miir, the Pourigami, via Bicycle Coffee from Oakland (link below). In this segment I show you a wicked cool pour over travel setup, using minimal kitchen tools.
Here’s a short review I did of the redesign. The bus island was something that really shows in this city how these should be implemented. Well designed and well built, we should have these as standard on almost all major roads with bus stops so there isn’t the existing conflict.
Transit Sleuth 