Portland Goes Platinum!

Photo by Jonathan Maus    BikePortland.org

Tuesday, April 29 - Earlier today, the Downtown Bike Gallery was the location for a well-attended press conference where City of Portland Commisioner Sam Adams - together with a host of other dignitaries and bike advocates - announced the news that Portland was awarded the Platinum-level designation as a Bicycle Friendly Community, by the League of American Bicyclists. Exciting news, since Portland is only the second city in the USA - after Davis, CA - to receive the League's highest level designation and the first large city in America that achieved platinum status.

Bike Gallery owner Jay Graves kicked off the event, by reminding the audience that it was two years ago at the very same location that Sam Adams unveiled a nine-part "Platinum strategy" to make Portland a best-in-class city for cycling and cyclists and earn the Platinum-level designation.

After his introduction, Jay handed Sam a gorgeous "platinum trophy", which was put together overnight by an employee of the Bike Gallery. Sam then talked about how the platinum designation was not the pinnacle, but rather the "base camp" from where Portland should aim to become a first-class cycling city, as measured by international standards. Sam then introduced the other speakers, including Metro Council President David Bragdon, BTA Executive Director Scott Bricker, Portland Police Chief Rosie Sizer, Chris King Vice-President Diane Chalmers, State Senator Ginny Burdick, and Chair of the Oregon Transportation Commission Gail Achterman.

According to Marketing Manager Barb Grover, "the Bike Gallery was very honored to host this event and we hope that the award will be a boost for all the great initiatives we are seeing in and around Portland to promote cycling for transportation and recreation, and make our city's streets even better and safer for cyclists."