By Steve Ritchie
Silverton is well-known for a host of special attributes. The welcome sign announces “Gateway to Silver Falls” and “Oregon’s Garden City.” Silverton also can boast about being the Christmas tree capital on our civic resume, as well as about its First Fridays, thriving art community, unique set of festivals, and picturesque downtown.
Silverton might be on the verge of adding “extraordinarily bicycle-friendly community” to the list.
A host of recent activities and opportunities seem to be driving Silverton, or maybe more appropriately – cycling Silverton – in that direction.
Friends of Eastside Trails, a new group that is “promoting safe walking and bicycling trails and lanes,” was formed last summer. The group is working actively with local governments and developing relationships with a variety of bike clubs, tourism promotion organizations, and businesses. Responding to the growing interest in bicycling and walking, the city of Silverton and the Silverton Chamber of Commerce are working collaboratively with the Friends of Eastside Trails on a long-range plan for bicycle infrastructure and safety improvement in the city.
Silverton Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Stacy Palmer is an enthusiastic supporter of the bike-friendly movement and for good reason. Local businesses stand to benefit significantly from a successful effort promote Silverton as a bike-friendly community.
“When we started looking at it, we realized there is a huge economic impact,” Palmer said. “It is an opportunity for us to capitalize on a market that is growing by leaps and bounds.”
Palmer is not exaggerating about the potential economic of bicycle tourism. According to a recent study posted on the Travel Oregon website, $400 million was spent by bicycle tourists in Oregon last year, and $78 million of that total was spent in the Central Willamette Valley. This is a significant piece of the $9 billion spent annually by tourists in Oregon.
Bicycle enthusiast Doug Tedrow is
offering people the chance to join
a weekly group ride under the auspices
of the Salem Bicycle Club. The rides,
Tuesdays from April through September,
start at 6 p.m. (Signup begins at 5:45).
They will begin from the parking lot of
the high school’s Pine Street campus.
Tedrow and Larry Miles plan to alternate
leading the rides.
“During the shorter daylight hours like
right now the rides will be probably be
like 15 to 20 miles,” Tedrow said.
“As the days lengthen, we might do
some rides of 20 to 25 miles.”
The rides will be “non-competitive and
recreational or self-paced” and will be
on back roads with light traffic. There
is no cost, but participants will need
to sign a release of liability form
before each ride. The rides are not
suitable for young children. Tedrow
emphasizes the Tuesday rides will take
place only in “fair weather.” Cancellation
notices due to inclement weather will be
posted at Fall Line Bicycle Shop and on
the Salem Bicycle Club website,
www.salembicycleclub.org.
Through Travel Oregon, the state has created a “bike-friendly designation” for businesses that provide a certain number of amenities or services for bicyclists, such as a secure parking spot for bikes, a place to charge mobile phones, etc. Palmer says the Silverton Visitor Center has earned this designation, and a number of other businesses – she mentions The Oregon Garden Resort, Seven Brides, Fall Line and Silverton Inn & Suites – have also either been awarded the designation or are working on it.
Jason Gottgetreau, Silverton planning director, has been working since September on a new bike plan for the city. He says at this stage, the plan is “a working document” and the working group is “kind of in the middle” of the process. Upcoming meetings should solidify a process for public input on the proposal before it goes to the city council for approval.
Gottgetreau says the plan will focus on current bicycle infrastructure and try to improve upon it. He believes improvements will benefit both residents and visitors, and says Mount Angel is also interested in working collaboratively on projects that might benefit both communities.
One improvement that already has grant funding is creation of a bike lane on South Water Street to connect Pioneer Village with downtown Silverton. Gottgetreau says that sections of Water Street are not that safe for bicyclists at present, with a very tight or non-existent shoulders and a speed limit that gets progressively higher. A bike lane would make it much safer.
Gottgetreau believes that the bike-friendly movement is gaining momentum. “This is an emerging trend. “People are becoming more health-conscious and biking is one of the avenues they are taking.”
