Commuting Routes, Maps and Commentary
Camas to Portland/SIC
I tried a hundred different routes to get to 6th and Salmon (The Standard) from Camas. I finally anchored on this one (783kb). It was the best mix I could get. Places to watch out for are Killingsworth and Sandy, Interstate in front of The Rose Garden and all of Third Avenue.
The ride is about 21.5 miles and takes anywhere between 78 and 85 minutes. The key safety actions on this ride are: (see the little red circles)
- When coming off the bike trail at Killingsworth, I wait for the walk light and then stop half way through in the right most left turn lane. This puts me in front of the cars as part of the existing vehicles that are stopped waiting to turn left with me. This avoids joining traffic from the crosswalk on Sandy. The latter causes problems from people taking free right-hand turns off of Killingsworth onto Sandy and mowing you over when they don't look for you in the crosswalk. My process lets you get ahead of the cars at the light to be visible. Because of the seriousness of this intersection I have assemble a page just to describe it.
- In front of the Rose Garden Arena, When on Multnomah, at Interstate, I do not use the bike lane. I pull into traffic and set in the left part of the lane letting people take a right hand turn onto Interstate. I go straight, since I do the upper deck of the Steel Bridge and turn on third. The picture on the detail page shows the all too common situation of the right hand turns onto north bound Interstate.
- On Third Avenue I use the middle lane and do everything I can to do traffic speed. At seventeen miles per hour you are doing what traffic averages and you will hit all the lights green. I do not get out of this lane until I am past any streets/garages where people might turn right and try to kill me. I started this route in the right lane and nearly got hit every day, During months in the middle lane I never had a close call.
Camas to Downtown Vancouver
The route From Camas to Vancouver is not the "recommended" Evergreen (Old Highway 14). I strongly recommend the McGillvary/McArther/Blandford/Evergreen route since there is ample shoulder/bike lane on most of the roads and traffic is not very heavy.
- Crossing Lieser Road is horrible. I always pull into traffic and make sure I am well seen. The intersection is at strange angles and makes it very difficult for other vehicles to see you.
- Blandford Road: is a little rough and does not have a bike lane, although parts have a good shoulder.
- Evergreen: Needs tree trimming so ride carefully so you do not get smacked in the face.
Camas to Clackamas
This is one of the nicest commutes (when they are not building the Green Line) since you can do it almost solely on bike trails. With the construction you will need to follow the signs to the alternate routes. So far I have found them very tolerable.
The ride is about 30 miles and takes about 100 minutes. The key safety actions on this ride are: (see the little red circles)
- When coming off the bike trail at Killingsworth, I wait for the walk light and then stop half way through in the right most left turn lane. This puts me in front of the cars as part of the existing vehicles that are stopped waiting to turn left with me. This avoids joining traffic from the crosswalk on Sandy. The latter causes problems from people taking free right-hand turns off of Killingsworth onto Sandy and mowing you over when they don't look for you in the crosswalk. My process lets you get ahead of the cars at the light to be visible. Because of the seriousness of this intersection I have assemble a page just to describe it.
Vancouver to Portland
The route is across the I5 Bridge. I use only the west (southbound sidewalk) since the access on the Vancouver side is much easier. I use the Vancouver/Williams street routes over the more popular Interstate, since I think they are much safer. I also use Steel Bridge on the way in and Broadway on the way out. I do not like to go in on the Broadway since Steel puts you on Third and Broadway on Broadway and Broadway (with all the Hotels) is far too dangerous.
- Getting off the bike trails and into traffic at Marine Drive is bad. There is a little known trail that goes under Marine Drive and connects back up after the swirling traffic.
- In front of the Rose Garden Arena, When on Multnomah, at Interstate, I do not use the bike lane. I pull into traffic and set in the left part of the lane letting people take a right hand turn onto Interstate. I go straight, since I do the upper deck of the Steel Bridge and turn on third.
- On Third Avenue I use the middle lane and do everything I can to do traffic speed. At seventeen miles per hour you are doing what traffic averages and you will hit all the lights green. I do not get out of this lane until I am past any streets/garages where people might turn right and try to kill me. I started this route in the right lane and nearly got hit every day, During months in the middle lane I never had a close call.
- Outbound from Portland, as you come off of Broadway and get on Williams, do not try to make the left hand turn with traffic. Instead, use the small side road to get access to Williams prior to the stop light and take the intersection straight through on Williams. You can see that on the inset on the map or, if there are other bikes, just follow them.