Bikeways in Southern Oregon Cities of Ashland and Talent

Enjoy a photo tour of some worthwhile bicycle facilities Streetsblog L.A. Editor Joe Linton spotted this week while biking around the Southern Oregon cities of Talent and Ashland.

Southern Oregon doesn’t have the concentration of bikeways and bicyclists found in bigger cities further north: Portland, Salem, Eugene. But cities in southern Oregon do have bicyclists and bikeways. Last year, Streetsblog profiled a promising new bikeway in Medford. This year, it’s four bikeways in the nearby cities of Talent and Ashland.

Talent, population 6,300, is notably rebuilding after a destructive wildfire in 2020. Ashland, population 21,000, is a college town known for hosting the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

SBLA is here visiting during a cold wet and windy Thanksgiving week, so perhaps these facilities see more riders during other parts of the year.

West Valley View Road protected bikeway

In 2022, Talent completed fairly ambitious curb-protected bike lanes on West Valley View Road. The project includes landscaped islands that cleanse and infiltrate rainwater, contributing to the health of adjacent Wagner Creek.

The configuration is somewhat similar to landscaped, protected bike lanes on Rosemead Boulevard in Southern California’s Temple City.

Bear Creek Path

The twenty mile long Bear Creek bike path connects the cities of Ashland, Talent, Phoenix, Medford, and nearby areas. For the four miles between Talent and Ashland, the creek path is a pleasant natural space, though in a few stretches it runs fairly close to the 5 Freeway.

Ashland Bikeways

The Bear Creek path ends in Ashland, where (after a short gap) cyclists can continue southeast on the nearly 2.5-mile long Railroad District bike path. It’s a fairly basic bike/walk path, with quite a few at-grade crossings and access to several parks and neighborhoods. One stretch goes through a cemetery.

Lastly there’s Ashland Street, connecting to the Southern Oregon University campus. The Ashland Street bikeway features bright green pavement bike lanes protected by soft-hit posts.

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