Division Street a 'test case' for revised safety tools

PBOT is testing new lighting guidelines and crosswalk spacing standards for first time

Newly revised PBOT practices for street lighting and crosswalk spacing, both in draft form, will see their first use on the outer SE Division Street project.

The lighting guidelines increase recommended minimum light levels and require analysis of sidewalks and bicycle facilities when evaluating lighting needs. The crosswalk spacing standards specify maximum desired distances between marked pedestrian crossings.

While the Division project will be the first to use the new guidelines and standards, PBOT expects to use them on streets citywide to support traffic safety.

PBOT and Oregon Brewers Festival look to strengthen safe travel options

In partnership with PBOT, the Oregon Brewers Festival is exploring options to enhance an existing program that provides safe travel discounts to people who attend the festival in July. PBOT is looking to use SmartPark garages to allow festival goers to store their vehicles overnight at a discounted rate. The partnership supports Vision Zero action item I.2, which calls for allowing people to pre-pay for morning parking to encourage impaired drivers to leave their cars overnight without concern of getting a parking ticket or being towed. More details to come!

City uses multiple safety tools on SE Hawthorne Blvd.

PBOT and the Portland Police Bureau have been working together to help keep people safe on SE Hawthorne Blvd., a part of the High Crash Network.

In the last six months, the City of Portland has completed the following:

• Engineering: installed crosswalk and median at SE 43rd Ave., with removed parking for visibility
• Speed: lowered speed limit from 25 to 20 mph from SE 30th to SE 50th Ave. using a state law that allows for lower speed limits in business districts. (In addition, PBOT submitted a request on Oct. 2016 to lower the speed limit from 35 to 30 mph on SE 50th Ave. from Hawthorne to Powell Blvd.).
• Enforcement: Portland Police Bureau conducted a Vision Zero mission with a focus on education; officers issued 11 citations and 15 warnings.
• Outreach: PBOT coordinated project efforts with neighborhood associations in SE Portland

Construction moving forward on the High Crash Network

PBOT continues to move forward on safety project construction across Portland. Project descriptions are noted on the map above.

Latest status for each of the HCN safety projects:

• Complete and near-complete projects: 82nd Ave., Lombard St. (awaiting guardrail), E. Burnside (paving in May), Hawthorne Blvd.
• Projects on track for summer construction: 102nd Ave., 122nd Ave., Marine Drive, West Burnside sidewalk, Sandy Blvd.
• Projects for fall: Holgate Street intersection
• 2018 construction: Foster streetscape project, outer NE Glisan crossings and corridor treatment, West Burnside intersection rebuild

In addition, PBOT will install additional street lighting on outer SE Division Street this summer, and more speed reader boards and crossing improvements in 2017.

PBOT activated new speed safety cameras on 122nd Ave. and Division Street in March, and expects to activate cameras on Marine Drive later this year.

Reminder: Volunteers needed for help with new pedestrian master plan

PBOT is creating a new master plan called PedPDX to support walking in Portland. Please help us share two ways to be involved: Apply to be on a new advisory committee by April 16 Sign up for email updates

Related news

Why walking while black is more dangerous Recent studies indicate that prejudice helps explain why non-white people die at significantly higher rates than white people when walking.

Nationally, 2016 may have been a record year for deaths while walking Using national data from the first half of 2016, a recent report from the Governors Highway Safety Administration found that more than 6,000 people may have died while walking last year, the most in 20 years.

Fear of motor vehicles spans generations Jennifer Dill of Portland State University/TREC concludes that millenials are just as uncomfortable biking with auto traffic as other age groups.

The City of Portland complies with all non‐discrimination, Civil Rights laws including Civil Rights Title VI and ADA Title II. To help ensure equal access to City programs, services and activities, the City of Portland will reasonably modify policies/procedures and provide auxiliary aids/services to persons with disabilities. Call 503-823-5185, TTY 503-823-6868 or Oregon Relay Service: 711 with such requests, or visit http://bit.ly/13EWaCg