City Commissioner Sam Adams at a Safe, Sound
and Green Street Town Hall in October.
(Photo © Jonathan Maus)
Commissioner Adams’ Safe, Sound and Green Streets transportation funding proposal will be up for consideration by City Council on Wednesday.
The proposal, which includes $24 million for 110 miles of new bike boulevards (among other things), seeks to create new city fees to pay for a growing street maintenance backlog and traffic safety improvements.
In light of the City Council hearing, Adams has posted numerous documents and details about the proposal (including a PDF of the presentation he’ll give at the hearing) on his blog.
PDOT has also sent out notice of a press event at Sellwood Riverfront Park (below the Sellwood Bridge) at 2:00 pm tomorrow the Multnomah County Bridge Shop (1403 SE Water Ave) at 3:00pm to highlight the hearing and announce the endorsement of the proposal by the 89-member stakeholder committee.
Adams, Multnomah County Chair Ted Wheeler, and representatives from the stakeholder committee will be in attendance.
The Safe, Sound and Green Streets proposal will be heard by City Council at 2:00pm this Wednesday (1/9) in Council Chambers.
This is the “first reading” of the proposal and it is an opportunity to testify (come early to sign-up) with your comments and concerns. The “second reading” and official vote will be on January 16th (stay tuned for details on that).
For more information about the proposal check out SafeandSoundStreets.com.
Thanks for the great article, Jonathan.
It\’s especially important for people to come to the first reading on Wednesday (1/9). This will be a great opportunity to formally show support for this huge effort to increase safety.
Another idea might be for people to make little signs. Maybe one unified message like \”Safe Streets Now\” that people could just hold if they don\’t want to speak or if too many people want to make public statements.
Bicyclists had a huge victory in the eyes of City Council last year with the discussion around funding for the Bike Master Plan. I\’ve heard a number of people inside City Hall talk about how impressed they were with the informed, thoughtful, and balanced discussion that happened around that issue.
Safe, Sound, and Green Streets can easily be the next chapter in the growing political clout and agenda setting that will shape how bicycles become an even more integral part of Portland over the decades to come.
I plan to take a late lunch tomorrow and ride from downtown on the Springwater Trail to the press event under the Sellwood Bridge. If we are successful with this effort, in a few years we\’ll be able to ride back to Portland on a bicycle friendly Sellwood Bridge.
Thanks Commissioner Adams, Chair Wheeler and the 89-person Safe, Sound and Green Stake Holder Committee for developing this proposal.
Take that late lunch today, driveslow. The Safe, Sound and Green press event is on Tuesday at 3; the City Council hearing is on Wednesday at 2.