led the meeting.]
Last Thursday at the Kenton Firehouse in North Portland, I attended one of Commissioner Sam’s Budget Town Hall meetings to discuss the finances and issues around transportation (PDOT), environmental services (BES), and community art (RACC). This was one of seven similar meetings being held throughout Portland’s various neighborhood districts.
Sam — who lives just a block from where we met and is the first Commissioner from North Portland since 1972 — brought his top bureau brass (Sue Keil, Director of PDOT and Dean Marriott, Director of BES) to listen and respond to issues from citizens. The meeting was a great example of how much access we have to City government. Unfortunately for North Portland, only eight people showed up.
The previous Town Halls in East and Central Northeast Portland had huge turnouts and it was pretty embarrassing to see such a small group turn out for North Portland (where was everyone!?).
Disappointing turnout aside, the meeting was still productive. There was some discussion of how North Portland (especially around Lombard Street) could really use more bicycle boulevards (or “limited motorized corridors” as one attendee insisted). Major concerns were also voiced about how to slow cars down on N Willamette Blvd. and how new pedestrian islands on N. Greeley Denver Blvd. were causing cars to drive into the bike lane.
One women was especially concerned about that last issue because she frequently drives her RV on that street and says she doesn’t have enough room to avoid the bike lane.
I also got a chance to ask about the exciting new work being done on “Green Streets.” This is a relatively new method of dealing with stormwater runoff where PDOT and BES are teaming up to make streets not only greener, but more bike and ped friendly (which often go hand-in-hand).
After a brief presentation from Sue Keil about the state of PDOT’s budget, everyone was able to ask questions, which were written out and then answered one by one. Sam gave everyone a chance to voice their concerns and he was sincere in finding answers. He didn’t let people just spout out crazy ideas or complaints…unless they could also offer real solutions.
It was neat to finally meet Sue Keil. Somehow, although I cover PDOT extensively on this site, I hadn’t met her yet. I asked her about a concern I’ve had for a long time about the division within PDOT between bikes and the maintenance bureau. In a budget survey last year, City maintenance crews put cycling infrastructure at a very low priority. She said they’re aware of the issue and that they’re working on it (more on this issue later, maybe).
There are still four Budget Town Halls remaining. If you live in the following neighborhoods, you should really consider showing up.
- Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods: January 18 7:00 PM -9:00 PM – 4815 NE 7th at Wygant Street – served by bus lines 72 & 6
- Southwest Neighborhoods Inc.: January 22 7:00 PM -9:00 PM 7688 SW Capitol Highway – served by bus lines 44 & 45
- South East Uplift: January 24 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM – Mennonite Church 1312 SE 35th Street – served by bus lines 14, 66, 74, 75,& 15
- Neighborhood West/NorthWest/Old Town/China Town – February 1 7:00 PM -9:00 PM – Council Chambers in City Hall 1221 SW 4th Avenue located one block off the bus mall and served by numerous bus lines.
If you’ve got ideas and solutions to share, these meetings can be a great place to make your neighborhood work better for bicycles.