at upcoming summit.
(Photo © J. Maus)
2010 is shaping up to be the Year of Transportation in Portland (and beyond).
In December, we shared news that ODOT’s top guy in our region, Jason Tell, was pushing to make safety a higher priority. ODOT is also on a statewide tour to garner input on their Transportation Safety Action Plan and the leader of that project, Walt McAllister, has been in touch with us about the possibility of new and exciting ways they can connect with you bike safety concerns (stay tuned on that one).
But wait, there’s more…
Efforts to tackle distracted driving have reached a fever pitch on the national level with the launch of the FocusDriven campaign. Here in Portland, City Commissioner Dan Saltzman recently called for the Police Bureau to step up its enforcement of Oregon’s new cell phone law.
And today, Portland Mayor Sam Adams has announced more details on his Transportation Safety Summit event that we hinted at a month ago.
In a “Save the Date” email Adams sent to constituents, he said “Transportation safety is of utmost importance to me.” At the 4th annual safety summit, he plans to share the City’s top transportation safety priorities and solicit ideas for how the City can best “close the gap” between the current and ideal states of traffic safety in Portland.
Speaking at the event will be Bureau of Transportation Director Sue Keil, Police Chief Rosie Sizer, ODOT Region 1 Director Jason Tell, TriMet GM Fred Hansen, and a few state legislators.
To prepare for the event, Adams has launched an online form to capture “your top safety priorities”.
If you’re one of the growing number of Portland families who go by bike and don’t want to miss this event, the City has even made childcare available (just give one week notice and contact Sharon White at (503) 823-7100 or sharon.white@pdxtrans.org to set it up).
Event details:
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2010 Transportation Safety Summit
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
6:30 – 8:30 pm
University of Oregon – White Stag Building (70 NW Couch St.)
Full details on Mayor’s website
my suggestion:
Make Portland a 25 mph speed limit city.
All streets the limit is 25 mph, period.
Except for designated and marked thoroughfares (like E. Powell, Barbur). This will pay for itself because PBot will no longer need to install speed limit signs (except on the thoroughfares). That would reduce the wear on roads, disincentivize driving, encourage cars to use major thruways, and make the rest of our town safe for us all. I can’t think of a negative.For your consideration. –RyNO–
I like RyNo’s suggestion. Slowing traffic seems to be a way to make the streets safer. I would not exclude Barber or Powell though.
Shoot for 19mph (30 kph)!!
This would allow for 100% pedestrian crash survival if hit by a car.
25 mph is too high based on US and European traffic data…though for some [silly] reason US law will not allow urban traffic speeds to be set below 25 mph (except for school zones, etc.).
Here’s some evidence to back up the lowered speed limit ideas above:
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/339/dec10_3/b4469
http://www.copenhagenize.com/2010/01/30-kmh-zones-work.html
I’m OK with rounding up to 20mph. Britain has a campaign called “twenty’s plenty” which I think might catch on here, if promoted well enough.
I would love to see the mayor’s survey and this summit overwhelmed with a public outcry for a 20 mph city… spread the news
I’m facebooking the survey and the summit webpage with a plea for demanding 20 mph
i have heard there are places that are replacing traffic signals with roundabouts. this seems like a great idea to me. it could result in fewer crashes, better traffic flow, slower traffic speeds and also the roundabouts would be nicer to look at and could have rose gardens or whatever on the inside a la ladd’s addition.
some suggested intersections would be the same ones that have the red-light cameras. (there are a couple out on 122nd can’t remember the intersections maybe powell and division) why not put them on 82nd, the avenue of roses? w/ rose gardens in the middle?
link to one study about roundabouts vs. traffic signals link
don’t think i will go to this thing but i hope someone will champion my cause.
http://ow.ly/WQVf 2010: The Year of Transportation Safety in Portland (and beyond)
http://ow.ly/WQUA 2010: The Year of Transportation Safety in Portland (and beyond)
http://ow.ly/WQSb 2010: The Year of Transportation Safety in Portland (and beyond)
BikePortland.org » Blog Archive » 2010: The Year of Transportation … http://bit.ly/8Skk3w
Bike Portland: 2010: The Year of Transportation Safety in Portland (and beyond):
Tell City leaders your top safet… http://bit.ly/5bXhgI
RT @BikePortland: New blog post: 2010: The Year of Transportation Safety in Portland (and beyond) http://bit.ly/5g3Bjg
New blog post: 2010: The Year of Transportation Safety in Portland (and beyond) http://bit.ly/5g3Bjg