to tame dangerous roads.
(Photo © J. Maus)
The City of Portland Bureau of Transportation has received a $98,000 grant from the Oregon Department of Transportation that will go toward development of plans and processes to tame dangerous traffic corridors citywide.
According to PBOT traffic safety specialist Sharon White, the money is part of a new, three-year initiative that will focus on “high-crash corridors.” City Council formally accepted the grant at their meeting on Wednesday.
The money will pay for PBOT’s work to develop a standardized Safety Action Plan report for the top ten high-crash corridors in Portland. In addition, the funds will help PBOT support a new regional focus on traffic safety that ODOT announced back in December.
The high-crash corridors will be selected in the “next few months” says PBOT’s Sharon White. White also added that this new initiative will be based on PBOT’s recently completed 82nd Avenue of the Roses High Crash Corridor Safety Project. According to PBOT’s website, the “Key Project Goals” from the 82nd Ave. project were:
- To reduce the number of pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists killed or injured in crashes along the 82nd Avenue of Roses corridor.
- To minimize the number of people that limit walking, biking or taking transit along the 82nd Avenue of Roses due to traffic safety concerns.
If those goals are applied to ten more corridors throughout Portland, this new initiative could have a huge impact — especially if this grant was matched with even more funding.
Work done on this project will be managed through PBOT’s Community and Schools Traffic Safety Partnership.
This grant comes less than a week before the City’s Transportation Safety Summit. Plan to attend that event this Tuesday (2/16) to learn more about this project, offer your feedback on which corridors should be selected, and much more.