43-year-old Portlander Jeanie Diaz was killed while waiting at a bus stop 17 days ago. Her horrific death sent shockwaves through our community.
Diaz, like many of us, was a vulnerable road user who was forced to use infrastructure that put her just a few feet from harm. She was also just trying to get around without using a car. And the location where she was killed — Southeast Cesar E Chavez Boulevard and Taylor — is an intersection many of us know well because it’s on a popular bike route and it’s the location of the Belmont Library.
Below are a few updates I’ve been tracking over the past two weeks…
Community response
Like I’ve already mentioned, I’m a bit surprised by the lack of action and outrage by elected officials and advocacy groups (not only by Diaz’s death, but the fact that she was one of 13 fatalities in July). PBOT Commissioner Mingus Mapps’ office shared a statement that mostly pointed fingers and made promises.
Into that vacuum of action, individual Portlanders are wondering what to do with their anger, grief, and frustration about the state of our streets.
Lois L. shared on a local bike email list today that just yesterday she watched a driver run a red signal at the same intersection and nearly hit a bike rider. “I screamed,” Lois wrote, “If either of us had proceeded into the intersection when we had the right-of-way without pausing to anticipate the illegal actions of the driver, the time and date on this subject line would be remembered very differently.”
Lois called for groups of bicycle riders to circle-up and block every intersection where a person has been killed by a driver. “I will come to an intersection occupation in the spirit of claiming space for safe streets,” wrote someone in response.
“Is there any planning of actions at this intersection?,” wrote someone else.
So far I’m not aware of any protests or other substantive actions by local advocacy groups. I have, however, heard from people who live in the adjacent Sunnyside neighborhood. They say they’re working on some short-term fixes.
Wider sidewalk in the works
Local independent advocate Betsy Reese has included BikePortland on a series of emails with Portland Bureau of Transportation staff, Commissioner Mapps’ office, and other advocates.
Reese, like many others, is concerned about the extremely narrow sidewalk next to traffic lanes on SE Cesar Chavez. She was able to find out that all three properties along the blockface of Chavez north of Taylor had been cited with nuisance complaints multiple times for overgrown vegetation. There’s also a pending development on the corner property directly adjacent to where Diaz was struck.
According to PBOT Vision Zero Coordinator Clay Veka, PBOT Development Review has determined that the project meets the legal triggers to require sidewalk widening. “In this case we have required the developer to provide the necessary 7-foot ROW [right-of-way] dedication as well as the public works permit requirement to reconstruct the street frontage to provide a 12-foot sidewalk corridor.”
In addition to that one property, there might also be furthering widening to the north thanks to what appear to be existing retaining walls that are encroaching too far into the sidewalk.
As for PBOT making some type of infrastructure intervention (beyond the “$50 million” corridor project Mapps office mentioned in their statement to BikePortland), Veka said a city traffic engineer has done a site visit and is still collecting traffic data, “in order to develop a near-term safety recommendation at this location.”
It could take 2-4 weeks for the City of Portland to make a determination on the overgrown vegetation complaint.
The Jeanie Diaz Library Branch?
A BikePortland reader reached out to say she thinks the library should be renamed to honor Diaz. Multnomah County is currently doing public outreach for a major renovation to the building and the reader says now would be a great time to share this idea with project staff. There’s an open house at the library tomorrow night (8/3) from 5 to 8:00 pm. There’s also an online survey.
A community celebration of her life
On the GoFundMe page for Diaz, her husband Arturo Diaz announced last week that they will host an event August 12th. “A Celebration of Life for Jeanie Diaz” will happen at The Redd (SE 8th and Salmon) from 4-6:00 pm. “Thank you again, from our family to yours,” Arturo wrote. “The overwhelming support and words of love have truly touched us. Now, let us celebrate Jeanie together!”
Stay tuned for more updates.