A fatal collision between a driver and someone walking along Southeast Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard on Sunday has re-ignited safety concerns about this notoriously dangerous street in District 3.
According to Portland Police Bureau Central Precinct a woman on foot near Chavez and SE Boise Street was struck by a car driver and seriously injured around 6:45 pm Sunday evening. The woman died at a hospital a short time later. The driver remained at the scene and PPB says they are, “cooperating with the investigation.” PPB haven’t released further details, but I’ve inquired and hope to learn if any updates are available.
The intersection of Cesar Chavez Blvd with Boise Street is just one block south of SE Gladstone. Boise, which runs east-west, is a small residential street while Chavez, which runs north-south is a notoriously fast and wide stroad with four general purpose lanes. Chavez has no shoulder or bike lane and the posted speed limit is 30 mph. Sidewalks along Chavez are relatively narrow. There is no marked crosswalk near Chavez and Boise (but keep in mind that in Oregon “every corner is a crosswalk” whether paint exists or not).
Chavez Blvd is known to many Portlanders for its tragic history. In 2015 Reed College student Mark Angeles was killed as he rode through the SE Gladstone intersection and was involved in a collision with a tow truck driver who was turning onto Chavez. That happened just one block north of Sunday’s crash. In 2021, 24-year-old Austin Boyd was killed by a driver near SE Clinton Street just 0.8 miles north of where the woman was hit on Sunday. The person who hit Boyd with their vehicle did not stop and was/is wanted for hit-and-run. Then in 2023, 1.6 miles north of SE Boise Street, Portland librarian Jeanie Diaz was hit and killed by a reckless driver while waiting at a bus stop on Chavez and SE Taylor.
SE Boise St. is three blocks from SE Holgate, a major neighborhood collector. On November 14th of last year, the Reed Neighborhood Association wrote a letter to the Portland Bureau of Transportation calling for “urgent safety improvements” to streets in this area. The letter warned that drivers in the area of Holgate and Cesar Chavez Blvd regularly display “impatience” during high traffic periods and that backups often lead to, “increased instances of drivers ignoring pedestrians needing to cross at the SE Cesar Chavez intersection.” Since November, the letter has been endorsed by the Brooklyn Neighborhood Association and a parent group from a local elementary school. A neighborhood advocate told BikePortland this morning that this most recent tragedy has hardened their resolve to gain attention for concerns in this area and that, “Our plan is to send this letter to the city council, PBOT, and the mayor early next week.”
Is there any hope that PBOT will make changes to the design of Cesar Chavez Blvd? There is a project in the city’s Transportation System Plan titled, “Cesar Chavez Corridor Improvements” that would, “upgrade sidewalks, and add pedestrian/bicycle crossing improvements, upgrade signals and make striping changes to improve traffic safety and transit operations,” between NE Sandy and SE Woodstock. However it’s estimated $5 million price tag is unfunded and I’m not sure what it’s prospects are, but this most recent death has got many local activists looking to hasten its timeline.
I’ll update this post if/when I learn more details about Sunday’s collision. If you know more, please get in touch. And if anyone has specific information about what happened Sunday night, please contact crimetips@police.portlandoregon.gov, attention Traffic Investigations Unit, and reference case number 25-023076.
UPDATE, 1/30: The victim’s name is Tuyet Nguyen. She is known to many people in the neighborhood and would collect cans in a cart on a daily basis. A post on Nextdoor is flooded with people who would wave and chat with her. One person said Nguyen was a regular at the Kenilworth Presbyterian Church food bank and a service might be planned in the coming days. Correction: This update originally shared the victim’s first name as “Thiet.”