Montavilla Neighborhood Association

Bicycle/Pedestrian Safety Campaign

Feb 10, 2001

Are there cars speeding down your street? Do you wish there were more ways--or better ways--to cross busy streets in Montavilla?

The SE Uplift Land Use and Transportation Committee has partnered with the Bicycle Transportation Alliance and the Willamette Pedestrian Coalition to create a Bicycle/Pedestrian Safety Campaign. The goal of the campaign is to improve the livability of our city by making it safer to walk and bike.

Perhaps you heard stories recently about Portland having the 27th highest pedestrian injury rate of cities nationwide. Shortly after these statistics were released, the City of Portland Department of Transportation (PDOT) held a "Traffic Summit"." During the summit, PDOT announced that funding for traffic safety and traffic calming projects had been completely cut from PDOT's budget. The Bicycle/Pedestrian Safety campaign hopes to make these projects a priority again. It would also like to address the issues of enforcement and education surrounding the subject.

The campaign began by requesting first-hand information about the city's transportation funding priorities from the Director of PDOT. He spoke at the January meeting of the Land Use and Transportation Committee on January 15th and presented the PDOT budget to more than 30 people in attendance. With the gas tax going down, and the cost of maintenance going up, the Director acknowledged that there isn't money available for traffic calming projects.

If you would like to become involved, please contact Penelope Sanders, Chair of the MNA Land Use and Transportation Committee at penelope.sanders@worldnet.att.net