By Nancy Tannler
Residents of Portland might have noticed the uptick in Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) vehicles working in their neighborhoods. This is part of the ongoing Fixing Our Streets projects that were first adopted in 2016. The intent of this long-term undertaking is to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries, repair the streets and revise dangerous traffic patterns.
Hannah Schafer, Communications Director PBOT, said that in 2016 Portland voters first approved Measure 26-173, a new 10-cent per gallon fuel tax for repairing streets at the same time City Council approved a Heavy Vehicle Use Tax on companies operating trucks over 13 tons. Since then, voters have renewed these bills two times, once in 2020 and again in 2024. “This was the first local funding source in the city’s history dedicated to the city’s transportation system,” Schafer said.
Every year a portion of the Fixing Our Streets funding is allocated for the Safe Routes to School initiative. One high priority project PBOT is currently focusing on is vision clearance or “daylighting” around schools and street corners. It removes parking near intersections and crossings by up to 20 feet to improve visibility and reduce crashes. This helps people in vehicles, on bikes and pedestrians see each other as they move through intersections.
Nine schools have a new “daylighting” installation at their busy intersections. One of them, Marysville Elementary School, is in SE, and Vestal Elementary is just blocks into NE at 82nd Ave. PBOT has done 55 improvement projects near the nine schools this past year, including speed bumps, new sidewalks, painted cross walks and stop signs.
“With the budget constraints we do a lot of smaller safety projects around the other schools like painting crosswalks and posting signage,” Schafer said. One of the more significant signs posted around schools is a reminder to motorists that all intersections are legal crosswalks in Oregon, regardless of whether the crosswalk is marked.
Over 200 “daylighting” installations are being installed at intersections throughout Portland, not just around schools. The hope is this will help prevent injuries that occur because drivers failed to yield to people in a crosswalk.
For corners that are only marked with an octagonal stop sign there are three rules for drivers to remember: if there is a white line, stop behind the line and inch forward; if there is no line, stop behind the sidewalk, then proceed; and if neither of these are present, pull out to the intersection.
Another very successful strategy for catching drivers’ attention at pedestrian crossing are the Rapid Flashing Beacons (RFBs). The beacon is activated by a push button system that flashes yellow LEDs warning motorists that a pedestrian is crossing. It is particularly effective at multilane crossings with speed limits less than 40 miles per hour.
RFBs, combined with signage and pavement markings, have shown to provide a significant increase in the percentage of motorists who stop for pedestrians. Many of these RFBs are on the Safe Routes to School paths.
Along with “daylighting” installations, signage and RFBs, PBOT has also been changing traffic patterns that force motorists to drive slower. Studies show that a pedestrian struck by a car driving 20 mph is four times more likely to survive than a pedestrian struck at 40 mph.
Schafer said that throughout the Fixing Our Streets process PBOT has included the public in the initial hearings about any traffic changes, lights, signage etc. Now that much of the work is done, problems might arise that weren’t foreseen in the original plans, she said. If there are any non-urgent traffic concerns you can call 311 and you will be directed to a project manager.
The willingness of citizens to follow these new traffic safety guideposts will determine the outcome. The City still has not accomplished the original goal that no one should die or be incapacitated in the everyday act of moving about. But, Schafer said, “This past year’s statistics show that Portland is on a positive trajectory for accomplishing safer pedestrian/bicycle routes.”