Again in June I acquired an e-mail from a reader named Craig Doerty. He wanted assist with an issue. An enormous downside: Automobile drivers routinely fail to barter the s-curve intersection in entrance of his home and he lives in concern that they’ll slam into him and/or his residence.
His considerations are very cheap as a result of it has already occurred.
Late on a Saturday would possibly in October 2021, the driving force of a small hatchback misplaced management within the flip and managed to run proper up into his entrance yard and struck his home. “My home simply shook like a bomb had gone off,” he shared with me on Thursday. The driving force took chunks off Craig’s storage and destroyed he and his neighbor’s fence earlier than it got here to relaxation practically within the yard subsequent door. And that was simply certainly one of a number of incidents the place a driver slammed right into a home on this neighborhood.
Craig mentioned he’s witnessed a few dozen collisions. Homes on every nook have been struck. The fence and wall of 1 home, which was closely broken and draped with a tarp once I was on the market from a crash only a few weeks in the past, has been hit a minimum of 5 occasions in latest reminiscence. Parked automobiles have been totaled. Site visitors poles and timber have been uprooted.
Craig’s neighbor, Brendan Bishop, has additionally been rattled by the omnipresent risk of the road.
“It’s type of like growing PTSD somewhat bit… It’s such as you hear you hear a noise and also you nearly at all times suppose it’s an accident or crash,” Brendan shared. After his home was hit in 2021, he filed a report with the Metropolis of Portland’s 823-SAFE Site visitors Security & Neighborhood Livability Hotline. He warned about rushing drivers, curbs that aren’t ADA-compliant, a spate of crashes, folks doing donuts on the large expanses of pavement left over from the break on the street grid. PBOT responded a couple of weeks later. They’d put the request for an engineering investigation within the queue and will anticipate to listen to one thing in three months. Brendan was relieved.
Seven months later he hadn’t heard again, so he emailed PBOT’s 823-SAFE workers individual once more.
“Because the time I first referred to as, one other accident occurred early this morning, a automotive going west sure, hit a phone pole, arrow signal and cease signal and slammed into a house. I do know this stuff take time, however I extremely suggest sending somebody to the nook earlier than later… It’s extraordinarily scary… One thing needs to be achieved quickly or one other accident will happen.”
The PBOT staffer mentioned an engineering evaluation had been accomplished and the company was will to replace some curve advisory indicators and add a painted bike lane in a single path. However that was it. Brendan and Craig wish to see one thing way more substantial, like a concrete median island and/or some form of visitors management and calming gadget.
Neither of those of us are well-versed in transportation advocacy. They only wish to cease being scared.
“I wish to say I really feel let down by town however I don’t suppose that’s the case,” Craig shared. “I simply suppose we haven’t been loud sufficient about it but.”
I inspired them to get entangled with their neighborhood affiliation, to plug into PBOT’s Decrease SE Rising Space Plan undertaking, e-mail their elected representatives, and do no matter they will to maintain their considerations within the information.
There are a variety of harmful intersections in Portland that want pressing adjustments. This one appears particularly egregious. For eastbound visitors, there are not any cease indicators or indicators on Woodstock for about one mile between 52nd and 69th. Meaning drivers have an ideal straightaway to collect velocity with little or no warning {that a} sharp nook is arising. Craig and Brendan mentioned drivers like to “drift” across the corners for enjoyable.
We’ve lined a number of latest tasks the place PBOT has used a mixture of painted pavement and plastic wands and curbs to slim intersections. It looks like that might be a minimal right here.
What do you suppose? Do you trip or drive or stroll on this space? What’s your expertise with this s-curve or equally designed intersections?
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