Pushing back against the car hatred
The safety that the city promised on Division Street didn’t materialize. PBOT’s chief traffic engineer, Wendy Cawley, claimed that Division would see a 47% decrease in all crash types. Of course, this random number was supposedly based upon projections and studies The truth is actually, they have zero actual metrics to show that this was going to be the case. There have been two pedestrian fatalities in 2023 since the installation of the “Outer Division Safety Project,” one on January 6th and the other May 24th.
Immediately, it became very apparent that none of what PBOT promised seemed to be actually true. Businesses reported crashes that they had never previously seen on the road, such as cars doing rollovers after hitting medians. Fatima, the owner of the Russian market, regularly videotaped wrecks and dangerous driving, including TriMet buses and semis driving over the medians. In one afternoon when I personally drove the road to test the experience, we saw several dangerous maneuvers that nearly caused serious accidents. In one instance, I actually clocked how long it took me to turn around in order to reach my desired turn and it took nearly five minutes to complete it.
Read the whole thing here. City Hall is so ridiculous. And Mingus A. Um, who thinks he's going to be the next mayor, is currently running the "road diet" travesties. He needs to shape up before he finds himself on the unemployment line.
Reminds me of the “Burnside Couch Couplet” that Scam Adams pushed for. Some unlucky small business kept having cars crash into his building. The problem was solved once an apartment bunker went up.
ReplyDeleteSlowing the runaway train called PBOT is going to take a different political talent than has currently surfaced.
ReplyDelete"Mingus A. Um" ... nice jazz reference... However you may care to describe Charles Mingus, Mapps can't hold a candle to Mingus in any kind of decisiveness ranking. Mingus was angry and outspoken -- a continual stirrer of the pot. Mapps might as well be a resident of the Phantom Zone he's so colorless.
ReplyDeleteWell they certainly turned the term into a new definition> DIVISION
ReplyDeleteResistance is futile. The entire city was turned over to bottom of the barrel lefty activists long ago.
ReplyDeleteThere is sign of anyone different or any change on the horizon. Surrender is the only option.
I will always insist that the street would be far safer if they left the design as is and just installed speed cameras (which have plenty of data from the around the country to show they they have a dramatic effect on speeding) everywhere.
ReplyDeletePlease post said data.
DeleteDear “post the data”. Do your own homework
DeleteBike Portland saying the quiet part out loud here: "Slowly but surely, #Portland is reducing space for driving and giving car users fewer options and less convenience. This is excellent news and it's an imperative step toward reaching our transportation and livability goals! " https://x.com/BikePortland/status/1712870986432106916?s=20
ReplyDeleteIt would help a lot if the City would install flashing lights at dangerous crosswalks. Too bad they are too cheap to do it.
ReplyDelete