A Safer Intersection in 80 Minutes
Strong Towns PDX, a Local Conversation group, made this intersection safer in 80 minutes using paint and traffic cones. Funding by the Parking Reform Network (Source: Strong Towns PDX.)
Before the sun rose above the horizon, a few safe street advocates arrived bleary eyed at a stroad-like intersection in Portland, Oregon. Armed with washable white paint and traffic cones, the small group worked to create a safer street design. They extended the crosswalk to narrow the lanes, and they marked a median at the center turning lane, all before traffic picked up into rush hour. Even though no one in the group had painted a demonstration like this one, they completed the new intersection design within 80 minutes of their arrival.
“This was our first time doing anything like this,” said Strong Towns member and safe streets advocate Jeremiah Via. “It doesn't take much time to improve a street, which really boggled all of our minds.”
(Source: Strong Towns PDX.)
Every year on Parking Day, activist groups take over parking spaces and imagine what else the empty spot could be. The spirit of the event is normally improvisational and scrappy, using tools anyone can easily access. But in Portland, this activity has gained so much traction that the Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) has co-opted the demonstration day with constraining rules and permits.
Strong Towns PDX members knew they wanted to partake in Parking Day, but because city restrictions limited their imagination, they felt uninspired.
“We pretty quickly rejected working within the boundaries of Parking Day,” said Via. “We wanted to do something that would actually send a message.”
So, the Strong Towns Local Conversation (along with CNU-Cascadia Portland and the Montavilla/East-Tabor Business Association) decided that instead of taking over parking spaces, they’d paint a safer intersection at Northeast 70th and Glisan. This heavily trafficked intersection sits between homes and businesses, and cars speed past daily as neighborhood locals try to cross the stroad.
“It is extremely hard to cross this street,” said Via. “We went and tested it out and you kind of have to show intent. You have to walk out and put your hands up. It is like a Frogger experience because the car in the next lane will not stop. It is deeply unpleasant.”
Locals cross the busy intersection at Northeast 70th and Gilson. (Source: Strong Towns PDX.)
After the white paint and cones were applied to the street, those passing by, and the Strong Towns PDX members, noticed driver behavior changed in reaction to the design. Instead of driving quickly through the intersection, drivers slowed and began to notice the pedestrians standing on the edge of the sidewalk waiting to cross.
A note left for PBOT at the Strong Towns PDX information table. (Source: Strong Towns PDX.)
Over 70 people crossed the intersection during the demonstration day and made a stop at the group’s information table. The reaction from walkers, bikers, families, and nearby business owners was overwhelmingly positive.
“A number of elderly people also came up to us,” said Via. “They said that they had a lot of trouble crossing the street because they aren't very fast walkers. And so we closed that median turn lane [with cones], so walkers only had to cross two lanes at a time, and it gave them a second to rest.”
Many people wrote notes to the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT), took videos, and shared why creating safer streets was important to them.
Strong Towns PDX is taking small steps to make a difference. Via said the group started small, thinking about what they could do right now with the tools they had. To make change to this stroad, Via said the group is taking it step by step.
“The next part is definitely one of those uncharted territories for us,” said Via. “We'll have to see how we can apply pressure and what it takes to get the city leaders to listen or do something for safety.”
During the demonstration, one local sketched the ideal safe design they’d like the city to permanently install. (Click to enlarge. Source: Strong Towns PDX.)
Strong Towns PDX doesn’t suspect getting this intersection redesigned will be easy. With our current top-down systems, it can take months or years of navigating rules and bureaucracy to make change. But Strong Towns PDX won’t give up, and they’ll continue making the smallest next step to create safer streets.
“Even moving an inch forward, it's still moving forward,” said Via.
Seairra Jones serves as the Lead Story Producer for Strong Towns. In the past, she's worked as a freelance journalist and videographer for a number of different organizations. She currently resides between small-town Illinois and the rural Midwest with her husband, where they help manage a family homestead. When Seairra isn’t focusing on how to make our towns stronger, you can find her outside working on the farm, writing fictional tales in a coffee shop, or reading in a hammock.