Efforts by businesses in the Columbia corridor helped keep project on radar screen of local agenciesLike a two-lane blacktop tourniquet, Northeast Columbia Boulevard to Lombard Street impeded the smooth flow of traffic near Portland International Airport. With freight and everyday commuters stuck at choke points, the business community and the city recognized the need to improve Portland's most important east-west arterial for freight traffic.

January 10, 2008

By WILLIAM YARDLEY

Sam, who came into office in 2005, adopted many projects from predecessors, but most of them were straightforward, and only a few were contentious.  The Burnside-Couch Couplet Plan was not straightforward, but it certainly was contentious. 

When it comes to our transportation system, safety is Sam's top priority. Because of one-time general funds that Sam led the charge on and secured at City Council, many important safety improvements and projects were implemented in 2007 to make driving, walking and bicycling safer throughout Portland.

Oregon Bicycle Constructors AssociationThe Portland Development Commission identifies the bicycle industries as one of the nascent cottage industries that it would like to see grow and flourish. Oregon, and Portland in particular, have unique advantages over other regions in terms of making bikes, and this Bike Show allowed craftsman to show them off.

With so much private and public construction in downtown Portland, navigating it -- whether by foot, bike, transit, or automobile -- has become more frustrating than it used to be. That is why Sam supported and expanded funding for Keep Portland Moving, a PDOT campaign to promote a vibrant, accessible downtown Portland.

Coming to a neighborhood near you?As Sam has discussed in his speech to the City Club of Portland, we are facing unprecedented transportation and land use challenges in the not-so-distant future. Whether it is extreme inflation of construction costs in conjunction with declining tax revenues, Peak Oil, global climate change, or simple population growth, we are going to have to change our transportation status quo.

When it comes to our overall biking environment, we Portlanders certainly have much to be proud of - from our 270-mile bikeway network, to the thousands of bicycle parking spaces, and our great local bike culture. Whether that is embodied in Portland's nascent bicycle industry, CHVNK Bikes on Hawthorne, zoobombers, or bicycle performance art, Portlanders "get" bicycling.

On September 6, 2007, Sam and the City Council committed to provide $27 million in tax increment funds to match $75 million in Federal Transit Administration resources to fund the cstreetcar is packing up and moving eastonstruction of the Portland Streetcar Loop Project, which will connect the east and the west side of the Willamette River. On the same day, Council approved the formation of a Local Improvement District, through which property owners will contribute $15 million to the Project. This action followed a Council work session where Sam presented the financial risks and benefits of proceeding with the Project.

Sam accepts a medallion that will later be installed in the sidewalk.

The Hawthorne Improvement Project was first developed by the community with PDOT planners back in 1996. Council adopted the plan in 2007. But then, it languished.

.After two tragic bicyclist fatalities, Sam took immediate action by convening an ad-hoc Bicycle Safety Committee comprised of members of the Bicycle Advisory Committee, Bicycle Transportation Alliance, Portland Police, the City Attorney's office, freight interests, and others. This group came together to identify the most pressing issues and brainstorm on what could be done both short and long term to improve bicycle safety.

Sam and neighborhood leaders unveiled the new crosswalk work to the press.When making decisions about where and whether to place crosswalks, PDOT has until recently only looked at automobile traffic counts to determine whether or not a crossing was worthy at any particular intersection.

THINK BICYCLE SAFETY: All users of the road deserve respect, and all users of the road have responsibilities. When you use the road, think. Be careful. Watch for others. KEEP OUR ROADS SAFE.With the news of yet another severe automobile-bicycle collision that has led to major cyclist injuries on the intersection of N Interstate and N Greeley, we want to the public to know about what we've been doing in our office both in response to these specific tragedies, and to ensure that similar tragedies are prevented at all problem intersections in the future.

“PDOT has strongly endorsed the design that enhances separation… similar designs are employed in the world-class cycling cities… whose ridership levels, policies and practices we hope to emulate.”

Gary Toth, the new Director of Transportation Initiatives at Project for Public Spaces (PPS) and a veteran of 34 years with the New Jersey Department of Transportation, reflects on how we lost our way in traffic planning and what we can do to get back on track.

I started at the New Jersey Department of Transportation in 1973 right out of college as a civil engineer trainee. For the first twenty years of my career as a transportation planner, I bought into the prevailing belief of the profession that the solution to congestion was to build more and bigger roads. We felt we were not doing our jobs properly unless enough lanes were added to ensure free flowing traffic 24/7/365.