This Week in the Mercury
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
News Protest for Pedestrian Rights
Posted by Sarah Mirk on Tue, Nov 10, 2009 at 8:42 PM
The crosswalk at SE 80th and Foster is marked with white lines and a "pedestrian refuge island" in the middle of the street, and it's where cars have hit three young Portland pedestrians in the last week.
Lindsay Leonard, 23 was killed there when a car struck her last Sunday, November 1, her friend Jessica Finlay, remains in critical condition from the crash. Only days later, a car struck a worker at the fruit stand on the corner, Dan Portner, 32, as he crossed the street. According to his boss at the little fruit store, Rob Valdez, Portner is in a coma at OHSU, where doctors are trying to stop the bleeding in his brain. "People drive way too fast here," says Valdez. "I've seen way too many close calls."
Cars continued to speed through the crosswalk despite the signs, lights and roughly 30 friendly faces lining the road during tonight's Willamette Pedestrian Coalition vigil for the many neighborhood residents injured and killed on Foster.
Mayor Sam Adams turned up for the event—in response to the recent deaths he promised swift changes to the city's dangerous intersections. Neighbors say city crews were out today trimming trees at SE 80th and Foster, but that the crossing needs better lighting.
The vigil was Yvonne Smith's first big outing since a car ran over her legs two years ago, up on N Chautauqua in St. Johns. Pedestrian rights lawyer Ray Thomas (left) is suing the driver, who was on Oxycodon.
More pictures below the cut.
Sarah Iannarone and her partner (right) bike daily up Foster to buy supplies for their owner of Arleta Library Cafe. "This road was designed for automobiles, not for people. What we need to do is make it more difficult for cars to go through," says Iannarone.
Tim Jackson walks his dog Cooper daily around Montavilla. He often has close calls while crossing SE 80th and Stark, like today when a driver drove right past him in a crosswalk. "I was mad. I looked at him and said, 'I'm in a crosswalk.' And he just looked at me and kept going," says Jackson.
Lawyer Ray Thomas wants to put these up around Portland. "Like ghost bikes for pedestrians."
1
People continue to speed through because they don't give a fuck and neither do police. I live a few blocks on in a far more residential setting (with two schools at the end of the street, no less), and drivers do the same thing. They fly through the 25 mile an hour zone and over the ridiculous excuses for speedbumps......and the police don't give a fuck here either. I always wonder what it will take-- someone's child being killed while they're walking to or from school, maybe-- to make someone pay attention, but that's apparently not the case. It's appalling to hear that, despite these recent and awful incidents, and despite the protest and vigil going on tonight, people continue to drive like complete morons-- at 80th and Foster and, it would seem, everywhere else.
3
Exactly. I love Sam standing there like the Fucktard he is, pretending he couldn't solve the whole problem by just sending the PPB out there to ticket these people. Oh sorry, they're too busy murdering homeless people downtown.
4
Thought this article in USA Today was relevant - they say pedrestian deaths are spiking nationwide, and a lot of cities are trying to come up with plans to fix it. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-1…
@Jesus Fucking Christ - wasn't there an article on here just a couple of weeks ago about a big sting in the same neighborhood? The police ticketed people who didn't yield for a pedestrian crosswalk or something. So gosh, maybe it's not quite that easy?
@Jesus Fucking Christ - wasn't there an article on here just a couple of weeks ago about a big sting in the same neighborhood? The police ticketed people who didn't yield for a pedestrian crosswalk or something. So gosh, maybe it's not quite that easy?
5
Considering this is the 2nd fatality at that crosswalk in 4 years, even with improvements and traffic stings (yes, JFC, it's already been done), they may want to make people (gasp) walk the extra TWO BLOCKS to 82nd where there's already a light-controlled crosswalk.
6
Right, because an occasional traffic sting is all we can expect as far as enforcement of traffic laws. Traffic stings do not work and never have. There needs to be real enforcement of traffic laws. One simple and obvious example would be to place photo-radar machines at the intersection and to automatically generate speeding tickets for each and every speeder. That would solve the problem and pay for itself within weeks. No fascist union labor needed.
7
that is a crazy intersection for motorists and pedestrians i drive it all the time. its where SE Harold Street comes together with Foster Rd and crosses 82nd. At times when traveling east bound on Foster Rd (especially this time of year) its hard to see pedestrians attempting to cross from the North side of the street to the South. Personally i think it would be wise to re-engineer the entire intersection. or at the very least install a light that stops traffic completely for pedestrian traffic.
8
I don't know why anyone would even attempt to cross the street at that crosswalk. The light is only a block up, and honestly, people act as if the crosswalk doesn't even exist. People zoom down Foster, and even at the streetlights pedestrians are at risk from drivers taking right turns without looking in the intersection. Pedestrians are not a consideration anywhere on 82nd or Foster. I don't know if there is an easy solution. I feel horrible for the latest victims and hope that maybe Sam can help come up with an answer. In the mean time you pretty much have to watch your ass if you attempt to cross the street.
9
It's a problem everywhere anymore. Not too long ago and the city reduced the speed limit on most of Hawthorne Blvd. to 25. I spend a lot of time on Hawthorne and I constantly see cars easily doing 40+ and have never seen a single car stopped by police. Bob-Jim is right, the Police obviously don't give a fuck.
10
Hey, I drove through that intersection (westbound on Foster Rd.) last night at around 5:15pm. Slowed down to about 10 mph due to the large amount of pedestrians hanging around the crosswalk area. Point is, even 10 mph seems like "speeding through" to someone on foot. Also, almost got rear-ended by the car behind me because he wasn't expecting me to slow down. Bad scene made even worse by this "protest" bullshit. Morons.
11
Hawthorne just west of 39th always kind of scares me. Don't like to think I'm an old-lady-driver, but the lanes seem so narrow and there are so many bikes and people crossing against the light and outside the crosswalk that I'm always sure I'm going to hit somebody.
12
Maybe I'm confusing this incident with another one, but weren't both women drunk when it happened? It seems to me that I read they were crossing against the light. Don't you think it's possible this may have had something to do with the accident?
Just sayin'
Just sayin'
13
to kimmy47 -- There is a natural way that people on foot travel there. They need to cross Foster. They see Fred Meyer's entry door (which no longer has an entrance ON 82nd Ave, only by the back of the building on the south and north ends), and they don't want to cross Harold and walk a LONG two blocks to get to the light, where you're more likely to get hit by people making a right turn without looking, or running the red anyway. The whole area is a nightmare for people on bikes or on foot.
Don't think you or any of us can solve the problem by telling people to just walk further.
Don't think you or any of us can solve the problem by telling people to just walk further.
14
@ujfoyt: You must be thinking about something else. Police stated unequivocally that neither alcohol nor drugs were involved with the accident on Foster.
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