Public Comment: Salem-Keizer Area Transportation Improvement Program (TIP)

Salem Keizer Area Transportation Study (SKATS) invites you to review and comment on the FY 2018-2023 TIP – how transportation dollars can be spent over the next six years on transit, roadways, and bike and pedestrian facilities.

Comments on the TIP will be accepted until April 11, 2017. A public hearing is scheduled on April 25, 2017. 

Public Hearing for the SKATS Draft FY 2018-2023 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) and Air Quality Conformity Determination (AQCD).

Date: April 25, 2017
Time: Noon
Where: 100 High Street SE, Suite 200, Salem, OR 97301

Send comments to: Karen Odenthal 503-540-1608 or kodenthal@mwvcog.org

More information, including an interactive map, and the opportunity to comment online, can be found on the MWVCOG website.

Below are the proposed Bicycle and Pedestrian Projects for the 2018-2023 TIP:

2/17 open house: Monroe Neighborhood Street Design

Clackamas County & Milwaukie — the County is working with the community to design improvements to Monroe Street, Thompson Road and connecting streets to increase safety and accessibility for all travelers – drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists.

Monroe Street is a key east-west route across Milwaukie and northwest Clackamas County, an important link between downtown Milwaukie and Clackamas Town Center, and a valuable connection between the MAX Orange line and MAX Green line.

The project also includes development of a Safe Routes to Schools plan for Whitcomb Elementary School.

Comment on:

• Making walking and biking safer and easier for children and adults
• What to do with the unimproved area of Monroe just east of 78th?
• Balancing the need for on-street parking with the need to provide safe places for pedestrians and bicyclists
• Options for slowing traffic

The public is invited to learn more about design plans under consideration at a public open house.

Wednesday, Feb. 17, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
In the cafeteria at Whitcomb Elementary School – 7400 SE Thompson Road

A special presentation about the plan and design options will be presented at 6:45 p.m.

Join our feedback session on the OR Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan

Join Oregon Walks, Bicycle Transportation Alliance, Safe Routes to School Northwest & AARP Oregon for an opportunity to learn more about the Oregon Bike and Pedestrian Plan that is currently being updated, why it is important, and have the opportunity to give feedback directly on the plan through ODOT’s online open house and written comments.

When: Tuesday, February 9th: 5:30pm-7:30pm

Where: Oregon Walks, 1805 NE 2nd Ave., Portland, OR 97212

RSVP here (facebook) or send me an email to let me know you’re coming. Thanks!

Read more about the plan here, here and here, and submit comments if you can’t make it! Your input is incredibly valuable; a weak state pedestrian and bicycle plan only makes it more difficult to move forward towards safer routes to schools and achieving the important goals of providing safe bicycle and pedestrian connections so badly needed in Oregon.

Oregon Bicycle/Pedestrian Plan – Open House in Portland

Attend an ODOT Meeting or Open House to provide input on the Oregon Draft Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan:

 

Cascades West ACT
December 3rd, 2015
5:00-7:00pm
Cascades West Center
1400 Queen Ave SE, Albany

R1 ACT
December 7th, 2015
5:30-7:30pm
ODOT Region 1, Room A/B
123 NW Flanders St, Portland

Corvallis Area MPO
December 9th, 2015
5:00-7:00pm
Benton County Sunset Building
4077 SW Research Way, Corvallis

Open House
December 14th, 2015
4:00p-6:30p
Jade/APANO Multicultural Space (JAMS)
8114 SE Division St., Portland

Oregon Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee
December 15th, 2015
ODOT Region 1, Room A/B
123 NW Flanders St, Portland

Other outreach events will occur around the state until the comment period closes Feb. 18, 2016.

Read our comments.
 

 

Oregon Bicycle & Pedestrian Plan Opens for Public Comment

The Public Comment period for the Oregon Bicycle & Pedestrian Plan is open until February 18th, 2016, and you are strongly encouraged to review the plan and submit comments.

This is the first time the plan has been updated since 1995, and much work has been put into it. Together with a coalition of transportation, health, and safety advocates, Kari Schlosshauer, the PNW Regional Policy Manager, submitted a letter of comments and concerns (pdf) to be addressed in the Oregon Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan prior to final adoption, including:

• Programs such as Safe Routes to School, which should be closely referenced and supported in this Plan, are only given brief mention.
• There is a missed opportunity in not more strongly linking such education/ encouragement programs with infrastructure built by state and local partners.
• The Plan needs a better assessment of existing conditions. ODOT’s Region 1 Active Transportation Needs Inventory and Assessment provides an excellent process and example, and should be replicated statewide.
• Updates to the functional classifications of ODOT facilities incorporating 2015 conditions is required in order to accurately reflect Oregon’s commitment to improved bicycle access on specific streets.
• Include a true Multimodal Level of Service performance measures in the context of the Oregon Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan

ODOT will present the Draft Plan to a variety of different stakeholder groups & will also hold an online open house available mid-December.

For more information, visit the Plan website, attend a presentation or the online open house, and be sure submit your comments before February 18, 2016. The next 20 years of walking, bicycling, and safe routes to everywhere depend on it.

Portland Public Schools Boundary Changes

UPDATE 11/16/15: Take an online survey through Dec. 1. More meetings added, below.

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Boundaries for many schools falling withing Portland Public’s District will be changing from the 2016-17 year. Proposals are out now (view Scenario 1 and Scenario 2). Many of the changes will make a difference to students’ ability to walk or roll to school; ultimately, most of the changes do not address a current problem of students required to cross “High Crash Corridors” to reach their assigned school.

In Portland, students from dozens of schools must cross or travel along a “High Crash Corridor” to get to their school. These dangerous roadways, just 3% of Portland’s road network, account for more than 50% of the city’s pedestrian fatalities. PPS redistricting should provide our families and communities with an opportunity to avoid crossing these High Crash Corridors on a daily basis, but in many cases they instead make it a requirement.

Speak up for your student’s safety! Learn more, take a look at the proposals, and consider attending an upcoming open house if you’d like to learn more, or to let PPS know that being able to safely walk and roll to school is important to your family.

Monday Nov. 9, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Hosford Middle School, 2303 SE 28th Place

Tuesday Nov. 10, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Cesar Chavez K-8, 5103 N Willis Blvd.

Thursday, Nov. 12, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Center for Intercultural Organizing, 700 N Killingsworth St.

Monday Nov. 16, 10 a.m. to noon, Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon, 8114 SE Division St.

Monday Nov. 16, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., West Sylvan Middle School, 8111 SW West Slope Dr.

Tuesday Nov. 17, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Charles Jordan Community Center, 9009 N. Foss Ave.

Tuesday Nov. 17, 6 pm to 8 pm, Madison High School, 2735 NE 82nd Ave., en Espanol

Wednesday Nov. 18, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m, Roseway Heights K-8, 7334 NE Siskiyou St.

Monday Nov. 23, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Markham K-5, 10531 SW Capitol Hwy.

Monday Nov. 23, 7 pm to 9 pm, Lane Middle School, 7200 SE 60th Ave.

Tuesday Nov. 24, 7 pm to 9 pm, King School, 4906 NE 6th Ave.

Can’t make a meeting? Ask questions & share your views directly to the boundary review committee: ppsgrows@pps.net

Best Practices – Steps You Can Take Now to Create a More Walkable Community

courtesy of the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP)

Who is Winning the Race for Walkable Communities?

Whether you’re just heading out or returning from vacation, chances are the places you go for vacation have certain things in common – you can walk most places most days. In these places you feel safe and experience happiness when you’re walking. Many cities large and small throughout North America are discovering that it just might be possible – and profitable – to emulate our favorite walkable vacation destinations. Walkable real estate development projects and places are on the rise nationwide, but certain metro regions are winning the footrace, according to Foot Traffic Ahead: Ranking Walkable Urbanism in America’s Largest Metros. “This is an important study underlining the economic power of walkable places, and identifying which metro areas are adding them fastest,” said Geoff Anderson, president and CEO of Smart Growth America. “Cities that want to thrive in our new economic and demographic realities will need to find ways to create and support more of these dynamic, productive walkable districts that are in high demand.”