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Sharon White of the Portland Office of Transportation gave drivers and pedestrians a few pointers, such as “lane and one,” at last month’s Hazelwood Neighborhood Association meeting.
For drivers, White pointed out a new statewide legal clarification passed this year. Drivers are now required to stop if pedestrians are in the lane next to the one they are driving in - euphemistically, “lane and one.” Drivers must stop for crossing pedestrians at any crosswalk, marked or unmarked. An unmarked crosswalk can be found at any intersection. Violation of this rule could mean a $237 fine.
White noted that the driver is at fault in most driver-pedestrian accidents, and most occur in crosswalks.
“Drivers tend to look at the car in front of them instead of the sidewalks to their right and left,” Hazelwood chair Arlene Kimura said.
For pedestrians, the rules are: look at the traffic even when you have the right of way, try to make eye contact with the driver, and don’t jaywalk at mid-block. This is the most common cause of accidents when the pedestrian is at fault, White said.
An attendee noted that sometimes, especially on 122nd Avenue, one driver will stop for a pedestrian crossing at mid-block, but the driver in the far lane will not. White said that for that reason, drivers are advised not to make this Good Samaritan gesture for jaywalkers.
In school zones, slowing down to a legal 20 miles per hour is extremely important. First, young children are unable to judge vehicle speeds and safety risks as well as adults, and therefore may do hazardous things. Second, the death rate for pedestrians in auto accidents increases dramatically with the speed of the car at impact - from five percent at 20 miles per hour to 90 percent at 40.
The lectures are part of a safety campaign PDOT is conducting is cooperation with the bicycle Transportation Alliance and the Willamette Pedestrian Coalition.
City passes new neighborhood rules
The Portland City Council last month unanimously adopted new regulations for the city’s 96 recognized neighborhood associations and the Portland Office of Neighborhood Involvement that serves them.
The 47-page document, the product of four years of work by a citizen committee, did not make dramatic departures from previous rules, but did make some small but significant adjustments. These were mainly in the area of Open Meetings laws, grievances and the creation of new neighborhoods and coalitions.
Open meetings regulations were relaxed somewhat, allowing neighborhood groups to hold closed sessions when discussing strategies for land use appeal hearings. Also, the requirement that neighborhoods meet in their home territories was modified to say “when practical,” a recognition that for some groups a suitable meeting space may not exist or be available within their home territory. On the other hand, neighborhoods cannot have mail elections, proxy voting or absentee ballots, or make decisions via Internet communications.
Grievances against neighborhoods are limited to violations of rules of procedure - either the group’s own bylaws or the city’s standards - and must be submitted within two weeks of the publication of minutes of the meeting where the alleged infraction occurred. Final action - as with any vote - may occur in closed sessions. The director of the ONI is the final judge of any grievance.
For the first time, the new rules take into account city-run neighborhood offices; such as the ones operating in East and North Portland. Advisory councils of neighborhood chairs, used as a matter of course for these city-run neighborhood offices, are now officially required.
The five other Portland neighborhood offices are run by non-profit coalitions on contract with the city and are, in effect, self-governing.
New rules set minimum sizes for neighborhood associations: 200 households and 100 acres. For business associations: 75 licensees within the territory represented.
For neighborhood coalitions: six recognized neighborhood associations with connecting territories.
New rules also set say neighborhoods within a city-run office can change to an independent coalition - or vice versa - by a vote of 75 percent of the boards of the affected neighborhoods.
East Holladay Park planning
The next in a series of workshops in a master plan process for East Holladay Park will be on Wednesday, August 3rd from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at St. Therese Social Center, 1260 N.E. 132nd Ave. The Portland Parks & Recreation is developing plans for the undeveloped tract on Northeast 128th Avenue. One anticipated use is an off-leash dog park.
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