Letter to the Editor from the Portland Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory
Committee
Link:
https://www.pressherald.com/2021/11/26/maine-voices-the-time-is-now-to-make-portlands-streets-safer-more-vibrant-for-all/
Text below, in case you have trouble getting to the letter online.
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*By John Clark and Winston Lumpkins IV*
*John Clark* is chair and *Winston Lumpkins IV* is vice chair of the
Portland Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee.
In recent weeks, we have seen a wave
<https://www.pressherald.com/2021/10/17/vehicle-hits-bicyclist-trying-to-cross-i-295-in-portland/?rel=related>
of crashes
<https://www.pressherald.com/2021/10/07/bicyclist-injured-when-hit-by-vehicle-in-portland/?rel=related&rel=related>resulting
in serious injury
<https://www.pressherald.com/2021/10/06/bicyclist-at-maine-med-with-life-threatening-injuries-after-being-hit-by-boat-trailer/?rel=related&rel=related>
or death
<https://www.pressherald.com/2021/11/07/pedestrian-hit-and-killed-by-vehicle-in-portland/?rel=related>
to bicyclists and pedestrians in the Portland area. While the circumstances
surrounding these individual cases vary, we believe that the true fault
lies with the road infrastructure itself.
Whether we’re traveling by foot, bike or car, our roads are literally
killing us. Nationally since 2009, there has been a 51 percent
<https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/motor-vehicle/road-users/pedestrians/data-details/>
increase in pedestrian fatalities. The first six months of 2021 brought an
increase in U.S. traffic fatalities of more than 18 percent
<https://www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/usdot-releases-new-data-showing-road-fatalities-spiked-first-half-2021>,
compared to the same period a year before. These tragedies are preventable.
The time is now to redesign our streets to be safer and more compassionate
for all.
Most roads are designed for speeds much higher than the posted speed limit.
This creates conditions that make it too easy for people to drive too fast.
The tragedy is that engineers know how to design safer roads. The solutions
– such as reducing lane width by a foot – are often simple and economical,
but there must be the political will. Road design must prioritize for the
safety of all users above the ease of motorists to travel at deadly speeds,
which, when it comes to a pedestrian’s chances of surviving having been
struck, is above 25 mph
<https://usa.streetsblog.org/2016/05/31/3-graphs-that-explain-why-20-mph-should-be-the-limit-on-city-streets/>.
(This is not far below the most efficient speed to maximize the volume of
traffic flow.)
Fortunately, a consensus is emerging that we need to rebalance our
transportation systems away from this self-destructive dependence on
single-occupant vehicles and toward a far more diverse array of transport
options.
Locally, we can do our part by supporting local and regional investments in
safer infrastructure projects. There are some recent good examples: The new
roundabout
<https://www.pressherald.com/2021/07/29/portlands-first-traffic-roundabout-set-to-open-friday/?rel=related>
near the University of Southern Maine has calmed traffic and will be less
expensive to maintain over time. The new design <https://verandaplan.org/>
for the Interstate 295 off-ramp onto Veranda Street not only provides a far
safer “T” intersection, but also includes bike lanes, crosswalks and a new
waterfront park to boot. These are win-win solutions that should be
applauded, but we need to do more.
We don’t need to wait for huge and costly projects, however, to create
safer streets. At the intersection of Baxter Boulevard and Preble Street, a
“slip lane
<https://usa.streetsblog.org/2018/07/13/cities-are-replacing-dangerous-slip-lanes-with-space-for-people/>”
has been removed, slowing cars as they turn onto Baxter and making the
pedestrian crossing much shorter, in addition to widening the Back Cove
Trail. While associated with a bigger project, this type of improvement can
be made quickly and easily with paint and traffic cones. Slowing cars in
residential areas can be done with low-cost temporary interventions, which
allows for testing of methods before spending millions of dollars on more
typical road projects.
The Portland Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee
<https://www.facebook.com/PortlandBikePed/> stands by to support our City
Council and mayor in meeting the needs of our community and creating
streets that are safer, more vibrant places to be.
We hope that the new council, voted in by an overwhelming desire for
equity, justice and fairness, will address the inequities present in the
current design of Portland’s streets. We can, and must, make our streets
safe for all regardless of their mode of transport, be it by foot, bike,
wheelchair, scooter or, indeed, by car, the people of Portland should have
the ability to get where they need to go without fearing for their lives.
The time is now to create a high-quality network of bicycle- and
pedestrian-friendly roadways, for equity, for the planet and for the safety
of all of us.
