Letter to the editor

Every morning I walk my dog in our neighborhood, and every morning I see many people speeding, running stop signs, and ignoring crosswalks. Two people in less than 10 days have come up to the light at 33rd and Ainsworth and pulled into the crosswalk WHILE I’M IN IT. This morning I had to slap the hood of the car to get the driver’s attention as he was rolling forward into me.

People aren’t paying attention to our traffic laws. They’re using their phones, eating, or generally distracted.

I live across the street from the Faubion Grade School construction site, where they are going to increase the number of students by a few hundred kids when it reopens. Dekum Street has become a speedway because it’s long with no stops. What will happen when we have all those kids starting school?

I called the police. They called me back a week later and said I could rent a “slow down” sign, and they would try to increase patrols. I haven’t seen more patrols.

We have many more people moving here. The police are severely understaffed, our infrastructure is bursting at the seams, many roads are in disrepair, and with all these new people come more cars. We need to start working together. I expect my city to be proactive, not reactive.

As for drivers, including myself, we need to remember each corner is a legal crosswalk for pedestrians, even if there are no stripes painted on the road.

James Keyes

More than 100 people attended the Sept. 9 opening and dedication of the Concordia University K-Street Commons at 1650 N.E. Killingsworth St.

The pedestrian-oriented, ground-level restaurant and retail space is intended to encourage a vibrant, walkable and transit-friendly neighborhood, in addition to 34 units of housing for Concordia University graduate-level and age 25- plus students, including studios to oneand two-bedroom apartments.

Project partners were carefully selected to reflect the neighborhood interest and local ownership. The project was built in collaboration with Colas Construction, Hugh Development, UD+P, Works Partnership Architecture, and master tenant Concordia University, along with a grant from Metro’s TransitOriented Development program.

“I’m pleased this unique public-private-university partnership can help bring more housing options to the Concordia community,” said Metro president Tom Hughes. “By making a relatively modest investment, Metro was able to help create more housing opportunities.”

Andrew Clarke of Hugh Development, a project codeveloper, added, “This project was the culmination of vision, hard work, and a coordinated collaboration between so many partners.”

“With K-Street, we’ve worked to create a building that will contribute to the neighborhood fabric of the Killingsworth Corridor for generations,” said Avi BenZaken, cofounder of UD+P. “From the beginning, we designed the building to integrate with the surrounding environment and provide space for new locallyowned businesses.”

Eric Cress, UD+P co-founder, noted, “Metro and Concordia University have been critical in bringing this project out of the ground and connecting it with the community. Their vision and partnership will ensure that the building benefits both students and the neighborhood over the long term.”

Contributed by Concordia University

Text to 911 is available throughout Multnomah County, according to the Portland 911 Bureau of Emergency Communications.

The service is intended to benefit people who may not be able to speak due to an emergency such as a home invasion or abusive partner, as well as individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, or who have limited speech capabilities.

“Like other 911 calls, Text to 911 should be used for in-progress emergencies, those requiring immediate response from police, fire and/or emergency medical services,” said bureau liaison manager Laura Wolfe. If the situation is not an emergency requiring immediate response, she advised calling the public safety nonemergency line 503.823-3333.

For Text to 911, simply address your text to 911 – with no dashes or spaces – then type your message and send.

“Do not send your message to multiple people in a group text,” she added. “That will stop the message from reaching a 911 center.”

If you are within an area that does not yet offer the service, you will receive a return message that states services are not available. If that happens, place a voice call to 911 to report your emergency.

“It is critical that you know your location,” the bureau liaison said. “In general, the 911 center cannot always identify your location if you’re contacting us from a cell phone.”

By Jonathan Maus, Bike Portland

In early August, crossbikes were painted at seven intersections around the city – the first two in Concordia neighborhood.

If you see one, don’t fret. Treat them exactly like they sound: like crosswalks, but for bikes, almost.

In Concordia, they are on 33rd at Going and on Killingsworth at 37th. Elsewhere, they are at N.W. Johnson at 21st, N. Williams at Rosa Parks, N.E. Tillamook at 15th, N. Michigan at Killingsworth, S.E. Lincoln at 60th and N.E. Rodney at Fremont. Another 15 are planned.

All are on neighborhood greenway streets. Roger Geller, Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) bicycle coordinator, said it’s just the latest effort the bureau has undertaken to make crossings safer on what are designed to be low-stress, family-friendly streets where priority goes to people on bikes and on foot.

The crossbike locations must meet specific criteria that have been vetted by Geller and PBOT traffic engineers. They are used only on what are known as “minor collector streets” – a designation that applies only if the street has (at the most) one lane of traffic in each direction, no more than 10,000 cars per day (with 1,000 in the peak hour) and a maximum speed limit of 30 miles per hour.

Each marking costs about $4,000, including signs and crosswalk striping if necessary.

Geller said crossbikes are an idea he’s be working on for several years, and it came from how he observed people using curb extensions – where curbs are bulbed out to narrow the crossing distance.

“When a cyclist was taking advantage of the curb extension and stopped at the end of it, it was clear from our observations that motorists would be paying attention more because they would stop,” Geller said. “So we thought, if we put more indicators in the intersection that more clearly signal that this is a crossing, it would lead to even greater awareness.”

Legally-speaking, crossbikes aren’t crosswalks. In a crosswalk, drivers are required by law to stop for anyone on bike or foot who shows intent to cross. Not so in a crossbike. But if you’ve walked or biked at all in Portland, you’ll know that people tend to happily stop at neighborhood greenway crossings already, so these markings should only increase awareness.

PBOT plans to work with a Portland State University researcher to evaluate the new markings to see whether they improve conditions.

Jonathan is publisher/editor of Bike Portland. This story is condensed from BikePortland.org coverage of the crossbikes. Contact him at Jonathan@BikePortland.org or 503.706.8804.

By Kathy Crabtree, CNA Media Team

If only we could unleash ourselves like our dogs do

As a transplant, I cannot help but notice Portlanders have a delightful habit of sharing most activities with their dogs. Any time of day one can observe them casually walking their dogs along Alberta or, in my case, observe the dogs walking me.

Dog owners seem comfortable hiking, hunting, fishing, paddleboarding and even dining with their canines. As my pups are rather large and furry, I pre – fer they dine alone. The big fella would be table surfing and stealing bread from other diners while the cute one would be shamelessly begging for attention and any morsel available.

But they are perfect candidates to enjoy the off-leash Alberta dog park. As soon as we reach the off-leash area, they are off like furry cannon balls, joining the huddle of sniffers and barkers. We are familiar with most of the other regu – lars.

At the Alberta Co-op gathering, I sat next to a woman who lives close to the RV Park we stayed in last year. I remarked about walking our dogs in the fenced-in nearby schoolyard. She said she did the same, and wasn’t it odd we hadn’t met before?

I described my dogs and she gasped, “Are Mutton and Raven your dogs? My dog is Kayla!” Unbelievably we had chatted frequently at the schoolyard. Yet we didn’t recognize each other without our pets!

It’s the same thing at the dog park. We know each others’ dogs. We stand together and discuss the remarkable contrasts of their features and antics. Amazingly enough, we take pleasure in the assortment of breeds, coat markings, form and breed characteristics and actually enjoy the diversity of the dog park.

Upon reflection, wouldn’t it be nice if we could all play together unleashed from our biases and preconceived no – tions and just enjoy each other like our pets, unconcerned about origins, breed, color or culture? Maybe then we could celebrate our diversities and enjoy the differences just as the pet owners do.

Kathy moved to Concordia last year from the Midwest and, as she reports in CNews, things are a lot different here.