No Crossing 🚫

In November closed crosswalk signs popped up along McLoughlin Blvd. installed by ODOT, part of a response to traffic fatalities on this busy artery. 

Brooklyn residents were concerned that the signs intended to increase safety were doing the opposite. The signs decreased the navigable area on sidewalks and making negotiating around the signs difficult for people with limited mobility and on bikes. Last week, your neighbors met with with ODOT Active Transportation Liaison Kerrie Franey for a walking tour to share their concerns.

Shortly after the signs were installed Cheryl Crowe, BAC Board Member, contacted ODOT with her concerns, and sent pictures of some very narrow areas between light poles and the signs. While she was taking the pictures, she watched several people crossing McLoughlin, hopping over the Jersey barriers to reach their camps along the banks of the Willamette.

Neighbor Capi Reed noted on Nextdoor that the signs did not stop the crossings, as people tend to cross in the middle of the blocks, to avoid turning cars at corners. 

In January, the Parks Department leased the former Ross Island Gravel site along the Willamette and started constructing a fence, forcing many campers to relocate across the street. 

Friday March the 10th a quartet of concerned neighbors met with Kerrie Franey, an Active Transportation Liaison with ODOT, to inspect the signs, and upon inspection it turns out that several of the signs do not provide the required 5 foot clearance to navigate the sidewalks. 

Franey identified several areas with drainage problems along the sidewalk as well as the deficiencies in clearance. 

Will this inspection result in the signs being removed? Probably not, but the deficiency has been recorded and will be referred for additional assessment. 

In January ODOT released a list of additional crosswalk closures along Powell. The following Brooklyn intersections will be closed: 8th, 11th, Milwaukie, 13th, 20th, and 22nd.