What if this was in place on August 19th 2016 when Fallon Smart tried to cross here?
(Photos: Paul Jeffery)
As promised last fall, the Portland Bureau of Transportation has updated Southeast Hawthorne Blvd with a new painted crosswalk and median island at the intsersection of 43rd Avenue. In addition to the new crossing, PBOT has received permission from the Oregon Department of Transportation to reduce the speed limit on Hawthorne between 29th and 50th to 20 miles per hour (down from 25).
These much-needed improvements come seven months after 15-year-old Fallon Smart was hit and killed by a man driving recklessly as she tried to walk cross Hawthorne. This location has been a concern of local residents and business owners for years because of its lack of marked crosswalks (eight blocks without one, despite a growing number of destinations on boths sides of the street) and frequency of high-speed driving.
After Smart died, the community painted its own crosswalk and filled the center turn lane with flowers and memorial items — effectively creating a temporary median. After some back-and-forth between PBOT and neighbors, the project to make permanent changes moved forward.
Here are a few more photos of the completed work (taken by local resident Paul Jeffery):
View looking north across Hawthorne from 43rd.
View from median looking west on Hawthorne.
View from median looking east on Hawthorne.
The final piece of this project will be a restriping of the existing lane markings on Hawthorne. The new 20 mph speed limit signs should be going up shortly.
We are so glad to see this design update and hope to see much more of this type of thing on commercial main streets throughout Portland.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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The post First look at PBOT’s new crossing of Hawthorne at 43rd appeared first on BikePortland.org.
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