Making an Impact

June 2022 - Volume 9 - Issue 9

Awards offer planning assistance and funding to improve safety in neighborhoods

To friends of Safe Routes to School,

We're pleased to announce awards for several communities that will further their efforts to create safe options for students going to and from schools.

Education Grants

For the 2023 and 2024 federal fiscal year, 13 Education Grants were awarded among three different funding tiers. These projects aim to encourage and educate students, parents and other community members on safe ways to get to school. We congratulate all awardees and look forward to continuing to support their projects.

Project Identification Assistance

We will also be working with 13 new communities as part of our Project Identification Program. These communities will receive consultant services to create a Safe Routes to School Plan. See examples of past plans here.

Construction program update

ODOT received 85 applicants requesting more than $80 million for sidewalks and safe crossings near schools during the first part of the Construction Grant solicitation. These applicants are now eligible to fill out Part 2 of the application by July 31, 2022. $26 million in grants will be awarded in January 2023 for these construction projects.

Thanks to everyone working to makes our communities safer!

For over 16 years, ODOT Safe Routes to School has been committed to helping communities implement safe routes to school programs, through education initiatives and infrastructure improvements. If you would like to learn more about what our Safe Routes to School team has been up to, please read our 2021 Annual Report.

Supporting multimodal transportation such as walking and rolling is a key part of ODOT's Strategic Action Plan. The Safe Routes to School Program helps Oregon communities make it easier to choose alternate modes of travel.

We look forward to working with you!

The SRTS Team

Heidi Manlove, Education Program, 503-986-4196

LeeAnne Fergason, Construction Program, 503-910-8994

Research Confirms Roadway Safety Benefits of Traffic Enforcement

Equitable enforcement is proven to spur positive behavior change,

making U.S. roads safer

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A new research study released yesterday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) confirms that high visibility enforcement (HVE) of traffic safety laws has a positive and measurable impact on roadway safety by reducing dangerous driving behaviors that put road users at risk.

The synthesis of existing research examined data across 80 studies on the relationship between HVE efforts and safety outcomes, with a focus on the dangerous driving behaviors that are some of the greatest behavioral contributors to crash fatalities: not buckling up; speeding; and drunk, distracted and aggressive driving. The results indicate that initiatives involving equitable enforcement and public outreach can reduce these risky behaviors, which makes roads safer for everyone using them. 

Specifically, the data showed that seat belt use rates increase an average of 3.5 percentage points when an HVE campaign is utilized. One additional checkpoint per 100,000 people per week increased the belt use rate by 0.76 percentage points, according to the analysis. Even relatively small increases in the belt use rate can translate to hundreds of lives saved. The federal “Click It or Ticket” seat belt enforcement program has proven incredibly successful, with U.S. belt use rates rising from only 58% in 1994 to more than 90% in 2020. But alarmingly, after years of steady progress, that rate fell slightly in 2020 during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic when many police departments reduced traffic enforcement.

“This study reinforces the need for equitable traffic enforcement focused on the most dangerous driving behaviors,” said Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) Executive Director Jonathan Adkins. “Over the past two years, traffic enforcement has declined in many parts of the country while traffic deaths surged.”

The study also found that enforcement is effective at reducing other dangerous behaviors that are leading contributors to roadway fatalities. HVE campaigns focused on distracted driving, alcohol-impaired driving and speeding led to a reduction in hand-held phone use, lower rates of drunk driving crashes and citations, and decreased speeds in work zones, respectively. Each of those behaviors are incredibly dangerous and put everyone on the road at risk.

“Enforcement alone will not solve the traffic safety crisis,” said Adkins. “We cannot simply enforce, build, design or educate our way out of this problem. The Safe System necessitates a comprehensive approach for achieving our collective goal of zero traffic deaths, including equitable enforcement that focuses on risky driver choices that endanger all road users.”

The full research study is available here. The study was conducted by the National Cooperative Research and Evaluation Program (NCREP), a federal research program managed by NHTSA and GHSA with the objective of helping State Highway Safety Offices enhance their programs. The program was renamed the Behavioral Traffic Safety Cooperative Research Project (BTSCRP) in Federal Fiscal Year 2018, although the goal remains the same. More information about NCREP and BTSCRP is available on the GHSA website.

PBOT opens Blumenauer Bridge July 31, with opening celebration & community event space

The Portland Bureau of Transportation’s (PBOT) Congressman Earl Blumenauer Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge will provide a valuable car-free connection between two of the Rose City’s fastest growing neighborhoods. In the spirit of how this bridge will bring us together, on July 31, PBOT will host a community gathering to celebrate the formal opening of the new crossing.

The day will include a variety of community-led bike rides. New plazas on the north and south sides of the bridge, as well as nearby destinations in the Lloyd District and Central Eastside, will have pop-up block parties with a variety of local vendors and organizations. The Central Eastside Industrial Council and Go Lloyd, along with The Street Trust and Friends of the Green Loop, are organizing local groups that may want to take part in street fairs and group bike rides the day of the celebration. There will also be a formal program where local leaders, including Congressman Blumenauer and Portland Transportation Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty will speak.

When: Sunday, July 31. Visitors are encouraged to arrive by 11:30 a.m., ahead of the ceremony and afternoon pop-up block party.

Where: The NE Seventh Avenue and NE Flanders Street intersection on the south side of the bridge. The NE Seventh Avenue and NE Lloyd Boulevard intersection will provide access to the north side.

What: Community celebration and Blumenauer Bridge opening ceremony with speeches from a handful of dignitaries, including Congressman Blumenauer and Commissioner Hardesty. A pop-up block party curated by neighborhood partners will offer a chance to explore local vendors and services. Other activities may be offered in the neighborhoods in the surrounding area.

More info: Coming soon! Sign up for updates about the Blumenauer Bridge by email or text message and follow PBOT on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for the latest event details in the coming weeks.

Questions about participating in the community gathering? Contact Michael Espinoza at Michael.Espinoza@portlandoregon.gov and 503-823-7083.

About the Congressman Earl Blumenauer Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge 

The Blumenauer Bridge will serve as a vital connection for pedestrians and people biking between two of Portland’s fastest growing neighborhoods—Lloyd and the Central Eastside—and beyond. In the future it will also serve as an important link in Portland’s Green Loop. 

Watch the installation of the Blumenauer Bridge  

This new bridge will be 475-feet long and 24-feet wide, spanning over seven lanes of I-84 traffic, an active railroad line, and Sullivan’s Gulch. The completed bridge will have a 10-foot wide pedestrian path and a 14-foot wide path for two-way bicycle traffic.  

The bridge will be seismically resilient and serve as a backup route for emergency vehicles over I-84 in the event of an earthquake. In addition to the bridge, the project includes two new public plazas and landings on the north and south sides of the bridge. 

The bridge will be located along the NE Seventh Avenue alignment to best serve the geographic centers of both districts, link to existing and planned bike routes, and reduce conflicts with truck traffic. The nearest existing connections, on NE Grand Avenue and NE 12th Avenue, are substandard for pedestrian and bicycle use and have significant conflicts with freight and automobile traffic.