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Presented by Michelle DePass and Rich Newlands The North Williams Traffic Safety Project started out with the highest of ideals—a greatly improved, safer transportation corridor with easier interactions between vehicles, bikes and pedestrians. What happened next is a public participation nightmare with, perhaps, a legendary ending. This project provides the perfect scenario for best-case public participation by illustrating how NOT to conduct a planning process in disadvantaged communities, followed by lessons learned about the importance of culturally-sensitive public outreach within the context of rapidly-changing demographics of inner North/NE Portland.
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N Williams Traffic Safety Project
Why N Williams?/ Background
Bikes!:
• ‘World Class’ Bicycle City
• Growth in N Williams Corridor
Daily bicycle traffic at N Williams and Russell
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1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016
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N Williams Traffic Safety Project
Project Team
• Ellen Vanderslice: Project Manager• Wendy Cawley/ Rob Burchfield: Traffic Engineering
Consultant Team• ALTA
Drew Miesel• Kittleson & Assocs.• Michelle Poyourow
N Williams Traffic Safety Project
Going In: the Project Perspective
• Broaden scope: Not just about bikes: ‘Traffic Safety and Operations’ Project
• Key to public involvement success:How to engage the African American community in a conversation about transportation
N Williams Traffic Safety Project
N Williams Traffic Safety Project
Bikes!Transportation
ProjectTransportationImprovements
PublicInvolvement
TechnicalResources
Going In: the PBOT Perspective
• Broaden scope: ‘Traffic Safety and Operations’ Project
• Key to public involvement success:How to engage the African American community
• Reality:The reverse: community needed to engage the City in a long over-due conversation- and its not about transportation
N Williams Traffic Safety Project
Bikes! Project
Neighborhood History
Neighborhood Change
TransportationImprovements
N Williams Traffic Safety Project
Bikes! Project
History
Change
TransportationImprovements
N Williams Traffic Safety Project
N Williams Traffic Safety Project
THE NEIGHBORHOOD'S VIEW
What’s so bad about bike lanes?
N. Williams Avenue Boise Eliot Neighborhood
Sustainability
Bicycling
African America
ns
“Meeting on Williams project turns into discussion of race, gentrification”-BikePortland.org
Google “bikes and gentrification”
What does bicycle planning have to do with race?
Changing demographics NE Portland 1990-2010
Lessons Learned: Overall Process
• Be flexible- ASAPChallenge your assumptions
• New focus on listening and learning
N Williams Traffic Safety Project
• Who is not at the table?• In what context, historic,
social, economic, is the planning happening?
• How will I handle unintended consequences?
Start by challenging your assumptions!Ask hard questions.
Lessons Learned: Decision Making Process
• Rebuild SACExpand membership, more African American representation
• Plan for a slower pace
• LeadershipHave a respected community member run the meetings
• Re-do project goalsEstablish a new consensus about goals and priorities: ‘Outcomes’ document
• Empower the SAC
N Williams Traffic Safety Project
• Create guiding principles• Develop a shared
understanding of context, background
• Develop a system of shared input into process, agenda
• Share decision making
Develop working agreements
Slowing down and listening
28 Public involvement events:
• Stakeholder Advisory Committee17 meetingsFeb, ‘11 – June , ‘12
• Open House #1: April 16, 2011
• Listening Session: June 23, 2011
• Community Forum: Nov. 28, 2011
• Focus group meetings: fall, 2011
• Open House #2: May 19, ‘12
N Williams Traffic Safety Project
• High contact communities• The role of technology• Overlooked resources, faith
based communities for instance, barber shops, hair salons.
Understand that the outreach and the process will take longer than expected.
Rebuild Stakeholder Advisory Committee• Expand membership• Broader African American representation
Leadership• Debora Leopold Hutchins
N Williams Traffic Safety Project
Bikes:• Capacity- bikes• Safety- Bus/bike conflict• Safety- ‘dooring’
Neighborhood:• Capacity- cars• Safety- all modes, particularly peds• Traffic calming
‘Outcomes’:Sorting out and Prioritizing Key Design Issues
N Williams Traffic Safety Project
Bikes:• Capacity bikes: Road diet (wider bike lane)• Safety- Bus/bike conflict: Left side bike lane• Safety- ‘dooring’: Road diet (wider bike lane)
Neighborhood:• Capacity- cars: Maintain two travel lanes, signalize N Cook St• Safety- all modes, particularly peds: Curb extensions• Traffic calming: Road diet (single travel lane)
OutcomesSorting Out and Prioritizing Key Design Issues
N Williams Traffic Safety Project
Bikes:• Capacity bikes: Road diet (wider bike lane)• Safety- Bus/bike conflict: Left side bike lane• Safety- ‘dooring’: Road diet (wider bike lane)
Neighborhood:• Capacity- cars: Maintain two travel lanes, signalize N Cook St• Safety- all modes, particularly peds: Curb extensions• Traffic calming: Road diet (single travel lane)
Key Design Options
Overall:• Capacity: one travel lane vs. two• Left side bike lane- will it work?
N Williams Traffic Safety Project
Graphic of all the alternatives
N Williams Traffic Safety Project
Alternatives Development & Evaluation
Recommendation
‘Outcomes’document
‘3-D’ Modeling
Community leadership
Design Creativity
Alternatives/Decision Making
Complexity
Consensus around prioritiesAcknowledges need for compromise
Reduce the complexity,Increase understanding
• Fargo-Skidmore- ‘shared’ facility• Honoring History
Focus the conversation onachieving an decision
N Williams Traffic Safety Project
A: Creativity: New idea- Shared FacilityB: 3-D Models
N Williams Traffic Safety Project
Recommendation
‘Outcomes’document
‘3-D’ Modeling
Community leadership
Creativity
Alternatives/Decision Making
Complexity
Consensus around prioritiesAcknowledges need for compromise
Reduce the complexityIncrease understanding
Fargo-Skidmore- ‘shared’ facilityHonoring History element
Focus the conversation onachieving an decision
N Williams Traffic Safety Project
Next Steps
• Grant funding for design engineering and constructionImplement ‘whole’
N Williams Traffic Safety Project
• Is the longer more expensive process worth it?
• How to justify the expense?• Exemplary project or just
adequate?
Understand that to do this, you will need more budget than is available
N Williams Traffic Safety Project