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About The Southwest Portland Post. (Portland, Oregon) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2009)
EDITORIAL 2 • The Southwest Portland Post April 2009 Capitol Hill Road traffic calming project leads to acute e-mail congestion COMMENTARY By Lee Perlman The Southwest Portland Post A group of neighbors led by Mellani Calvin is trying to do something about the traffic speed on Southwest Capitol Hill Road between Falcon and Nebras- ka streets. With the assistance of City transportation planner Will Stevens she has put together a program to install between nine and 11 speed “tables” (a longer, less steep version of a speed bump) on the street. The $2,200 per table cost would be bourn by adjacent prop- erty owners on a voluntary basis. To get the ball rolling, she needs the endorsement of more than 50 percent of adjacent property owners, and of the Hillsdale and Multnomah neighbor- hood associations. Calvin told Hillsdale last month that 67 percent of these own- ers had pledged their support and “only five are adamantly opposed.” For one of these, however, “adamant- ly” may not do the man justice. Steve Sagnotti said he concedes that there is a problem; he just doesn’t think that speed bumps are the solution. He cited Southwest Sunset Boulevard, where speed bumps were installed in 1994 and, he said, the problem is still there. In mid-March the debate shifted to e- mail, with some 30 messages exchanged in a few days. The main correspondents were Calvin and Sagnotti, but others weighed in on both sides. “I would very much like to see the speeding on Capitol Hill Road signifi- cantly reduced,” Sagnotti wrote. “Based on the city’s own traffic studies I do not believe that can, or will, be accom- plished by installing speed bumps.” According to Sagnotti, “It is my be- lief that the only true solution to the problem is enough enforcement of the speed limit to modify behavior; the only way we’ll get that enforcement is when enough of us call Officer Hannah and demand that the speed problem be addressed.” Sagnotti said, “There is a dirty, insidi- ous little secret; regardless of the posted speed limit the Portland Police will allow speeding 10 miles per hour over the posted limit before they will get interested in stopping the speeder.” There was considerable debate over what the “data” showed. One respon- dent said that speed bump technology has improved considerably since the 1994 Sunset installations. To this Sag- notti replied, “A speed bump by any other name is still a speed bump. The more it is designed to be more innocu- ous at legal speeds, the less effective it will be in reducing speeding.” A speed table supporter, Lisa Broten, wrote, “I have spoken to one of the women who spearheaded the campaign to reduce speed on Sunset (Boulevard) in 1994. She states to me that the speed has dropped significantly on Sunset even though it is not perfect; she will have her kids walk on the street, and she will ride her bike. The cars don’t go 40 or 50 miles an hour as they did and as they do now on Capitol Hill Road.” Rian Meguire wrote, “Data aside, I can’t ever think of a time when my aver- age speed increased when confronting elevated speed bumps/tables along a road.” Commenting on Sagnotti’s proposed solution, “Joe” wrote, “I don’t think it’s realistic to expect the local police to station an officer on Capitol Hill Road 24/7 permanently.” Barbie Schott wrote that she and her husband Joel Kleinbaum walk constantly to destinations such as the Hillsdale Library, Food Front, Baker and Spice, Annie Bloom’s Books and Village Coffee. She spoke of confront- ing speeders by “scowling and star- ing at license plates,” “brandishing a flashlight,” “jumping out of my yard SWAT-style.” One such motorist demolished their fence, she wrote, and had it not been for the fence would have hit their house; it was replaced by massive boulders. “I would rather not present myself as the bitter, unhinged woman of (Capitol Hill Road),” Schott wrote. “Proactively, I choose to calm CHR the way the City offers to me: speed tables.” Sagnotti has attracted at least one ally: Arthur Henry, who lives across the street from Calvin. When Calvin argued that she had been seeking an effective solution for three and a half years and had investigated several other strate- gies, Henry commented that she hadn’t consulted him. He argued that if residents agreed to participate in the project, they would lose the legal right to object to any future City action and be compelled to pay for it as well. At that point Stevens stepped in to try to settle the issue, say- ing the rules Henry referred to do not apply to this program – and promptly became embroiled in the fight. Henry demanded legal reassurance of Stevens’ point, and set off a fresh debate as to whether an e-mail is a legal docu- ment. He declined to come to a meeting, writing, “I have all the ‘data’ I need to confirm my ‘opinion’ that speed bumps are not a good idea.” Decision-points on the issue are a public meeting April 2 at West Hills Christian School, 7945 S.W. Capitol Hill Road, and the Hillsdale and Multnomah board meetings on May 11 and 12, respectively. Meanwhile, one correspondent wrote, “Our small street calming project seems to have deteriorated into a blog, or thread or something like that. If we are not careful we are going to consume more energy in running computer serv- ers than in melting asphalt.” The Post welcomes reader response Please send letters and photos to: Editor, The Southwest Portland Post, 7825 SW 36th Ave #203, Portland, 97219. Fax (866) 727-5336. E-mail editor@multnomahpost.com. Please include contact information. Dead- line is the 15th of the month prior to publication. Residential & Intermediate Alzheimer’s Care Its about what we can do, not what we can’t. (503) 292-7874 7825 SW 36th Ave Suite #203 Portland, OR 97219 Phone: (503) 244-6933; Fax: (866) 727-5336 general email: news@multnomahpost.com web address: www.multnomahpost.com 6630 SW Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy. Portland, Oregon 97225 www.marquiscompanies.com Editor & Publisher: Don Snedecor Reporters/Writers: Kate Bennett, Polina Olsen, Lee Perlman, Allison Rupp Retail Advertising Manager: Harry Blythe Graphic Design: Leslie Baird Design Printing: Oregon Lithoprint © 2009 by The Southwest Portland Post. All rights reserved. The opinions of the artists and authors contained herein are not necessarily shared by the publisher. Deadline for news and advertising is generally the 15th of the month prior to publication. Please call for current deadline information. Advertising rates are available upon request. The Post has a circulation of 10,000 in Multnomah Village and the surrounding neighborhood business districts including Burlingame, Capitol Hill, Garden Home, Glen Cullen, Hillsdale, South Portland, Raleigh Hills, West Portland and Vermont Hills. The Post is published on or about the 1st of every month. Subscriptions are $14 per year. Back issues are $2.50 each when available. 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