^portlanh Cßhserlier
lune 20. 2012
IN S ID E
The Week ¡n Review
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photo by M indy C ooper /T he P ortland O bserver
Motorists and bicyclists share the road on North Williams Avenue at Fremont. A new design for the
arterial is coming to keep up with increased traffic congestion.
S ummer
F un G uide
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Safety Issues on Williams
J
Bicycle and traffic lanes
are changing course
resulted in more than 30,000 cyclists a day using the
street, which also carries two bus routes and thou
sands of cars.
“We are hopeful Williams will become safer for
by M indy C ooper
people no matter how they get around,” Anderson
T he P ortland O bserver
said.
Plans for North Williams Avenue, one of Portland’s
The transportation bureau plans to increase bike
busiest roads for combining cars, bikes and pedestri lane capacity, especially in the busiest locations like
ans, is about to undergo some major changes to keep the cross streets of Skidmore and Fremont.
up with increased traffic congestion.
“There is not enough room for all the cyclists in the
“There are some deep seeded issues, and through bike lane, and it is not comfortable or safe to pass other
this transportation project we are listening to them,” bicyclists in the other lanes where cars and buses are,”
said Dan Anderson, spokesperson for the Portland he said.
Department of Transportation.
A Stakeholder Advisory Committee has provided
In an effort to tackle several safety issues, the North input on design and best safety tactics.
Williams Traffic Operations Safety Project was created
The most recent plan, after months of meetings, is a
over a year ago.
left-side buffered bike lane and a single motor vehicle
There are four main safety issues, Anderson said, travel lane for two stretches of the corridor from the 1-
which include cross walk safety, driver’s speed, bus 5 on-ramp to Fargo and from Skidmore to Killings worth.
and bike conflicts, and bike lane capacity.
continued y f on page 4
Portland’s growing segment of bicycle riders has
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Gang-Related Funeral Guidelines
ykrts
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VENIEC1
ENTERTAINMENT
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R eligion
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C lassifieds
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C alendar
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Police and
pastors work to
keep churches a
place of respect
About 25 Portland-area pastors
gathered Tuesday at the north
Portland precinct to take a stand
against violence and adopt new
guidelines for gang-related funer
als in an effort to elim inate gang
attire or the representation o f
gangs on the deceased or attend
ees.
“P astors have an im portant
m essage to send to the fam ilies in
our com m unity about the im por
tance o f responsibility for each
fam ily in preventing and discour
aging gang involvem ent,” said the
Portland Police Bureau in a news
release.
The Gang Related Funeral Pro
tocol, in addition to asking for the
respect o f youth and individuals
by not wearing hats or gang re
lated clothing in church, also re
quires that the lyrics o f all songs
played at the service are not in
reference to gangs.
The protocol further requires
family members o f someone killed
due to violence or gang-related
activity to meet with the m inister
and the Portland Police Bureau's
crisis response team coordinator
O fficer M arci Jackson, before
com pleting the arrangem ents for
a funeral service.
The Police Bureau said it ap
plauds the faith-based com m unity
for stepping up to the challenge
to keep gang-related funerals in
houses o f w orship non-violent
and respectful.