Portland , OR :Renewed calls for marked crosswalk after woman hit by car on Monday , June 22nd 2015
People who live and work in the Kerns neighborhood of Northeast Portland are fired up and are demanding changes, after another a woman was hit by a car at a busy intersection with no marked crosswalks. A siren's wail is no stranger to neighbors at Northeast Glisan and 24th Avenue."This is an accident waiting to happen," said neighbor Suzanne Calloway, who watched the woman get hit by a car on Monday afternoon."Accidents here are routine," said Michael Hanna, who owns a business on the same block.Witnesses told police the woman was looking down at her cellphone, about 30 feet from the intersection when she was hit. Still, neighbors say no one knows where to cross."We need a crosswalk," Callaway said. "We need a crosswalk."City leaders just announced their Vision Zero campaign. Its goal: no traffic deaths or injuries in Portland. The new site tracks intersections, listing Northeast Glisan at 24th as having 17 crashes in a two-year span."We pretty much cross the street daily," said mother, Brittany White. "(It's) kind of treacherous. As you can see there's no crosswalk and you basically have to wait and see until there's no car coming either way and you just go for it."Neighbors say they have seen plenty of close calls. Our KATU crew tried, and it took a while for a driver to stop, even though they are supposed to."Maybe get some sort of crosswalk, some visual cues, some sort of signal," White suggested. Neighbors say they have called, they have written and now they want to know if anyone is listening."If the city can't find the funds for something as basic as this, as simple as traffic safety at a high volume intersection like this," Hanna said, "then what are we here for? What good is city government if they can't solve this problem right here?"We talked to a Portland Bureau of Transportation representative Monday afternoon, shortly after the incident happened. We still have not heard back on whether this is on the city's radar. We will be checking back in with them on Tuesday.The woman who was hit suffered a head injury. Police say she was hurt but was talking and coherent when she left the scene and they expect she will be OK.
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Renewed calls for marked crosswalk after woman hit by car