Give us Space, for racial justice, peaceful protests, equitable transportation, social distancing, well being and oh, our economy
Edited original June 1 post
These past 2 months of Covid-19 has not been without its charms. The streets have been flooded with kids learning to ride bikes, makeshift bike jumps, families slow rolling on normal bikes, and strolling couples. There is a newfound discovery of our neighborhoods - the nooks and crannies we never took the time to see before, the cut-through trails, blooming flowers and giant trees. This Pleasantville silver lining needs some racial justice tweaks, but the spirit does not have to end with the right pandemic response.
To add another complicated layer, tourism season commences. If locals thought prior summers were crowded and painful, get ready. Vehicle congestion and parking dominates our street space, forcing masses to share clogged sidewalks that do not provide space for 6 feet of passing. Vehicle pollution can also aggravate Pandemic conditions. “I say in all firmness that it is out of the question that we allow ourselves to be invaded by cars, and by pollution. It will make the health crisis worse. Pollution is already in itself a health crisis and a danger — and pollution joined up with coronavirus is a particularly dangerous cocktail. So it’s out of the question to think that arriving in the heart of the city by car is any sort of solution, when it could actually aggravate the situation,” Paris Mayor Hidalgo, via CityLab.
Based on the 500+ temporary street modifications adopted by other cities, I recommend we trade space for:
Street Malls- open Oak and Portway as an outdoor plaza for restaurant cafes and distanced walking
Slow Streets - a few neighborhood streets are open to residents, closed to through vehicles
Pop-up Protected Lane - 12th between June and Pacific to enable safe and legal, socially distanced walking and biking to essential businesses, Rosauers and Walgreens
Vision for 2 street malls in Hood River: Oak Street and Portway (waterfront). Click image to download printable PDF
I call on the Hood River leaders in the City and Port to open our streets to people, now, for equitable transportation, prevent race-based violence, help local business rebound, keep everyone safe with room to social distance and give residents and visitors space to stay healthy and sane.
Email City Council and Management
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k.mcbride@cityofhoodriver.gov, t.counihan@cityofhoodriver.gov, e.haynie@cityofhoodriver.gov, j.metta@cityofhoodriver.gov, g.rivera@cityofhoodriver.gov, m.saunders@cityofhoodriver.gov, m.zanmiller@cityofhoodriver.gov, r.fuller@cityofhoodriver.gov, w.norris@cityofhoodriver.gov
Dear City Council and Management,
Covid-19 and the protests are shining a light on the inequity of our streets and how vital they are for health, the economy, social connection, and transportation. In over 500 cities around the world, from Leavenworth to Paris, leaders have redesigned our streets in response and recovery to the Pandemic.
We need our streets for peaceful protests, for our children to play and bike safely, to connect with our neighbors in a socially distant way, get our essential workers where they need to be, creatively use space for outdoor restaurants and markets, encourage biking and walking to relieve personal vehicle congestion and parking and most importantly, give pedestrians room to go around each other.
The city should consider creative and temporary street modifications employed by other towns and cities as a way to create a joyous, safe place, but also as a tactic to prevent domestic terrorism:
1. Street Malls - open Oak and Portway for restaurants to increase their seating capacity and extend walking space into the street for social distancing
2. Slow Streets - open a select network of neighborhood streets for people and local residents with cars while restricting cut-through traffic
3. Pop-up Protected Lane on 12th to allow safe and legal walking and biking to essential businesses and for essential workers
Thank you so much for your attention
What is a Street Mall
Like an outdoor food mall, a street mall allows restaurants that have constrained indoor seating due to social distancing, to expand outdoors into public space like sidewalks and streets. “Two weeks ago, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission fast-tracked the application process for expanding alcohol service areas to sidewalks, streets and other common areas.”
Why a Street Mall?
Besides the obvious economic recovery reason, closing Portway and Oak, our eating destination stretches, would allow pedestrians to spread into the street to maintain social distancing.
“These businesses can’t wait,” said Bend Mayor Sally Russell. “They need to stay afloat. And we also know that customers are more comfortable in these outdoor venues, knowing that it reduces the risk of contracting the coronavirus.”
Other Cities and Towns with Street Malls:
Ashland, OR - on Highway 99
Bend, OR
Portland, OR
Leavenworth, WA
Canmore, Alberta
Banff, Alberta
What is a Slow Street?
Photo credit: City of Oakland
Also called Stay Healthy Streets, they are like semi-gated communities for walking and biking, intersections corked with simple movable barriers that permit local drivers, but restrict cut-through traffic.
Why a slow street?
With kids home from school and summer camps cancelled, it’s a necessity to send them outside without worrying about speeding cars. Adults also need space for physical activity. Sadly, domestic abuse and mental health issues have increased from the pandemic and a simple walk can literally make the difference between life and death. Lastly, with social distancing, it’s nice to spread out into the street to maintain 6 feet while having conversations with neighbors and friends.
Now, as we transition through the pandemic phases and welcome visitors into our community, quadrupling our population size, the need for space to spread out will be even more important.
The City could prioritize 2 routes: 1) A-Wilson-June (a soon-to-be Safe Routes to School!) and 2) Columbia from 20th to downtown
We’ve run into—albeit with ample social distance—countless neighbors and school friends that we hadn’t seen in five weeks while taking our daily rides up and down our street. The parents talk through makeshift masks about which wave we’re riding that day (grief, anger, delight, hope); it’s saving our mental health, but also strengthening our civic bonds. -Mom from Curbed Magazine
Other Cities and Towns with Slow Streets
Bend
Portland
Burlington, VT
Carrboro, NC
Winter Park, FL
What is a pop-up protected lane?
Pop-up means a temporary installation and a protected lane uses materials to provide physical separation and protection from motor vehicles. A pop-up protected lane typically uses movable traffic cones, bollards or planters like the image above.
Why a pop-up protected bike lane?
There is currently no safe and legal way to bike from The Heights to Rosauers shopping center, an essential businesses destination, or for essential workers to go the opposite direction to the hospital or downtown. A pop-up lane also serves as a safe place to step off the sidewalk to socially distance while passing another person.
This week our family biked to the new Solstice Pizza truck. In the 20 minutes that we spent enjoying our soft serve in the parking lot, 6 different families arrived by bike, 4 of which got there by biking the wrong way down 12th on the sidewalk. Almost everywhere in town, but especially on 12th, parents and teenagers are riding ebikes on sidewalks because they feel safer there, which is creating friction and a safety hazard with people walking. It is not far fetched to imagine a small child or senior falling off the sidewalk into the path of a vehicle. Equally as destructive, an out of control ebike hits and injures an unsuspecting person walking on the sidewalk.
The parallel Indian Creek Trail, though a nice alternative if you are already walking or mountain biking on it, is not functional for strollers, electric mobility devices or heavy cargo bikes. It’s steep gravel, and almost no one chooses to deviate from a straight, flat, paved line.
Cross section of protected pop up bike lane from Union to June. The east side parking lane is retained, but gets bumped out into the travel lane to give the people biking some protection.
Depending on which segment, 12th and 13th has Interstate highway level of service capacity, 4-8 lanes, reserved for vehicles and with the exception of a few hours a day, they are empty like a ghost town. The Transportation System Plan already makes the case for bike lanes. Why not test the waters, repurposing 1 of 8 vehicle lanes on 12th/13th. By using the east parking or travel lane on 12th, you could install a 2-way pop-up bike lane from Rosauer’s to June Street, providing safe biking for all ages and abilities to get to and from the grocery store and their neighborhood and reserve precious sidewalk space for people to walk safely in a somewhat socially distanced manner.
Cross section of protected pop up bike lane from Union to Pacific. 1 east side travel lane is converted into a 2-way bike lane.
Other Cities and Towns with Pop-up Protected Lanes
Portland
Fairfax, VA
Map of proposed Streets for pandemic response and recovery:
All these ideas and more creative solutions are happening in more than 500 cities and towns around the Globe, prompting the creation of a guide specific to pandemic response and recovery:
as COVID has made clear, our streets support more than just movement. Around the world, streets are providing space so people can safely access food and essential services. Our streets provide places for queuing outside grocery stores, markets, and essential businesses. As restrictions are lifted, especially prior to full disease containment or the development of a vaccine, streets can provide room for restaurants and shops to serve customers outdoors, and for schools and daycares to resume care, allowing businesses to reopen and more people to return, safely, to work.
- NACTO (National Association of City Transportation Officials) creates guide Streets for Pandemic Response and Recovery
Conclusion
We can support reopening our town, helping our small businesses recover by providing space that will enable, not only safe and cordial interactions, but a better quality of life for residents.
Open the streets. Open at least half of them. If we do not have enough police to enforce temporary closure to traffic, then open them semipermanently with concrete barriers. Open other streets permanently. Dynamite the asphalt, sod the land, plant trees and flowers, and do not look back. - Josh Hamblin of The Atlantic, “Don’t Close Parks, Open Up Streets.”
More Supporting Articles and Advocacy Graphics
About Megan Ramey
Shenanigans Enthusiast born in Wisconsin, seasoned in Georgia, marinated in Madison, grilled in Boston and currently aging in Hood River, Oregon. Bike Picnics are my jam. I ride and walk for transportation, in search of good food, drinks and new and old friends. By day, I run Bikabout while scheming to open the Gorge’s first bike hostel. Side hustles include novice cartography and graphic design. When I’m not squeezing every bit of sun or moonlight out of the day, I enjoy remodeling my house, cooking, listening to KEXP or vinyl and trying not to let volunteering for human-scaled, livable streets overwhelm my life. My daughter, husband and cats keep me humble and sane.
I serve as the Active Transportation Representative-at large for ODOT Region 1 Area Commission on Transportation and a Planning Commissioner for the City of Hood River.
