Grant Neighborhood to Talk Bikeways Tonight

Sunday Streets 2013
via DIY Studio

At least until the Hospital started logging the Blind School, the new year was getting started in a mighty-fine way.

First the decision at the Blind School was itself good, never mind the Hospital's subsequent action, and now is some new momentum in the neighborhoods for family-friendly bikeways.

The Grant Neighborhood Association meets today, Thursday the 8th, and on the agenda is talk about bikeways to connect Highland, Grant, and downtown.

You may recall that as part of Bike and Walk Salem, there are lines on the map for a future bikeway along Winter and Maple Streets, ultimately to connect to the Kroc Center in a way that avoids Portland Road.

Just before opening the path extension on Maple

The City has installed some preliminary signage  as well as a path connection behind the auto dealerships, but the route hasn't been at all improved otherwise. There is traffic calming, stop-sign-turning, and other things that would enhance the route in ways that would make it appropriate and inviting for people and families of all ages, not just the usual suspects who are already biking.

Folks  are working on building broader support at the neighborhood level.

In addition to the bike talk, there might also be some history talk. There will be an update on the neighborhood calendar as well as the "heritage neighborhood" project.

It looks like an especially pleasant meeting this month!

The Neighborhood Association meeting is on Thursday the 8th at 6:15 p.m. in the Library of Grant Community School, 725 Market St NE.

Portland Road

But wait, there's more! Also today, at the meeting of the North Gateway Redevelopment Advisory Board, there will be more talk about the execrable conditions of the sidewalk tunnel going under the railroad as well as bike lanes along Portland Road generally.

Portland Road Underpass Sidewalk:  Salem Daily Photo Diary
Icky, and a little scary, in truth.

With that new technical school going in, there's increasing attention to making it possible for kids to get to school safely under their own motive power!

The North Gateway Redevelopment Advisory Board meets Thursday the 8th at 8:00 AM in the Center 50+, Classroom A, 2615 Portland Road NE.

(See below for an update on NGRAB.)

Do the Math - Film on Climate Change

And also on Thursday is Do the Math.

It shows at 7pm at the Grand Theater on Thursday, part of the Salem Progressive Film Series.

The fossil fuel industry is killing us. They have five times the amount of coal, gas and oil that is safe to burn – and they are planning on burning it all. Left to their own devices, they’ll push us past the brink of cataclysmic disaster – life as we know it will be irrevocably altered forever. Unless we rise up and fight back.

DO THE MATH chronicles “America’s leading environmentalist” Bill McKibben in a David-vs-Goliath battle to fight the fossil fuel industry and change the terrifying math of the climate crisis.

Hopefully folks thinking about gratuitous air service will "do the math."

Hopefully they're just trolling us

Commercial air service is one of the worst things Salem can do for carbon and lead emissions. It's just dumb.

Update, January 13th

A couple of readers have mentioned the $1M proposal to fund a stormwater project at an industrial park in the North Gateway area.

Memo in the NGRAB Jan 8th meeting packet

The nub of the matter seems be to that when the SUMCO property was sold, for whatever combination of reasons (did somebody screw up at the City?), the new owner did not inherit the agreement to fund the stormwater project that SUMCO had agreed to fund and construct.

So SUMCO's off the hook, the new owner is off the hook, and now they're asking the City to fund it and presumably using the hostage prospect of "jobs!" to leverage the City's interest.

Maybe this is reasonable, maybe it's not. It kinda looks fishy. But there's not enough information to have an informed opinion, either.

Something to watch.

Advocates for using the URA funds to make multi-modal improvements on Portland Road are worried the URA funds will be redirected for this subsidy.

Update, February 19th

At Council earlier this month, the URA voted to override the advisory board recommendation (it's way down at the bottom of the post) and to fund the project.

Here's a news item about it:

Still being debated