Saturday, August 31, 2019

Peace Mosaic's Popularity Should Inform Community Conversation on the 25th

On the front page today is a nice story about more detail on the plan to relocate the Peace Mosaic from the Court Apartments at the YMCA to the new annex planned for the Carousel at Riverfront Park. It sounds like destiny:
The local architect firm working with the carousel couldn't believe it when measurements were compared. The back side of The Stables is the same length as the Peace Mosaic.

"It was like serendipitous," said Alan Costic, president of AC + Co Architecture | Community. "It just happens to fit, and we have a wall for it."
With talk about the mosaic, the recent bottle bill art, and Eye of Salem-Sauron at the Police Station, and the brand new piece at Bush Park, the City has also announced a "community conversation" about public art for September 25th. (They are asking for an RSVP; this helps with refreshment count, of course, but also may diminish the sense of "all are welcome.")

The Public Art Commission has seemed like they view themselves in a curatorial role, selecting "good" art to deploy. But they have not seemed like they had enough consideration for the public, who in general is not going to participate in any connoisseurship and who will ask of art very different question from the questions of artists, gallery-owners, curators, or artsy others. They have also seemed like they were bound to a destination model of driving, getting out of the car, and appreciating an instance of public art, and then driving away.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Anderson Sporting Goods Started 100 Years Ago

100 years ago a business many Salemites will remember started at 126 South Commercial Street.

Anderson Sporting Goods had its beginning when William E. Anderson was founding partner in a firm that purchased the Watt Shipp Company, at that time located in 126 South Commercial Street.

Commercial Street looking south from State Street circa 1910-15
Hauser Bros in 126 S. Commercial, two doors down from bank
(University of Oregon Library, click through to enlarge)
Before Ladd & Bush expanded in the 1960s rebuild, there was a continuous line of buildings on the east side of Commercial Street between Ferry and State Streets. Former partners Paul Hauser and Watt Shipp at different times had separate sporting goods stores in one of the storefronts at 126 South Commercial Street, two doors down from the corner bank entry.

Another view, this time with Hauser Bros only one door down
and the RH Hunter Electrical Supply
 in 126 S. Commercial (far right)
(Salem Library Historic Photos, and similar here)
Other storefronts on this block face had sporting goods stores, too. Hauser Bros used the storefront one door down also.*

Watt Shipp sells to what became Anderson Sporting Goods
(August 30th, 1919)
At any rate, in the late summer of 1919 Watt Shipp was at 126 South Commercial, and William Anderson, who had been I believe one of Shipp's employees, was a partner in buying him out as he moved into auto sales at the Valley Motor Company.

Salem Installs New Photo Speed Enforcement

Salem is extending photo red light enforcement to photo speed enforcement.

From the City of Salem:
Beginning September 1, motorists who exceed the speed limit while driving through high-volume intersections may be captured on camera and issued tickets. These new safety measures are designed to reduce crashes in and around intersections by encouraging drivers to slow down. Initially, Fisher Rd NE and Silverton Rd NE will have the new technology activated with other locations to be added at a later date....

Salem added photo enforcement cameras to three intersections in 2008. Since they were installed, Salem has seen a 92 percent decrease in traffic crashes at those locations. Later this year, the City will also add photo red-light cameras at Commercial and Madrona Ave. SE, Commercial Blvd. and Kuebler Blvd., and Center St and Hawthorne Ave NE.
A discussion this week in Willamette Week offers more detail on the reasons for photo speed enforcement:
Ray Thomas says the Portland Bureau of Transportation should erect speed cameras all over town.

"Fixed speed cameras are great," says Thomas, a lawyer who represents victims of car crashes. "They don't discriminate against any socioeconomic group or political profile and provide more deterrence than any other mechanism I know of."

PBOT agrees with him. In a report submitted this year, the bureau told state lawmakers, who greenlighted the cameras' installation in 2015, how well the cameras were working.

"Comparing the change among the 'before' speed study and the most recent speed counts, there is an overall 57 percent decrease in the number of cars traveling over the posted speed limit; [an] 85 percent decrease in numbers of drivers traveling more than 10 mph over the posted speed," the report said.
The other items in the City's press release have been mentioned here before, but this photo speed enforcement is new!

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Old Mushroom Plant Redevelopment Finally at the Planning Commission

The plan to redevelop the old mushroom plant at State Street and Cordon Road, and bisected by the old Geer Line railroad alignment, is finally coming to the Planning Commission.

It's had a winding road and long history.

You might remember an early concept from the annexation back in 2010.

In 2016 water was an issue, and a commenter said
The issue that is concerning neighbors is actually the drainage from this property. Since it was used for agriculture for decades we know that insecticides and other chemicals were used. That contamination is likely still in the area and a creek runs through this property. Neighbors worry that it might be leaching into the creek. They also worry that digging on the property could also disturb the contamination and it will also go into the creek.
And earlier this year, from the same commenter, who has been following the project:
There was a proposal to build a large Planned Unit Development of over 800 row houses on more than 100 acres at the old Pictsweet property. Well, the plans have changed dramatically. Now the plan is not to build townhouses on skinny lots, but a more traditional single family houses on 3400 to 4500 square foot lots. Total number is down to 659 houses with a density of about 8 units per acre.
So after a few iterations of revision and adjustment, there is a firmer concept at the Planning Commission:

Sunday, August 25, 2019

New Sculpture at Bush Park May be a Dud

Council meets on Monday, and I'm not sure there's much to say.

On the Council agenda there are a couple of annexations. Maybe you will have thoughts on that. They look like moves to prepare for greenfield development on the edges of the city. In the information items there are approvals on some small plexes and one that is being appealed. And there's a small street vacation. Mostly the agenda items seem to be block-level things at the neighborhood level, and not things of larger city significance.

But there is some new public art in Bush Park, and let's talk about that instead!

"Sentinals" [sic?] by Devin Laurence Field
(See SAA's tweet and the FB post below)
Some first impressions:
  • What is it with the surveillance theme? The Eye of Salem-Sauron at the Police Station and now "Sentenals"/Sentinels? 
  • But watching isn't the first thing that came to mind. These look like structural steel from the Police Station or part of a shipwreck. They look like ruins. They're rusty!
  • Maybe they evoke Totem Poles, but how would that be appropriate in this context?
  • For a site near a child's playground, it's surprisingly inert and static, nothing that will evoke wonder, playful interpretation, or interaction with children.
  • Why here? How does this relate to Bush Park or the Bush family? It's like random art installation.
Detail of rust finish and the periodic squishing treatment
Over at the Oregon Artist Series they routinely link to more dynamic instances of public art from around the country. Why are recent installations here so dull or hermetic?

Anyway, it's hard to be excited by this. Have you been by it? Maybe you have a different interpretation that really brings it to life.

Saturday, August 24, 2019

City Fun Fact Misses Key Points

Is it worth criticizing a "fun fact," an element of whimsy in social media and public relations?

via Twitter
Yes, after going back and forth on it, I think it is. Because this is symptomatic of a great part of the problem and sheds more light than really was intended.

Lots of gravel and debris in the bike lane
on Front Street between State and Commercial
A couple of day ago while walking out of Minto Park on Front Street along Park Front and the rest of the Boise project, an adult man with all the bike gear crowded me on the sidewalk. It wasn't a zoomingly rude pass, it wasn't scorching, but it wasn't a generous pass, either. He was claiming his space on the sidewalk and I, on foot, was in the way. I pointed to the bike lane on Front Street (pictured), and he said something like "it's tough to bike in the street."

Friday, August 23, 2019

Celebrate Peaches with a Ride in the Waldo Hills this Weekend

Early Crawfords seemed to have disappeared (August 25th, 1919)
See the OSU pamphlet "Selecting Peach and Nectarine Varieties"
for current popular choices in commercial orchards

Have you been eating peaches this summer? Aren't they great this year?! It hasn't been hot, just warm, and rounds of Springcrest, Canadian Harmony, and Suncrest have all been luscious with good flavor and refreshing acidity. Rarely have the different varieties offered such consistent pleasure across the whole season. It's a glorious peach summer! (Maybe the grapes too like this consistent and not-too-hot sun.)

The Salem Bicycle Club's Peach of a Century Ride is this weekend, and if you are looking for a fun, but long, ride through the rolling Waldo Hills, the weather looks terrific - upper 70s with a few clouds.

Day-of-Ride registration (for $60) starts at 7:30am on Sunday the 25th. (Full description and links to maps and forms here.)
Each route starts and ends at Chemeketa Community College. The Full Century route is challenging with some steep hills. The 75-Mile route also involves a significant of amount climbing. The Metric Century route offers flat to rolling terrain with some moderate hills....The routes follow low-volume roads past the farm fields of the Willamette Valley, through forested foothills and rural communities east of Salem....

There are three rest stops on the 100-Mile route and two on the 66 and 76-Mile routes. All rest stops have food, water, sports drink, restrooms and friendly volunteers. The weather is typically mild to warm in the late summer although we have experienced rain during past events. Bring extra layers just in case. The 100-Mile route goes through Jefferson, Stayton, Sublimity, and Silverton. The Metric Century and 76-Mile routes visit Jefferson and Stayton. All riders must finish by 6:00 p.m. A sag vehicle will sweep both courses at day's end.
Last week the Club celebrated their 50th anniversary with cake, ice cream, and a couple of rides out to Willamette Mission State Park. If you are not a member, and long rides are your thing, consider joining them and keeping things going for another 50 years.

Historical Addendum

Well, it turns out "Indian Hill Farm" is a little interesting!

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Safe Routes Wins State Grant for new Position in Salem Area

Earlier this year you might recall that local Safe Routes to Schools efforts had secured a grant for an enhanced crosswalk near Liberty School. Last week, in a letter to the MPO and in the packet for next week's meeting on Tuesday the 27th, the State announced that the local application for a three year non-infrastructure grant had been approved.

Announcement letter
This funding is the biggest part of crossing off the first step in the new plan.

Chief Goal: Hire a full-time coordinator,
then install programming at four schools
Back in February there seemed to be some uncertainty about where any hire might live, who actually was going to be the employer, but it sure looks like Cherriots will be that home. (Update: Nope, the COG/MPO will be the employer.) There are details to work out, and the formal grant application will disclose more of them. This will be exciting to follow. Safe Routes has not yet made their own announcement about this, and they may share additional details when they do. (We'll update here as appropriate.)

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Open Streets Salem Moved to May 2020, Kuebler Crosstown Route Proposed; DAB Notes on Parklets and Crosswalks

The Cherriots Board and the City's Downtown Advisory Board meet on Thursday the 22nd, and there are a few things to note in passing.

Postponed now to May 2020
Communication on Open Streets Salem has been pretty lousy, but perhaps also that testifies to low demand. There don't seem to be many people missing it or screaming about it. Buried in the Trip Choice update is notice that Cherriots proposes to hold Open Streets Salem now in May 2020, keyed to National Bike Month and the Bike More Challenge. (Entire Board agenda and packet here.)

They're also starting to analyze a proposal for a new crosstown route to link the south Commercial Walmart, Lancaster Drive, the potential new Costco site, and the Mill Creek Corporate Center (with Amazon, etc.) by Kuebler Boulevard. This will be interesting to follow.

Investigating a new crosstown route on Kuebler
Not on the agenda at all, but happy to note, is that it turns out it's surprisingly easy to reach the beach by bus. Biking and increasingly walking are the focus here, and transit is not central. Here's something you might already know. A friend of the blog pointed out that bus service to the beach runs three times a day. I had no idea. It was great. The casinos and tribes almost certainly subsidize the ride, and it's not expensive. If you don't want to drive and can tolerate some scheduling, it's a great option. Both Lincoln and Tillamook Counties run connecting transit from Lincoln City. Conveniently, the McMenamins' Lighthouse Pub is right there, and makes any wait quite pleasant.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Overruns on Police Station were Always Predictable

Yesterday Salem Reporter had a piece on the cost inflation at the new Police Station.

"'Snowballing-out-of-control': How the price rose by millions on Salem police headquarters" is interesting in many ways, but here it's worth focusing on the City's admission that "the original estimates were too low...[and] not high enough."

The implied context might be a little disingenuous, however, and the story might dwell too much on the City's perspective and not enough on criticism during the process as well as the academic study of estimating and project management. There should be less surprise about the overruns.

An early concept used only surface parking, not a structured garage,
and was for a 75,000 square foot building.
(Council worksession presentation, June 3rd, 2013)
The focus on palateableness for voters may cast the City in a light a little too charitable. During the debates earlier this decade, citizen criticism was not that the "estimates are too high," as if the project had bad or inaccurate estimating, but that the project was too big and too fancy. It was about scope, not estimating. Criticisms of the cost sometimes also included proposals for cheaper and smaller construction, not quibbles over the accuracy of estimates for the bigger and fancier proposal. Criticism was of the underlying plan, and some of the modeling behind it, not of the quality or accuracy of estimating on the plan once baked. The quote from the City seems to retcon the nature of the criticism.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

The Big Church in Grant, Scott Obituary - Newsbits

The SJ usually publishes things online in advance of the stories hitting print - "digital first," goes the slogan. This morning there is a fascinating piece in the paper, but not yet online.

It's a long piece on the property Salem Alliance Church owns and has recently purchased in the Grant neighborhood.

It touches on church's stated purpose of managing parking, but it also indirectly looks at the property as an investment strategy, at gentrification and potentials for displacement, at the scope of property off the tax rolls and the loss of revenue to the City and other entities, and just so many other themes. It was prompted, obviously, by the debate over the temporary Library site.

(The church is also landlord for the bike shop Northwest Hub.)

We need more of this kind of story. The swaths of property owned by institutions or large private entities and the interests of their owners together profoundly shape neighborhoods and the whole of the city. These are forces that direct policy, but which rarely do so in overt, explicit ways. They operate silently, in back rooms, unspoken. These are subterranean currents that too often are invisible, and the citizens then wonder why things are the way they are.

It's a great article, and you should read it.

Also in the paper is a note about a life well lived.

David Scott was the son of Harry Scott, whom we know as the founder and namesake of Scott's Cycle.

Here's a "bouncy motorcycle sidecar"
(March 19th, 1921)
Godspeed.

Postscript, August 19th

The piece is published online today, and it's worth reading in full.

Here's another clip that really dovetails with Susann's comment below. What is the emphasis on housing for cars relative to housing for people? Tying "servanthood" to parking seems like it might be a kind of of idolatry and is something that deserves more thought. And why is pointing out that "the streets were for public parking" a bad thing?

I know the church has the clinic and does things for and serves people in need. But the way we treat parking elevates it way too high, and our rhetoric and attitudes are distorted. We need a different moral framework around mobility.

This is a problematic notion of "servanthood," isn't it?

Saturday, August 17, 2019

City Council, August 19th - Our Salem Work Session

Council meets on Monday with the Planning Commission for a Work Session on "Our Salem," and the Staff Presentation seems a little shallow.

Slide Deck cover
The next phase, "visioning"
There's not really any meaty slides to clip.

It's very much an overview oriented to people who might not be following the process very closely.

But wait. This is City Council and the Planning Commission. Shouldn't they be assumed to know more than ordinary citizens who might not even have heard yet of the process and plan?

The tone and implied audience for the presentation just seems off. There's not very much work in it, and instead it reads as an introduction to Our Salem, one that assumes the Council and Commission don't know very much about it.

There are also a couple of notable omissions.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Demolition on Pringle Creek, Marion Car Park Bricks, Paving Coverage - Bits

Have you walked by the demolition and daylighting project for Pringle Creek in former Boise site?

View of Pringle Creek/Boise slab demolition (August 14th)
I don't know if it's super interesting, but it is at least a little. (Previous notes here.) More interesting is the prospect of progress on a path connection to the park. The City recently said
We are also exploring potential pathway connections to Riverfront Park and Minto Island Pedestrian Bridge through this area.
But they've been saying that for a long time. A path connection has been in the last position after the other elements of the Boise project were redeveloped - the apartments, then the office building, and finally the nursing home, which hasn't broken ground yet - and constructed; it should have been first, really.

The railroad has also been a problem. They have not been keen on even a grade-separated crossing or tunnel under the trestle. This is a concrete example of the way railroads create barriers and make it difficult for cities and their citizens.
A train, the creek,and the concrete cap in 2014
Here's a view from the other side, and up above, the City published the other day. Since the area is really off-limits, this is a good use for drone imagery. (Though the apartment residents might not be so happy - privacy is a real concern.)

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

I-5 Chemawa Interchange Plan at OTC This Week

The Oregon Transportation Commission meets in Ashland this week, and on the consent calendar is the I-5 Chemawa/Lockhaven interchange.

Formally it's a "Resolution to amend the Oregon Highway Plan and adopt the Interstate 5 /Chemawa Road Interchange Area Management Plan and Alternate Mobility Targets."

This process has been percolating for several years now (see the December 2012 date on the plan, for example), and it's late to have much to say. The plan mostly concerns Keizer, also, and following the City of Keizer closely has generally been beyond our scope here. So this is "Johnny come lately" for sure. You may know much more about the plan.

Phases for the preferred alternative (click to enlarge)
From an urban standpoint, widening Lockhaven, extending Verda Lane and Tepper Drive, seem like the big pieces. Both these and the highway widening would induce trips, also, and should be seen as inconsistent with greenhouse and climate goals. But of course that's not how ODOT rolls, and probably not how Keizer rolls. The "auxiliary lanes" for the highway at least superficially resemble those in the I-5 Rose Quarter project, and it would be interesting also to learn if Chemawa School has any concerns about increased particulates.

Tuesday, August 13, 2019

Technical Committee Continues Vetting Projects for 2021-2026: At the MPO - updated

The Technical Advisory Committee for our local Metropolitan Planning Organization meets this afternoon, Tuesday the 13th, and they are continuing to assess the project applicants for funding in the 2021-2026 cycle. After the meeting, they look to publish a map and with it to invite public comment and voting with social media-style "likes."

After a preliminary pass or two of scoring, here's the project ranking as a "early draft" assessment (here are notes on the very first whack at the list and earlier notes on the set of initial applications, so this may be the second pass) :
  1. Fixed-Route Transit Vehicle Replacement
  2. McGilchrist Street SE - 22nd Street Phase
  3. Pedestrian Safety - Improved Crossings
  4. Commercial Street - Vista to Ratcliff
  5. Salem Area Safe Routes to School Non-Infrastructure Program
  6. Center St. Lancaster Dr to 45th Pl NE, Ph 2
  7. State St. Lancaster Dr NE to 44th Ave, Ph 1
  8. Delany Rd. Battle Creek Bridge to 9th Ct. (Turner)
  9. Connecticut Av. Macleay to Rickey W Side Bike/Ped
  10. Lancaster Dr Ph2. State to Monroe Reconstr.
  11. River Rd N/McNary Estates Dr Project Design
  12. Turner Road Downtown Urban Upgrade
  13. Orchard Heights Road NW - Sidewalks and Pavement R& R
  14. Broadway Street NE @ Hood Street NE
The initial scoring tabulation (click to enlarge)
The first five seem reasonable, but then #6 and #7 look all wrong. It's like, "well, we gotta fit in the county projects somewhere..."

But the gigantification of Center and State Streets in those project is just totally inconsistent with our urgent needs on greenhouse gases and also with the City's recent State Street Corridor plan.

Monday, August 12, 2019

Downtown Utility Wraps Feature Historic and Interpretive Panels

Have you checked out the interpretive panels mounted on the utility vaults around town? Especially downtown there is the start of a good density of historical markers, and if you take the time to imagine it, it's possible to extend yourself not just in space but also in time. The possibilities are very rich!

On the panels there does not seem to be any coherent narrative yet, and maybe there shouldn't be. History is always fragmentary, we can't know everything, and it is also multiple and contested. Still, there are places where more interpretation might be helpful.

But overall, the utility wrap project is great to see.

Probably the most important of the interpretive panels are ones related to our Chinatown. It's a part of Salem history that is not told in any detail, and what details we have had, up until the work on the shrine in Pioneer Cemetery, have relied on mid-century accounts which were limited and themselves biased. This telling of history is a chance to make visible what had been invisible, and more importantly make visible what had been deliberately erased in some cases.

"Chinese Funerary Traditions
at the Salem Pioneer Cemetery"
In Pioneer Cemetery, on a vault that really looks out of place, an instance of technology and infrastructure out of character with the other monuments and graves, there is a moving pair of panels on burials and funerary practices. There are so many layers of loss and deliberate forgetting here, and it is fit to have started the recovery and remembering project.

Sunday, August 11, 2019

Rail Crossing Safety Piece Misses on our Autoism

I know we are tilting at windmills here, but the subhed, "Accidents nearly double in five years; reasons unclear" is unnecessary mystification. The reason is right there! Cars and our autoism. We are driving more in the last five years, and even if the crash rate holds steady, the total count will rise.

Car advertising and our autoism hinder analysis
You know, rate x miles = count.

This is the coarse explanatory framework in which the other fine details should be fitted. But because we have such a stake in mystifying our autoism, we hide this.
There's no simple explanation for the increase. State transportation officials and safety advocates say a variety of factors are at play: Oregon's growing population; people's unfamiliarity with their new surroundings; and the popularity of pedestrian and bicycle travel.
Sure there are many other factors, but the biggest one is that we are driving and traveling more.

A primary reason deaths are rising is because we are driving more
via FWHA twitter
The piece also misses the role of antiquated 19th century law. The railroads successfully externalized the costs for crossing safety. The roads are private property and they offload the costs of crossing treatments, and of bridges or underpasses, to cities and other jurisdictions. "Not our problem," they seemingly say.

Saturday, August 10, 2019

City Council, August 12th - More on Salem Heights

Apart from the questions about bus stops and parking removal, the other item of real interest here on Council's agenda for Monday is the continuation of the appeal of a 34-lot development off of Salem Heights. (Previous notes here.)

Much of the protest and criticism of the development is a proxy for neighborhood dissatisfaction with speeding on the current "unimproved" state of Salem Heights as a rural-ish road without sidewalks and bike lanes.

In the rebuttal materials, the consulting traffic engineer talks about speed. And there is a real problem here. "Speed data alone is not evidence of a safety problem," they write. Because the crash rate here is below average, they conclude the corridor is "safe."
15% of drivers go well over the posted 25mph here
This is balderdash!

This is a structural blind spot in our traffic engineering. It ignores the number of people who choose not to walk or bike or even drive on the street because they feel unsafe. There is a subjective element that has been completely erased in our hydraulic autoism and the attempt to model traffic after fluid dynamics and physical sciences. People in cars feel safe enough to speed. The definition of safety has a strong autoist bias here.

The consulting engineer goes on to say,
...even if the existing speeds on Salem Heights Avenue S were deemed to constitute a documented traffic problem, the proposed subdivision would need to contribute to the traffic problem in order to trigger the need for a Traffic Impact Analysis.
They are right that the proposed development is too small to trigger the TIA, the north-south connections will be a benefit, and the neighbors are misdirecting their fire.

Still, there is a problem here, but it's not the development. Speeding on Salem Heights is a real problem, and the City should face this squarely. Slow the cars.

Additionally, the neighbors have proposed traffic diversion on one of the streets, allowing for walking and biking through, but denying car travel through it. City Staff seem to be very resistant. This is a concept we need to talk more about. Maybe here is not the right place for it exactly, but more generally, if we are going to start taming cars, we will need more diversion to prioritize non-auto travel. The City should take this suggestion more seriously.

Final pie chart from Our Salem: It's all about the cars
Also on the agenda is an "Intergovernmental Agreement with the State of Oregon, Office of the Fire Marshal for Regional Hazardous Materials Emergency Response."

Friday, August 9, 2019

City Council, August 12th - ADA Compliance and Parking Removal

Council meets on Monday, and they will consider a request by Cherriots to bring bus stop areas into better conformance with ADA requirements. Because this involves removing some on-street parking stalls, and was subject to a close 4-3 vote at CATC, it has been deemed "controversial" and requires Council action.

An example of extending the "no parking" area.
Existing "no parking" in yellow, proposed in red.
On Winter Street just north of D Street
Holy moly. The proprietary claims on and privatization of public space in the road right-of-way was on full display in comments to CATC earlier. Eight nearby residents went to CATC to register opposition. No residents were in favor. Here's one:
"...[a resident feels] the property value has gone down because there is no longer on-street parking on either of the streets next to the residence...this property will have a difficult resale process and diminished value...this constitutes eminent domain without compensation...people utilizing the bus leave garbage and cigarette butts on the property diminishing its value."
Never mind the way that robust transit serves public need and enhances urban mobility. Also never mind the needs of differently-abled people who use the bus and would find advantage in greater clearance with the parking removal.

If Cherriots and the City are out of compliance, and would court a lawsuit, why is this even at CATC? As a purely technical matter, this should not be subject to the NIMBY process. Why do we continue to indulge the politics of our mania for free parking in the public right-of-way?

(On the other hand, if this is not a purely technical matter for compliance, Cherriots and the City should be clearer about where they are exercising discretion, where they are out of compliance, and should not frame it up as wholly about "compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.")

from Walkable City Rules
Apart from the question of our proprietary claims for annexing curbside space, there are questions about buses on bike boulevards, where we expect kids, and the role of parking in narrowing and calming a wide street. In Walkable City Rules Jeff Speck argues for the benefits of curbside parking, and in the Staff Report, there is too much attention paid to the objections of the immediately adjacent residents, and not enough attention to the way buses and parking removal is, or is not, consistent with our vision for Winter Street more generally.

In the end, by framing it up as a matter subject to the politics of parking and to neighborhood preferences, rather than a technical matter for better mobility and street function, the City and Cherriots may have missed an opportunity to start a different conversation about the way we treat the public space known as a street, about the harms of driving, and about the ways our parking arrangements induce carbon emissions. We have to start threading our climate emergency into these other topics.

Final pie chart from Our Salem: It's all about the cars
(There are several information reports of interest as well as the large matter of new revenue sources also on Council agenda. We'll briefly touch on these in a separate note over the weekend.)

Driver Struck and Killed Linda Adamson while Crossing Owens at Liberty.

Earlier this week on Monday the 5th, a person apparently making a left turn in a car onto a one way street struck and killed a person attempting to walk across the cross street.

From Salem Police, the initial report and an update with Adamson's name. The identity of the driver is not disclosed and the driver is generally erased:
The Salem Police Department Traffic Control Unit is investigating a fatal crash at the intersection of Owens St S and Liberty St SE. The crash was reported at approximately 6:27am when the Salem police department responded to a report of a vehicle striking a pedestrian at that intersection. When police arrived they located the adult female pedestrian, who was already deceased. The adult female driver of the involved vehicle remained on scene and is cooperating with investigators. At this time the cause of the crash remains under investigation. The identity of the victim is not being released pending next of kin notification....

The Salem Police Department has identified the victim involved in the vehicle versus pedestrian crash this morning at Liberty St SE and Owens St S.

The victim is identified as Linda Adamson, a 59 yr old resident of Salem, OR.
Liberty from Owens looking East at a T-intersection.
Owens has dual left-turn lanes onto Liberty here.
Adamson was crossing left to right; Liberty goes right to left.
(Photo via streetview, not in PD release)
Investigators determined that the victim was attempting to cross Owens St S, heading SB, at the Liberty St intersection as the involved Subaru SUV was attempting to make a turn from Owens St S onto NB Liberty St on a red light. The vehicle struck the victim as it was attempting to make the turn onto Liberty St.

The 68 yr old female driver remained on scene and was cooperative with investigators. There were no signs of impairment. The investigation is continuing and no criminal charges have been filed at this time.
See this note for more on active/passive voice, the word "pedestrian," and the habit of erasing the driver.