"Dangerous Intersections" and More on City Council

The Sunday paper has a big front page treatment for a list of "dangerous intersections."

Front page today

It says,

A Statesman Journal analysis of the crash data reported to ODOT from 2018 to 2022, the most recent available, shows the intersections where the most crashes occurred in the Salem area are centered in downtown, east Salem around the intersection of Market Street and Interstate 5, and on Commercial Street in south Salem.

But it's merely a list! There's hardly any analysis in it.

Deep inside the paper was a blurb for the Ride of Silence.

On the Ride of Silence

In the preview for City Council there was a blurb on the suite of crosswalk applications, potentially to be funded by the Safe Streets for All program that funded our Vision Zero and Twenty is Plenty projects.

In the Council preview

Directly in the same paper there were several opportunities to connect the dots and make a real analysis of our traffic safety problem!

Instead, the list was framed like some insider information pried away from ODOT.

ODOT compiles the crash data and releases it to local and federal governments, as well as private consultants, engineering firms and law enforcement agencies for use for things such as determining which intersections and roads need improvements.

Currently the MPO is writing a Metropolitan Transportation Safety Action Plan, and there are published public documents as part of that process. 

There's even a map of intersections and crashes.

via SKATS

While it highlights downtown intersections, the ones the paper cites on Market Street and on South Commercial are not reflected here with the same frequency measure. The dates for this map are not the same, 2017-2021 rather than 2018-2022, but you'd think the sample size would be big enough and with enough overlap for a rate to be stable between each set. So there are some differences it might be interesting to explore another time.

Above all, the paper has offices with a birds-eye view of another intersection with a history of crashes and speeding.

Commercial and Vista crashes, 2018

Crash into the Roth's parking lot

A few years ago they used to show photos from crashes at Commercial and Vista. They don't do that any more, but the pattern of crashes right below their windows would make for a deep dive and analysis of crashes and traffic safety.

Hopefully the City's project to write a Vision Zero Plan, as well as the Metropolitan Transportation Safety Action Plan, will yield a closer reading of intersections and a deeper analysis of traffic safety and the ways drivers operate cars with capacity for lethal force.

At Council Itself

The MUHTIP exemption for the new project at the old City Hall site was deferred and it's back at Council. A new criticism has emerged. From the paper:

They said Deacon Development worked with irresponsible contractors who engaged in wage theft, worker exploitation and unethical business practices, citing conflicts with employees not getting paid on Portland-area projects. One person testified that projects applying for tax breaks should have a prevailing wage requirement.

The Staff Report still doesn't mention any affordable housing, even though an earlier version of the project did intend to include some. So that's a question also, and though the paper repeats the claim, silence in the Staff Report is a little odd.

Hopefully they'll work it all out, as a project for housing on this long-neglected and empty site is important.

Also in support of housing there's a proposal to make permanent a temporary measure to support ADUs, to "exempt Accessory Dwelling Units from paying System Development Charges in perpetuity." But maybe they don't really mean "in perpetuity."

The proposed code amendment is intended to allow the current exemption to continue until the methodology has been updated [for new middle housing types] and new policies and recommendations are provided to City Council.

There's a brief report on wrapping up the Sustainable Cities residency.

In addition to the ill-advised PR campaign on idling, and a much better one on heat pump adoption, there's a blurb about a third PR campaign:

Active Transportation. Students created a framework centered around behavior change to encouraging active transportation. The class leveraged work from the Safe and Connected Salem Bicycle Transportation projects to positively encourage the Salem community to utilize alternative forms of transportation, including walking, biking, and transit.

It will be very interesting to see more about this!

Bullets for the rest:

• The Annual Report from the Historic Landmarks Commission. As always, there's too much on districts, with their exclusionary zoning function, and not enough on individual listings.
  
• Removing Councilor Stapleton from a bunch of committees. Presumably this is to allow her to focus on her bid for a seat at the Legislature. She'd been the Alternate for Councilor Phillips at SKATS, and now Councilor Nishioka will replace her as Alternate. Councilor Varney will replace her on the Climate Action Plan Committee.
  
• You may have noticed Ben Fryback around town and online, cheering for bikes, buses, and trains; volunteering; and commenting on transportation topics. He's a roadway designer at ODOT processing ADA Design Exceptions among other things. He'll be joining the Planning Commission and seems sure to offer some good and informed perspective.
  

Addendum, May 17th

At the May 13th meeting, Council approved the tax exemption. The paper did not mention give much detail on the "affordable" part.

May 15th

Salem Reporter added the relevant detail:

According to Retherford, the Deacon project meets eight of the city’s 19 public benefit requirements, which is enough to qualify for the exemption. They include rental rates “accessible to a broad range of mixed incomes.” The apartments will rent for $1,375-$1,995 a month, the report says. Other benefits include open space in the form of a rooftop deck for gatherings, and developing an underutilized or blighted property.

Ian Lewallen the finance manager for Deacon Development, told Salem Reporter, the 16 units of affordable housing included in the development will cost between $1,280-$1,644 a month which includes utilities.

If these are the same sized units, $1,280 is a 7% discount off $1,375; and $1,644 is an 18% discount off $1,995. 

Do these discounts actually hit affordability guidelines for a person or family at 80% of Area Median Income or less?

It still seems like that part deserved more discussion.