2013.04.05 - Mt Scott Arleta NA Minutes (April 2013)
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Mt Scott Arleta Neighborhoo d Association meeting April 3, 2013 Meeting started at 6:30 p.m. Board members attending: Meghan Humphreys, Erika Palmer-Wilson, Nicole Green, Scott Vala, Marcel Hermans, Jed Roberts, Lisa Anne Ross (18 attendees total signed in) Brad Taylor, neighborhood crime prevention officer visite d. He offered to do a crime prevention through environmental design for one neighbor who has been burglarized twice. He said most happen during the day, and most enter through back doors. If there is a h ouse that is attracting crime (occupied or not), Brad said he would like to know about it. Other neighb ors reported that t hey had also had a burglary. Alarms with signs are okay, but not a perfect deterrent. Mauricio Leclerc from PBOT attended– there is a stakeholder group active since last September which has been studying Foster Rd (a high-crash corridor). This process is updating the 2003 streetscape plan to improve Foster, and we recently got 3.5 million in funds to update Foster. The plan is looking at crossings , cross-sections and streetscape elements. There will be a public event in May for public feedback. We have recommen dations for enhanced crossings (rapid-flash beacons, not zebra crosswalk s.) There are recommended enhancements at 70 th , 74 th /75 th , and 84 th, and funding is available for them now. There is a narrowed list of cros s-sections being consid ered that would be public at a May open house event. Lisa Anne asked about the cycle track option and how it affects pedestrians. Mauricio said it would come on and off the sidewalk but would not cross the pedestrian area. Parking usage is curren tly very low everywhere but in the heart of Foster and close to 52 nd Ave. But there may be future demand that may need to be accommodated. Adding bike lanes, according to Metro modeling, would increase cyclist usage by double or triple. Three lanes would possibly impac t traffic numbers and move some cars to other nearby streets. It would also make crossing the street much safer than it currently is. One resident said he is concerned about increased traffic on side streets. Any blockage on Foster usually increases traffic on SE 70 th where he lives. He would like the City to offer traffic calming if an unforeseen increase happens on a side street (speed bumps or other devices.) The process is that in May there will be an open house where people can weigh in and give their preferred options, and then the committee and PBOT will use that information to make a recommendat ion. Marcel asked about travel time– it will not dramatically increase according to models used for this? Mauricio sai d that is correc t. Jed asked what is th e cheapest alt ernative– Mauricio said that the three lane option would be the least expensive. Officer Carroll of the Portland Police visited. He said that this neighborhood has no dedicated neighborhood officer right now. He mentioned that anyone can call the East Precinct Police office and ask for the Neighborhood Response Team (NRT) officer, they can address ongoing issues. Brad Taylor (mentioned above) can do so as well.
