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Neighbors across Portland press committee for street-level fixes: Holgate crossings, Skyline speeds, Linton trails and more
Summary
Dozens of residents gave two-minute testimonies asking the committee to address local safety and access problems: Holgate crosswalks and accessibility for people who use wheelchairs, high speeds on Skyline Boulevard, unfinished trails and river crossings in Linton, and drug-use impacts near Cathedral Park businesses and school zones.
More than a dozen residents from neighborhoods across Portland used the committee's public comment period to press for targeted safety and access fixes on specific streets.
Reed Neighborhood Association leaders said Southeast Holgate Boulevard near 30th and 29th Avenues is dangerous for pedestrians, schoolchildren and people who use wheelchairs because motorists routinely fail to stop at crosswalks and sidewalks are obstructed or inaccessible. "I've watched as a pedestrian was trying to cross... they were honked at," Reed Neighborhood Association President Christina DiTullo told the panel. Land-use chair Steven Seagraves asked the committee to direct the city administrator to perform a speed and safety study along Holgate from the west entrance out to 80 Second Avenue.
Other neighborhood requests included a call from residents of Sylvan Highlands to address chronic speeding on Southwest Skyline Boulevard (posted 25 mph but drivers observed at higher speeds), requests from North Portland residents for a river ferry and permission to complete a funded 9-mile trail, and testimony from Westmoreland residents about high speeds and missing crosswalks on Southeast 17th Avenue.
Public-safety and quality-of-life complaints also reached the committee. A Northwest resident, Laura Curry, described open-air drug dealing and discarded hazardous waste near Cathedral Park and a school zone and asked for targeted enforcement and lighting improvements. Michael Kaplan, representing South Portland, requested completion of South Bond Avenue connections and a lower speed limit on portions of Southwest Hood; he said ODOT opposed a speed-change request but urged council follow-up.
Why it matters: These neighborhood-scale requests are the kinds of projects city staff said PBOT struggles to deliver without steady discretionary revenue. Committee members asked for written submissions and maps to accompany residents' testimony so staff can evaluate feasibility and include items in upcoming budget and project prioritization discussions.
Ending: The committee did not take formal votes on neighborhood petitions; staff and council members asked for follow-up materials and promised continued consideration during budget and project programming.
