PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — In 2016, the City of Portland adopted the Vision Zero Action Plan, a long-term plan for reducing traffic deaths to zero by 2025 — a monumental task, according to PBOT.

A year into the plan has proven to be as difficult as presumed. Last year, according to a report from PBOT, was the deadliest on Portland streets in the last 15 years. Forty-five people were killed, and many more were injured. But changes are in motion, and PBOT Director Leah Treat said the organization knew achieving their Vision Zero goals wouldn’t be easy. 

The steps we took in 2017 are setting us on a path for safe streets in Portland, and we remain committed to eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2025,” Treat told The Portland Tribune, a KOIN 6 News media partner. 

The plan requires sweeping changes, which costs millions of dollars. PBOT is spending $15.4 million on safety projects to fix streets and intersections in their “high crash network.” Earlier this month, PBOT also started replacing over 900 speed limit signs in residential areas from 25-to-20 mph. They also added more traffic cameras. 

“We installed speed safety cameras on outer division that started improving our enforcement of traffic safety on outer division, dramatically reducing (traffic deaths),” said PBOT spokesman Dylan Rivera. “In 2017 we had zero fatalities on outer division.”

The changes need to keep pace with the influx of residents moving to Portland, a reason for why 2017’s death totals were so high, according to PBOT. They also said 50% of people that died were pedestrians attempting to cross the street.

“Most of our fatalities can be boiled down to, somebody not paying attention,” said Sgt. Max John Holbrook with the Portland’s Bureau’s Traffic Division. “The more they’re paying attention to their driving habits, the more likely they are to avoid a crash. Whether it be a serious crash or minor crash.”

The responsibility falls on everyone, according to Rivera. 

“People are dying walking across the street, people are dying behind the wheel, people are dying, riding motorcycles and bicycles,” Rivera said. “All modes of transportation are responsible for this.” 

In 2017, the Oregon Legislature passed a $5.3 billion transportation funding package that PBOT said includes a significant investment into safer streets. Here’s where PBOT said some of those funds is going.

  • $110 million to completely rebuild a 4-mile section of outer SE Powell Blvd and create safe access for people biking, walking and taking public transit.
  • $1.5 million to install a safe crossing on Columbia at Midway.
  • $10 million annually for safety projects statewide
  • $10 million annually for the statewide Safe Routes to School Program, growing to $15 million a year in 2023; some funds may be available to Portland.
  • Reconstruction of Interstate 5 and city streets in the vicinity of the Rose Quarter to improve, among other things, safety on N/NE Broadway, the street with the highest bicycle crash rate in Portland and the fifth highest pedestrian crash rate.
  • $35 to $40 million annually for TriMet bus operations and purchases, expanding service and access for transit, Portland’s safest transportation option.