Citizens Testify at January 21st Corvallis City Council Meeting
The room was inundated with red shirts. The City Council Meeting started as normal, with Mayor Traber leading the Pledge of Allegiance, “Under God.” But this meeting was far from regular; although perhaps becoming too regular for the citizens of Corvallis. The items on the agenda proceeded as normal: a land use appeal, the 2020 fiscal year action plan, and a couple annual reports. Then, two hours later, came the Community Comments.
Not every meeting begins with the testimony of an 11 year old girl. Maggie Brown, resident of South Corvallis, and friend of Rhiana Daniel took to the mic, asking her community to do more to make it safer for bikers and pedestrians, specifically focusing on poor lighting at our crosswalks.
“Rhiana was my friend. She was an amazing, kind person… Think about if that happened to one of your friends,” Brown closed, with a call to empathy.
The comments went on down the long list of people who had signed up for over an hour, with several going well over their allotted three minutes. Those who spoke were concerned citizens of Southtown, witnesses of the accident on January 8th, members of the Corvallis Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory board, and more.
Testimonies ranged from anxious yet understanding, to poignant and fed-up. Though all different in voice and ideas for solutions, the consensus from the community was clearly articulated by George Brown, president of the Tunison Neighborhood Association: “It is a sick, twisted system that we have to have a tragedy before something happens. It is even sicker that we have to have three tragedies.”
Mac Gillespie and his 11 year old Moses came forward as concerned residents of Corvallis. This was not the first time Mac had approached the City Council:
“On June 27th, 2018, Eric Austin was hit… 18 months ago we recommended five things to prevent this from happening again. Then on October 21st, Jeremy Gruver was hit… Now Rhiana Daniel. Two people since I last came to speak to you.” Gillespie continued, saying that as of today, none of those five recommendations had taken place.”
Resident of Southtown, Amy Becker said, “There is a four lane highway running through the middle of our town and it needs to be changed.”
Former Ward 3 city council member Richard Hervey did not mince words: “The City has had the money for the Mary’s River bike path since 2016.”
“You don’t have the right to hire and fire managers who aren’t getting the job done, but you can hire/fire the City Manager,” Hervey finished, sitting five feet in front of City Manager Mark Shepard.
At the end of the Community Comments section, a Corvallis citizen named Nancy explained why they’d all donned various shades of crimson: “Red to represent the blood that has been shed in our community on southwest Third Street.”
The testimonies concluded, and the City Manager Mark Shepard began into this week’s “New Business,” rightfully beginning with updates about the Crosswalk at Southwest Third Street.
Shepard began by acknowledging that these accidents have “profoundly impacted” three families in our community over the past 18 months. Then he began to discuss what has been done to evade further tragedy, and what has been planned for the future.
Shepard said they have been working on improving the flashing yellow lights since the first accident, causing several moans and groans from the audience. He then got into detail: “This Thursday (1/23), the first light will be replaced by ODOT. They will replace the last three by the end of next week.” He outlined what the City and ODOT had already done: put up speed radar signs were on January 17th, and removed the vegetation in the center island on the same day.
He said they already moved the northbound bus stop, and are discussing moving the southbound bus stop. Further, he put forward the greater presence of traffic enforcement in the area, noting “141 traffic stops, 44 citations and 56 warnings.” He said there will now be an officer dedicated to that crosswalk area for both morning and evening commutes.
When Shepard tried to say that ODOT had fixed the lights on January 14th, a member of the audience shouted out “They weren’t working last night!” He thanked the audience member for the feedback.
Then came the new project, which included new signage, and advanced signage on the curves, which Shepard admitted were not going to be lit, but he said the City would reevaluate. He also said the City is working with Pacific Power to increase the wattage of the street light outside of the Co-op, a fix which he believes should happen fairly quickly.
The City is also looking into reflective flags for pedestrians to carry. As far as long term options being discussed, Shepard quickly listed a HAWK signal, lighting embedded in the pavement, a full red light, rumble strips, raising the pedestrian crossing, putting in a round-about, and more.
Shepard also admitted that the City did receive grant funding in 2016 for the new bike/pedestrian path that Hervey mentioned. He blamed the slowness of the actualization of the path on the due processes of the City and State, but said there has been progress recently. The City anticipates to begin the bidding process in May, with construction starting in Summer of 2020, and completion by fall of this year.
Amidst all the ideas, and cries for justice for the lives lost on southwest Third Street, some of the plans stand out. The City has dedicated 1% of this year’s transportaion maintenance fee towards making our crosswalks safer; the citizens of Corvallis would like to see that raised to 10%.
If there are new standards for safety for roads currently being built, why shouldn’t those standards retroactively apply to old roads as well? Citizens would like to see all of our streets and crosswalks be made pedestrian and bicycle safe— not just new roads, and not just when it is convenient.
The Citizens of Corvallis are asking for the implementation of the “Vision 0 Policy,” a policy of zero deaths for children in our crosswalks. This seems like a reasonable thing to ask for; we will see how the City responds.
By Lydia Parker
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