On this day, May 5, 1903, James Beard, US culinary expert, author (Delights & Prejudices), was born in Portland, Ore.
Also on this day, May 5, 1945, A Japanese balloon bomb exploded on Gearhart Mountain in Oregon, killing Mrs. Elsie Mitchell, the pregnant wife of a minister, and five children after they attempted to drag it out the woods in Lakeview, Oregon. The balloon was armed, and exploded soon after they began tampering with it. They became the 1st and only known American civilians to be killed in the continental US during World War II.
Also on this day, May 5, 1945, Bly minister Archie Mitchell, his pregnant wife Elsie, and five children from Mitchell's Sunday school class were on a Saturday morning picnic. Thirteen miles northeast of Bly, or about sixty miles northeast of Klamath Falls, Mitchell parked the car, and Elsie and the children headed to Leonard Creek. Mitchell later remembered: "As I got out of the car to bring the lunch, the others were not far away and called to me they had found something that looked like a balloon. I heard of Japanese balloons so I shouted a warning not to touch it. But just then there was a big explosion. I ran up there--and they were all dead." It was a Japanese balloon bomb. They were 70 feet tall with a 33-foot diameter paper canopy connected to the main device by shroud lines. Balloons inflated with hydrogen followed the jet stream at an altitude of 30,000 feet.
“Vision Zero†plan may not be working
In 2016 the City of Portland created the Zero Vision Traffic Plan
to reduce traffic fatalities. At the time, Commissioner Steven
Novick said “Other cities across the nation have implemented
their own Vision Zero Act Plans and have seen a reduction in
traffic deaths.†New York was the earliest adoption and
experienced a 22% reduction in three years. Portland’s goal was
to eliminate deaths and serious injuries for all who share
Portland streets by 2025.
The project started with a survey asking 895 people their top
three road safety tips. Eighty-five percent supported using
automated cameras to ticket people who run red lights, and 71
percent supported automated cameras to ticket people who
speed.
For a few years it improved hitting a low of 34 in 2018. Then it
creeped up to 50, then 59 setting a new record in 2020. Now,
five years into the project, they are on the verge of setting a
record for the most traffic deaths ever. On Thanksgiving eve,
deaths reach 61 passing the record of 2020.
Portland has spent more than $120 million on the Zero Vision
Traffic Plan that hasn’t changed even the most dangerous
streets identified in the Plan. Six speed safety cameras were
installed on the most dangerous streets and added street
lighting at
high crash crossings.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
They installed
city trucks with side
guards that are risks to pedestrians.
Speed limits were reduced
citywide and enforced with speed cameras. With the lowering
of speed limits, in July they added how to resolve a citation in
five languages on the
Vision Zero website.
An education campaign called
‘Struck’ launched a Vision Zero
dashboard with an
interactive map and videos. To ensure safe
driving is on the mind of Portlanders,
free Vision Zero pins,
stickers, brochures and fliers are available.
The Vision Zero Task Force was dissolved on January 25, 2021,
that oversaw the implementation. Does that mean the project
is on auto-pilot? In June, Portland Bureau of Transportation
announced $80 million towards a $185 million plan to
transform 82nd Avenue, one of many high-risk areas. What of
the other high-risk areas?
According to the
Portland Traffic Fatality Tracker, only two of the 61 accidents this year took
place on 82nd Avenue compared to six on Marine Drive or four
on Powell.
It’s clear that five years has not produced any progress to
eliminate fatalities. Another challenge lurks when ODOT
implements tolling moving more traffic onto now busy streets
where pedestrians and bikers travel.
--Donna Bleiler| Post Date: 2021-11-29 15:27:16 | Last Update: 2021-11-29 16:00:29 |
