Cultural Sensitivity in a Disadvantaged Neighborhood

N Williams Traffic Safety Project

Why N Williams?/ Background

Bikes!:

• ‘World Class’ Bicycle City

• Growth in N Williams Corridor

Daily bicycle traffic at N Williams and Russell

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1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016

Year

Bicy

cles

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day


Project Team

• Ellen Vanderslice: Project Manager• Wendy Cawley/ Rob Burchfield: Traffic Engineering

Consultant Team• ALTA

Drew Miesel• Kittleson & Assocs.• Michelle Poyourow


Going In: the Project Perspective

• Broaden scope: Not just about bikes: ‘Traffic Safety and Operations’ Project

• Key to public involvement success:How to engage the African American community in a conversation about transportation



Bikes!Transportation

ProjectTransportationImprovements

PublicInvolvement

TechnicalResources

Going In: the PBOT Perspective

• Broaden scope: ‘Traffic Safety and Operations’ Project

• Key to public involvement success:How to engage the African American community

• Reality:The reverse: community needed to engage the City in a long over-due conversation- and its not about transportation


Bikes! Project

Neighborhood History

Neighborhood Change

TransportationImprovements


Bikes! Project

History

Change

TransportationImprovements


THE NEIGHBORHOOD'S VIEW

What’s so bad about bike lanes?

N. Williams Avenue Boise Eliot Neighborhood

Sustainability

Bicycling

African America

ns

“Meeting on Williams project turns into discussion of race, gentrification”-BikePortland.org

Google “bikes and gentrification”

What does bicycle planning have to do with race?

Changing demographics NE Portland 1990-2010

Lessons Learned: Overall Process

• Be flexible- ASAPChallenge your assumptions

• New focus on listening and learning


• Who is not at the table?• In what context, historic,

social, economic, is the planning happening?

• How will I handle unintended consequences?

Start by challenging your assumptions!Ask hard questions.

Lessons Learned: Decision Making Process

• Rebuild SACExpand membership, more African American representation

• Plan for a slower pace

• LeadershipHave a respected community member run the meetings

• Re-do project goalsEstablish a new consensus about goals and priorities: ‘Outcomes’ document

• Empower the SAC


• Create guiding principles• Develop a shared

understanding of context, background

• Develop a system of shared input into process, agenda

• Share decision making

Develop working agreements

Slowing down and listening

28 Public involvement events:

• Stakeholder Advisory Committee17 meetingsFeb, ‘11 – June , ‘12

• Open House #1: April 16, 2011

• Listening Session: June 23, 2011

• Community Forum: Nov. 28, 2011

• Focus group meetings: fall, 2011

• Open House #2: May 19, ‘12


• High contact communities• The role of technology• Overlooked resources, faith

based communities for instance, barber shops, hair salons.

Understand that the outreach and the process will take longer than expected.

Rebuild Stakeholder Advisory Committee• Expand membership• Broader African American representation

Leadership• Debora Leopold Hutchins


Bikes:• Capacity- bikes• Safety- Bus/bike conflict• Safety- ‘dooring’

Neighborhood:• Capacity- cars• Safety- all modes, particularly peds• Traffic calming

‘Outcomes’:Sorting out and Prioritizing Key Design Issues


Bikes:• Capacity bikes: Road diet (wider bike lane)• Safety- Bus/bike conflict: Left side bike lane• Safety- ‘dooring’: Road diet (wider bike lane)

Neighborhood:• Capacity- cars: Maintain two travel lanes, signalize N Cook St• Safety- all modes, particularly peds: Curb extensions• Traffic calming: Road diet (single travel lane)

OutcomesSorting Out and Prioritizing Key Design Issues


Bikes:• Capacity bikes: Road diet (wider bike lane)• Safety- Bus/bike conflict: Left side bike lane• Safety- ‘dooring’: Road diet (wider bike lane)

Neighborhood:• Capacity- cars: Maintain two travel lanes, signalize N Cook St• Safety- all modes, particularly peds: Curb extensions• Traffic calming: Road diet (single travel lane)

Key Design Options

Overall:• Capacity: one travel lane vs. two• Left side bike lane- will it work?


Graphic of all the alternatives


Alternatives Development & Evaluation

Recommendation

‘Outcomes’document

‘3-D’ Modeling

Community leadership

Design Creativity

Alternatives/Decision Making

Complexity

Consensus around prioritiesAcknowledges need for compromise

Reduce the complexity,Increase understanding

• Fargo-Skidmore- ‘shared’ facility• Honoring History

Focus the conversation onachieving an decision


A: Creativity: New idea- Shared FacilityB: 3-D Models


Recommendation

‘Outcomes’document

‘3-D’ Modeling

Community leadership

Creativity

Alternatives/Decision Making

Complexity

Consensus around prioritiesAcknowledges need for compromise

Reduce the complexityIncrease understanding

Fargo-Skidmore- ‘shared’ facilityHonoring History element

Focus the conversation onachieving an decision


Next Steps

• Grant funding for design engineering and constructionImplement ‘whole’


• Is the longer more expensive process worth it?

• How to justify the expense?• Exemplary project or just

adequate?

Understand that to do this, you will need more budget than is available

Cultural Sensitivity in a Disadvantaged Neighborhood

Education

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