A roadside memorial constructed for late Portland chef Sarah Pliner, who died while cycling along Southeast Powell Boulevard, contains bouquets, messages and mementos. Pliners death has renewed calls for safety improvements along Powell Boulevard.
A roadside memorial constructed for late Portland chef Sarah Pliner, who died while cycling along Southeast Powell Boulevard, contains bouquets, messages and mementos. Pliners death has renewed calls for safety improvements along Powell Boulevard.
PMG photo: Courtney Vaughn
Traffic along Southeast Powell Boulevard and 26th Avenue, where a fatal crash took the life of a cyclist.
On the side of a busy Southeast Portland intersection, a roadside memorial boasted bouquets, hand-written notes, cards, mementos and a small portrait of Sarah Pliner.
Pliner, 50, was killed Tuesday, Oct. 4 after she was struck by a semi truck while riding her bicycle along Southeast Powell Boulevard at 26th Avenue.
Pliner was a well-known local chef and former restaurant owner. Her North Portland eatery, Aviary, closed in spring 2020, early in the pandemic.
A wire whisk and wooden spoon, odes to Pliner's livelihood, were among the mementos left at the roadside memorial.
Police said the driver of the truck stayed at the scene and cooperated with investigators, but the fatal crash has renewed calls for safety improvements along that stretch of Southeast Powell Boulevard in front of Cleveland High School, which sees cyclists and students traverse the state-owned highway frequently.
Powell Boulevard, or Highway 26, is owned and maintained by the Oregon Department of Transportation. Many, including city officials, have lobbied for the state to transfer ownership to the city of Portland.
When asked about the safety of Powell Boulevard by Pamplin Media Group, ODOT pointed to road improvements made in 2020, including reconfiguring the area near Powell and Southeast 26th Avenue to include wider areas for trucks to turn, a larger sidewalk area for students to safely gather while waiting to cross and a bicycle crossing two blocks east. Despite the improvements made a few years prior, the state agency never added bike lanes to the road.
Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty sounded the call for safety improvements Thursday, Oct. 6, along with a transfer of ownership to the city.
"Every traffic fatality is one too many," Hardesty said in a news release. "This was a preventable death at an intersection that PBOT, alongside community, had previously advocated for substantial safety improvements to be made by ODOT, including a bike lane. ODOT opted for a different option and this intersection remains far too dangerous for pedestrians and bike riders."
The city commissioner pointed out that ODOT's own Blueprint for Urban Design "lays out strategies for safer urban arterials that they can apply."
Previous talks of transferring ownership of Powell Boulevard to the city of Portland have focused on costly improvements needed along the highway, as well as a lengthy process to do so, but Hardesty said the latest deadly crash highlights the urgency.
"Enough is enough. The neglect of state-owned ODOT roads within Portland is why we recently brought 82nd Avenue under local control, and we must now begin the process of transferring Southeast Powell Blvd along with funds that cover the true cost of the needed safety improvements all along the boulevard," Hardesty said.
KOIN 6 News, a partner of Pamplin Media Group, .
"This doesn't have to take years and years. There are safety improvements that can take place very quickly at the intersection if ODOT decides to do them," said Portland Bureau of Transportation spokesperson Dylan Rivera. "It's within our control to do something about these traffic fatalities, so we as a community need to work together with state agencies, with transit agencies, with county and other agencies to make progress on safety every week, every month until we limit traffic fatalities."
