PORTLAND, Ore. — East Portland's 122nd Avenue is among the top 5% of the city's most dangerous streets, and it's an issue that's top-of-mind for many people who live and work along the corridor.
"A lot of speeding around here," one man said. "A lot of speeding and people driving fast."
"Bikes don't travel in their flow of traffic, so when we leave a street we could have an oncoming bike but they're going the wrong way," another woman added.
It's a troubling situation, but help is on the way.
The U.S. Department of Transportation is awarding $20 million in grant money to the Portland Bureau of Transportation to make safety improvements along 122nd Avenue between Sandy and Foster.
"It's a street that's one of the most dangerous in the city, and we've known really needs upgrades to it for some time now," said Hannah Schafer with PBOT.
PBOT is kicking in an additional $5 million to pay for the safety upgrades, Schafer said. The combined $25 million will fund new pedestrian crossings, protected bike lanes, raised medians, new speed reader boards, extra street lighting and other improvements.
"I think that's a good thing," one neighbor said. "I think they need more lighting in this neighborhood when you have a lot of kids."
The 122nd Avenue project is just one of more than 500 projects USDOT is funding nationwide.
"This is the first set of grants coming out of the USDOT that is directed toward their goal of Vision Zero," Schafer said. "This is no longer something Portland is just doing or other cities scattered around the country. This is now a goal of the USDOT."
Schafer said work on the safety upgrades should begin in the next two years.