One thing most drivers comment on when coming to Portland for the first time is how accommodating the streets are for pedestrians. All along busy streets like Division, Hawthorne, and Belmont, striped crosswalks mark places where a dog-walker, skateboarder, or baby-stroller-pushing mom can simply step off the curb and get the right-of-way, with cars stopping almost instantaneously on both sides of traffic. This system works pretty well, but studies have shown that lighted signals and flashing crosswalk signs really make a difference when it comes to driver comfort and awareness and pedestrian safety. A popular crossing point in Gresham, near the city’s new skate park on West Powell Boulevard, will soon feature a solar powered crosswalk signal, the city’s first, to aid traffic flow.
