Another Fatal Crash

[Michael Dixon]

Police Investigate Crash On Riverside Street

PORTLAND, Maine — On Sunday, February 23 , 2025 at 7:25 p.m., Portland Police responded to a serious motor vehicle accident in the area of 654 Riverside Street. A car, driven by a 26-year-old  Portland man, struck a 37-year-old Portland man, who was walking in the roadway. 

The victim was transported to Maine Medical Center where he later succumbed to his injuries. His identity is being withheld pending next of kin notification.

The Portland Police Department and its Crash Reconstruction Team is investigating the incident and no charges have been filed at this time. 

Police are asking anyone who may have witnessed the crash or have information to please call them at 207-874-8532 or 207-874-8575.

[Zack Barowitz]

Horrible. I hope they investigate the condition of the sidewalk. 

Zack 

207-838-6120

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[Denise Brautigam]

I agree. HORRIBLE. This is right next to the intersection I sent photos [to this list] of where cars whip by pedestrians and cyclists crossing the road using the crosswalk - regardless of what the crosswalk light is doing. It was inevitable someone would eventually get hit. There have been so many near accidents already. It is seriously crazy driving in this area.

I stopped cycling thru here some time ago. I refuse to use that intersection at all. It is just way too dangerous.

Denise

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[Damon Yakovleff]

Agreed, this is horrible. I have been going to Riverside Golf Course quite often the last few weeks for winter rec and every time I have seen lots of pedestrians walking on Riverside Street (both the sections with and without sidewalks). Far too many drivers are exceeding the speed limit and not exercising due care as required by law.

I wonder if somebody from our group can assess the sidewalk conditions right now (at least for the portion where there is a sidewalk) and note deficiencies. If there are deficiencies they should be posted to See Click Fix.

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[Denise Brautigam]

I'm going to the golf course today. I'll see what I can do. Denise

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[Denise Brautigam]

I doubt I will be able to assess the sidewalks today afterall, so if someone else can, please do.

Sorry, Denise

[Derek Pelletier]

I was in that area a couple of hours before the pedestrian was killed last night and was disappointed in how poor the conditions on the sidewalks were. Pretty much anyone who was walking was in the road. 

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[Kate Sykes]

Hey everyone, just wanted you to know that I connected with Andrew Zarro at the Bike Coalition of Maine today on this. He says he will be at the Council meeting tonight to give public testimony about the urgent need to adopt VZ. I’ve also been hearing from constituents who are passionate about this issue. We're really close to getting this over the finish line, so if you're able to attend last minute, I encourage you to participate and share your insights during non-agenda public comment.

Thank you for all the work you do—hope to see you tonight!

Kate Sykes (she/they)

Councilor, Dist. 5

City of Portland
389 Congress Street
Portland, Maine 04101

ksy...@portlandmaine.gov

c: 207.558.5764

Read the District 5 Insider newsletter and keep up to speed on issues working their way through Council Chambers.

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[Winston Lumpkins]

I won't be able to make it tonight, as I have a cold of some kind and am attempting to keep it to myself, however, I'd encourage folks to go if they're free. 

Thanks Kate, for the work on this

PBPAC sent 2 letters in the time I've been part of the organization about sidewalk snow plowing; as we've seen this winter, it does occasionally still snow. 

First letter Second letter

There is at least one fatality every year due to people walking in the street due to either uncleared, or icy/frozen snow covered sidewalks.  Sometimes more, and unknown number of injuries and close calls.  That is the result of not spending more money on sidewalk snow clearing, that is a policy decision that the council and the city manager make.  Especially the sidewalks along these arterial roads in District 3, 4 & 5... Fewer pedestrians and higher speeds mean people aren't expecting to see people walking at all, and creates a more dangerous situation than uncleared sidewalks downtown, where speeds are slower and pedestrians are more frequent...  Especially around the shelter, it would make sense to add additional resources of some kind.

I don't think that the GPCOG Vision Zero plan addresses winter maintenance, but, certainly, we shall have to address it as a city if we're serious about reaching zero pedestrian deaths.

~Winston

Winston Lumpkins IV (he/him/his)

Past Chair, Portland Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee
https://www.portlandbikeped.org/

winston....@gmail.com
207-408-1508

• 
  

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[Derek M. Strout]

Sorry to hear you’re not feeling well, Winston. I won’t be able to make it tonight either.

I tried sending this earlier but just got the message that the photos were too large so sending again. I drove out to Riverside this morning and took these. I’m not familiar with the bike ped infrastructure of that area in general, but can attest that getting down and across Riverside at the entrance of the HSC was not without stress.

Derek

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[George Rheault]



Thank you Derek!

Many parts of the Northeast are struggling with a rough February winter, especially the ice situation.  

However, some communities are tackling this better than others.  Boston's Mayor didn't wait for an accident to draw attention to the issue: Boston and neighboring cities are cracking down on uncleared sidewalks  [we all need to follow-up with how Boston's sidewalk clearing ordinance can move so much quicker to citations than our own city ordinance which basically gives violators a lot of extra time to ignore the problem].  Also see attached a photo of a front page story from the Sat/Sun edition of the Manchester (NH) Union Leader (NH's main newspaper).  

If our City Manager and Mayor appear to be silent during big snow events about the importance of clearing sidewalks, then no surprise the worst of the property-owners take that silence to heart.  

It is also sad to hear that the vicinity of the Homeless Services Center may not have been prioritized for sidewalk clearance during recent storms despite its client base being virtually 100% pedestrians.  While it is premature to know for sure what happened, this can never be allowed to happen again.

This also takes away from the good work being done by many crews out there.  They cannot be everywhere and certainly not all at once.  But more people would be willing to chip in to cover areas needing more work if they knew it was part of a collective effort that was being enforced and appreciated city-wide.

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[John Clark]

Thanks for sharing these, Derek. Those east side conditions are atrocious and I don't think anyone can be faulted for choosing to walk in the street rather than on that mess of a sidewalk. It looks like the stretch of Riverside was reported on SeeClickFix on Wed. 2/19, addressed by the city on the morning on 2/20 by closing it saying they'd schedule an inspection. Per the city's Citizen Self Service Portal, it looks like an inspection was "scheduled" but never actually completed.

I know enforcement is stretched thin - just today, they had 24 inspections scheduled. But this lack of timely enforcement and leniency around issuing violations very likely could have resulted in this death. 

I'm extremely frustrated about this entire situation. We've been discussing winter sidewalk maintenance issues with the city since PBPAC's inception and probably will continue to need to for the remainder of its existence. We've publicly warned multiple times that a situation like this would happen when they put in a shelter on the outskirts of the city with lacking infrastructure to get around without a car. And here we are. Unfortunately, I have another meeting and am unable to attend council tonight, but if I could, I would be there with enlarged images of those sidewalk conditions.

On Mon, Feb 24, 2025 at 4:08 PM Derek M. Strout <derekm...@gmail.com> wrote:

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John Clark (he | him | his)

[Damon Yakovleff]

I completely agree with John, those conditions are unacceptable. It has been over a week since the last snowfall, those sidewalks should be completely passable at this point. And yes, this is exactly what many of us were concerned about during the discussion about the Homeless Services Center site. 

I cannot attend the Council meeting tonight either, but I do hope people can work to highlight this issue. And if it's not part of the GPCOG Vision Zero platform, we should do what we can to make sure it's part of what we adopt for Portland. 

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[Zack Barowitz]

Four of “us” spoke about this. 

207-838-6120

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[Zack Barowitz]

Four people gave comment at city council this evening:

- Andrew Zarro - BCM

- Jon Kachmar - Portland Trails

- Me

- George Rheault 

Zack 

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[Myles G. Smith]

It is completely outrageous. When folks perished while sleeping in tents overnight, the city and newspaper note that the Homeless Services Center was not full. Why is it not full? Perhaps because it's ridiculously, dangerously, and even fatally inaccessible. A heavy-truck oriented industrial zone like this is no place for humans to try to live, particularly those who can't afford to be in a 2-ton vehicle to protect them. Even if the sidewalks were cleared, how are people supposed to cross these streets to get between bus stops? 

As we can also see - an attorney in the Old Port and one of our most vulnerable residents are equally in danger when our streets are designed and maintained for cars, not people. The indifference of our policies is hurting all of us.

Thank you to those who testified yesterday. 

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[Zack Barowitz]

Well said everyone. Perhaps we can alert the police to the sidewalk conditions in the hope that they note it in the report. 

Zack

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[Emma Holder]

Please, let’s not lose sight of the fact that this fatality was caused by a driver making poor choices during the conditions that were present. The fact that the side walks were not available, and there was ice should have prompted the driver to make more skilled choices suitable for the conditions. 

I believe the City workers are doing the best they can with the tools and manpower they have available. Could it be better? definitely. To achieve this, taxes will have to go up to buy more tools and hire more workers. Will taxpayers go for that? We don’t know. BUT,

DPW cannot be blamed for poor driving skills. And unless the pedestrian slipped on ice and fell under the wheels, or actively threw himself in front of the car, the situation does not absolve the driver of responsibility of killing this pedestrian. Was there a screen distraction involved? Because most people are driving with a hand and both eyes on a phone or screen.

Of course, we should work on making roadways safer, no matter the season and obviously pedestrians must take responsibility for their walking choices. 

But it was unskilled operation of the vehicle in this difficult icy road/ lack of sidewalk condition that lead to the death of a fellow citizen under the drivers wheels. Driver accountability needs to be a large part of the focus of vision zero. 

Rant over :)

Emma

Emma Holder

207.415.7204

Http://emmaholder.com

Humankind. Let's be both. 

On Feb 24, 2025, at 16:38, George Rheault <george....@gmail.com> wrote:





Thank you Derek!

Many parts of the Northeast are struggling with a rough February winter, especially the ice situation.  

However, some communities are tackling this better than others.  Boston's Mayor didn't wait for an accident to draw attention to the issue: Boston and neighboring cities are cracking down on uncleared sidewalks  [we all need to follow-up with how Boston's sidewalk clearing ordinance can move so much quicker to citations than our own city ordinance which basically gives violators a lot of extra time to ignore the problem].  Also see attached a photo of a front page story from the Sat/Sun edition of the Manchester (NH) Union Leader (NH's main newspaper).  

<image0.jpeg>

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[Christian MilNeil]

Agreed, Emma. There are layers of responsibility here. Drivers will always make mistakes and bad decisions, and the city's job is to minimize the risks of those predictable mistakes. 

I've found myself "taking the lane" as a pedestrian – John Brooking might call it vehicular walking – at times when sidewalks are blocked with snow. A few years ago I had to do this on Forest Ave. through Woodfords Corner during morning rush hour, and drivers were pissed. Once I pointed out to them that the sidewalks were buried they were still pissed, but maybe a little less pissed at me specifically. It felt pretty silly but it was considerably safer than the alternative, which would have been walking in the slippery slush at the edge of the snowbank as cars whizzed by me too closely.

I grant that this is not a practical solution for most people, but it does give me an idea for advocacy  – if a sidewalk on a busy arterial is blocked with snow, then we should set up cones or some other physical barrier to close an adjacent driving lane and call it a temporary sidewalk until the city or the adjacent property owner meets its obligations to provide a safe, ADA-accessible walking route. We could get 5-6 folks to set one up after the next snowstorm and invite the press - it would make a great visual to draw attention to the issue.

Christian MilNeil
- - - - - - - - - - - - -

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[Damon Yakovleff]

The Press Herald did a story on the crash, see: https://www.pressherald.com/2025/02/26/latest-pedestrian-death-in-portland-raises-questions-around-safety-near-homeless-shelter/

Latest pedestrian death in Portland raises questions around safety near homeless shelter

Justin Mitchell was hit and killed by a car Sunday night as he was walking on Riverside Street near the Portland homeless shelter, where advocates say there have long been concerns about pedestrian safety.

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Posted1:50 PM

Updatedat2:34 PM

Grace BenninghoffPortland Press Herald

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Flowers lay on the snow at the entrance to the Homeless Services Center in Portland, close to where 37-year-old Justin Mitchell died Sunday after being hit by a car on Riverside Street. Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald

Three white roses lay in the snow Tuesday afternoon near the driveway leading to Portland’s homeless shelter. They’d been placed there to honor 37-year-old Justin Mitchell, who was killed Sunday night when he was hit by a car as he walked down the road.

Mitchell grew up in Portland and loved basketball and spending time with his kids. He always did what he could to make people laugh, said his former sister-in-law, Kris Burgess. He was staying at the homeless shelter at the time of his death, according to friends.

“He was always a very happy person. He was funny. I mean, he would do anything to make people laugh. He was so good with his kids,” said Burgess.

She said Mitchell leaves behind a 13-year-old son and a 16-year-old daughter, who are taking his death “terribly.”

Pedestrian safety advocates say Mitchell’s death may have been preventable. They have reignited concerns about the safety of the roads near the shelter, where nearly all of the 200-some residents rely on public transportation or walking to get around.

“It’s obviously very dangerous in that area to try to cross or walk. It’s a high-traffic area, and it’s only a matter of time before it happens again,” said Cheryl Harkins, an advocate with the nonprofit Preble Street’s Homeless Voices for Justice.

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SAFETY CONCERNS

Shay Dufort, an advocate for the homeless community in Portland, said people who are staying at the shelter have told her they are concerned about safety in the area.

“A lot of people who live at the shelter are concerned that they are going to be next. They are worried if they have to walk to the bus stop, they could be hit by a car,” said Dufort. “It’s not just the homeless population impacted, (it’s) anybody walking around in that area. It could have been anybody.”

A pedestrian walks down Riverside Street on Tuesday, near where 37-year-old Justin Mitchell died Sunday after being hit by a car. Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald

Harkins said catching a bus from the shelter requires crossing two busy intersections. She says she has long been concerned that there are not enough streetlights in the area and that the sidewalks are sometimes not cleared quickly after big snowstorms, forcing people to walk in the street.

“A lot of people work, and they have to get out of there at odd hours,” she said. Even though the city does provide a shuttle to the peninsula, Harkins said, there are certain times of day when taking a bus or walking are the only options.

Related

Portland man dies after being hit by car on Riverside Street

Friends of Mitchell’s said he had been walking in the road Sunday because the sidewalks by the shelter weren’t cleared a week after the city’s latest storm.

City spokesperson Jessica Grondin said the sidewalk near the shelter is on the city’s plow route and was clear as of Tuesday morning. She said the sidewalk was clear Sunday night when Mitchell was killed. 

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According to a state crash report, Mitchell was walking south on Riverside Street toward Waldron Street when he attempted to cross the road near Waldron Way, where there is no crosswalk. On Tuesday afternoon, the sidewalk on that side of the road was not cleared.

Flowers lay on the snow at the entrance to the Homeless Services Center in Portland, close to where a 37-year-old man died Sunday after being hit by a car on Riverside Street. Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald

Harkins said she gave a presentation to Greater Portland Council of Governments last year about this issue, but never saw any changes. About a month ago, her colleague Lisa Franklin spoke to GPCOG again, this time advocating for more crosswalks and street lamps and an additional bus stop. None of these changes has been made.

Tom Bell, communications director at GPCOG, wrote in an email that the organization does not have authority over local issues like snow clearing or crosswalk installations.

“We don’t express opinions on matters within the jurisdiction of our member municipalities. These issues are under the jurisdiction of the City of Portland,” Bell wrote. 

A NEW PLAN

Tom Doherty, executive director of Milestone Recovery, said that safety concerns near the shelter have been on his radar for a while. Milestone has clients who live at the shelter and their travel to and from appointments is always a concern, he said.

“We have to design these roads as places for human to use.” he said. “That is a high-traffic area out there. It’s where a lot of people are; a lot of people are trying to get back into town for appointments.”

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Doherty said he supports a campaign for Portland to adopt a Zero Vision plan, a global road safety strategy to end traffic deaths. Advocates have been pushing for the city to adopt a plan after a series of recent deaths, including an attorney who was killed while walking to work in the Old Port.

“We need to look at each area of the city and there is going to be a customized response to that to make sure we prioritize people rather than cars,” Doherty said.

Andrew Zarro, executive director of the Maine Bicycle Coalition and a former Portland city councilor, said nationwide trends indicate there are higher instances of traffic fatalities in low-income neighborhoods.

“When we talk about street safety we have to talk about equity, because the burden of incidents of traffic violence are actually not shared equally across the city,” Zarro said.

He said that a combination of street design, education and enforcement could make the city safer for pedestrians, and that would include solutions like installing speedbumps and protected bike lanes, enforcing existing speed limits more stringently and installing more public transit.

“This is a preventable crisis and the city has the tools to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” Zarro said.

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Mayor Mark Dion said the council’s Sustainability and Transportation Committee is considering adopting a Vision Zero plan, but it would need to come before the full council before being implemented. Dion said he’s not sure when that might happen. And, he said, he’s not sure if he would vote to adopt such an initiative.

Dion said he’s not convinced that recent traffic deaths in Portland are all due to infrastructure issues.

“They come back to these pedestrian deaths and say that things aren’t safe, but the conclusions haven’t always been released by the police. Was it a driver error? A pedestrian error?” the mayor said.

‘HE WAS A LIGHT’

Burgess said Mitchell had struggled over the last few years with “demons” but that he was finally getting back on his feet and turning things around. He had recently decided to go back to work, and he’d visited with his kids a few weeks before his death.

She said they were excited after they saw him and couldn’t stop talking about how well he was doing.

“Justin wasn’t his addiction, Justin wasn’t homelessness — Justin was happiness and laughter. I want him to be known for who he was. He was a light,” Burgess said.

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[Todd Russell]

No doubt driver responsibility is part of the equation but the data from Vision Zero adopters seems to point to street design as a much more significant part of it. The problem is that officials point to irresponsible drivers as a cop out and an easy excuse to do nothing about the problem. Mayor Dion seems to be setting that scaffolding for such a cop out in this article.

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[Zack Barowitz]

I’m glad the article mentions sidewalks. 

The fact that we warned that there would be traffic deaths (plural) at this location and that we followed up with a walk audit and in depth report which we presented to the city is a pretty strong indication that the city’s infrastructure and operational maintenance is inadequate and, in my view, negligent. 

Zack 

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[Zack Barowitz]

I heard an accident expert once say:

“Every accident is due either to an unsafe action or an unsafe situation.”

It sounded trite and maybe reductive when I first heard it, but over time, I’ve tested it (informally) over years and it bears out pretty well. 

For example: “Were those broken plates caused by an unsafe action—such as stacking them too high; or an unsafe situation—like a dripping pipe leaving a wet spot on the ground where someone carrying a plate slipped.

Trail lawyers are all about pointing out unsafe conditions and holding those who are responsible accountable. 

Thanks 

Zack 

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[James Cradock]

Thumbs up for setting up cones and signage suggesting there are people walking in the cleared roadway when the sidewalks are impassable.

Count me in for deployment.

Thank you.

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Sent by James Cradock from sea...@cradock.net

[Rosemarie De Angelis]

that’s why we don’t call them accidents in South Portland. We call them crashes.

Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 28, 2025, at 3:24 PM, James Cradock <sea...@cradock.net> wrote:



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[Zoe Miller]

Hi all,

This is so very sad. And it appears there's a need to educate the mayor and others on what Vision Zero encompasses - that we are asking for a comprehensive approach. I think of it as a public health framework. You want to assess why the problem is happening and then use all the effective interventions to solve it . I do think political will is a major issue here. We need to act like this is solvable and not as though it's out of our control. I think the cones are a good idea and lowering the speed limit. Doing things that signal it's an area to slow down and pay more attention. 

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[John Brooking]

Good discussion. Of course I often do "vehicular walking" in the winter as well. On the left side of the street, facing traffic, per walking safety guidelines and ordinance.

For many years I have worked at an office in the Maine Mall area, and about a year ago we moved to the Unum complex on Outer Congress Street.  The entire area is extremely inadequate for pedestrians, particularly in terms of marked crosswalks. Several times in the last year I have taken the Metro Bus from that office into downtown Portland. There are bus stops at the foot of the Unum driveway, but no crosswalks in which to cross the road to get to the far one. If you walk down to the main part of Congress near the Elks Club and jetport road, there are marked crosswalks on only two of the intersection legs, so I still have to cross the jetport road without a crosswalk to get to the inbound bus stop. And in many winter storms I have observed the sidewalks in the mall area remain unplowed for days after a storm, and footprints of people who have chosen to walk through the snow.

John Brooking

Cyclist, Cycling Educator, Technologist

https://www.facebook.com/CyclingSavvy4ME/, http://cyclingsavvy.org

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[Sarah Baker]

Very upsetting to hear about another pedestrian death on Forest Ave yesterday (I think - others may have more details, I just saw this on Facebook). It sounds like two vehicles were involved, details are pretty tragic, and obviously this is happening far more than it should. I would be remiss not to say something about drivers being on their phones. Yes, sidewalks are tough right now. Yes, there are a lot of pedestrians walking in the road and, no, they are not always easy to see as a driver. However, previously (a few years ago? Before we were all glued to our screens? Or that brief period of time when we had fear of being ticketed if on our phones?) it seems you could be walking/running against traffic, in a crosswalk, wearing your high-vis gear, whatever, and pretty reliably know that a driver would see and avoid you. Now drivers are not even LOOKING. I am dumbfounded every time I'm running, walking my dogs, or even driving myself at the number of people staring down at their phones. I understand that accessible sidewalks are a priority discussion point given the season, but I really think that distracted driving is contributing to these pedestrian deaths. 

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SARAH BAKER

baker....@gmail.com

[Rosemarie De Angelis]

DISTRACTED DRIVING is, and I believe it’s well documented, the number one cause of crashes. Frightening.

Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 3, 2025, at 9:07 AM, Sarah Baker <baker....@gmail.com> wrote:



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