Joint Letter on Safety on Portland Public Streets

[Portland Bike Ped]

Please find below and at this location a letter initiated by Portland Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee and endorsed by nine other city and state groups.

Dear Mayor Dion, Police Chief Dubois, and other elected officials and staff:

On Thursday, November 20th, a driver of a vehicle hit and killed Diane Bell of Westbrook while she attempted to cross Franklin Street. This was the fifth time a driver has hit and killed a pedestrian or cyclist in Portland in just over one year. People in Portland are now more than seven times more likely to be killed walking or cycling on our streets than they are in Boston or New York City. In the last 15 years, more people have been killed in Portland by drivers than in all types of homicides in the city. Drivers have struck nearly 80 pedestrians and cyclists in Portland this year. It is clear that road violence is a public health crisis and the top safety risk to the residents of our city.

Earlier this year, Portland’s City Council adopted a Vision Zero resolve and revisited the Complete Streets policy, which we applaud. However, most of the benefits we will see from this commitment to better infrastructure will come in years or decades. We cannot accept another decade of traffic violence. 

This letter outlines the characteristics of the intersection where this most recent and preventable tragedy occurred. It then examines the communication the community has received from the Portland Police Department and identifies areas where it has fallen short, along with recommendations to ensure the public is informed accurately and without bias. Finally, it presents the immediate steps we urge the Portland City Council to consider to reduce traffic violence in our city.

Franklin Street and Marginal Way Intersection:

The City of Portland, and everyone who lives here, knows that Franklin Street presents an extreme danger to people in our city. This is the second pedestrian killed attempting to cross Franklin in just over a year. The exit from I-295 to Franklin and Marginal Way invites deadly highway speeds into an urban pedestrian environment. The posted speed limit on Franklin Street is 35 mph. There is little, if any, enforcement, and the road design encourages vehicles to move far faster than 35 mph. As pedestrian safety expert Dr. Patricia Tice notes, “Thirty-five miles per hour is a really sweet spot for killing people.” 

The dangerous speed of the traffic is compounded by the confusing and impractical steps that pedestrians and cyclists must take to cross Franklin. The two-phase crossing signal requires pedestrians and cyclists to push a “beg” button, cross half way to a very small traffic island, push another “beg” button, and wait again before proceeding. This is the main crossing for users of the Bayside Trail, and it can barely fit a single bike, let alone a group of a dozen runners or a group of kids trying to get to Kennedy Park. Navigation of the intersection is also complicated by variable use of a no-turn on red sign on Marginal Way in the eastbound direction of travel, which is frequently unnoticed or ignored by drivers.

Since 2015, The City has been in the process of redesigning Franklin Street to advance City goals for economic growth, housing, and resilience, and improving safety, accessibility and connectivity for Franklin Street’s users of all ages and abilities by all modes of travel. 

Portland Police Department Public Communication Practices:

In a Nov 21, 2025 media release, the Portland Police Department stated that “According to multiple witnesses, the woman had been running with others, all of whom crossed the roadway against the signal at the time she was struck,” emphasis added. We strongly disagree with the Portland Police Department’s decision to describe the victim’s alleged behavior in the intersection, while making no mention of the driver’s behavior. An investigation remains underway, and the Department is still taking witness statements. The reader is invited to blame the pedestrian for their own death by the implication that they were at-fault for crossing when they should not have. Subsequent media coverage of the incident has adopted the same problematic framing.

We are told nothing about the drivers’ behavior. Was the driver distracted? Intoxicated? Impaired? Exhausted? Speeding? Crossing lanes in an intersection? Accelerating to catch the end of the green light phase? Any of these details are plausible and common at this location. There is also information circulating in the community disputing this claim. The reporting by the Portland Police Department, in addition to being incomplete, may also be at least partly false. 

When clarification was sought from the traffic division of the Portland Police Department, the incident was said to be under investigation, and the department is “still receiving witness reports.” The information our city communicates with the public should be accurate, unbiased and timely.

We respectfully request that Portland Police Department:

1. Create a policy for public statements on fatal and serious-injury crashes. Initial reports should not absolve the driver of responsibility, should provide context for the crash. Colorado DOT and Rutgers University provide good examples, based on excellent research by Texas A&M University.

2. Provide an update on the completed investigations into all the pedestrians and cyclists killed by drivers in Portland in 2024 and 2025, including facts, fault finding, and if any criminal charges were brought or civil violation was determined by any party. 

3. Provide any information on changes to traffic enforcement policies or practices that the city has made in response to this incident, or due to any other fatal crash that we’ve seen in the last year.

4. Provide a public statement that better informs the public on the investigation into this crash. The statement should include a timeline of when the public can expect to receive the findings of this investigation, and if the department’s November 21, 2025 statement comports with the department’s current reporting policy.

City of Portland Actions:

The City's Reimagining Franklin Street project acknowledges the outdated and dangerous design of this street and envisions dramatic changes to speeds and alignments. Waiting another decade for the realignment plan to be finalized, funded, and built is not an option. We've already seen what happens when critical projects stall - for example - the Libbytown street safety project around I-295 Exit 5 was defunded and now sits in limbo. Every delay puts lives at risk

The City of Portland must act decisively and take concrete steps to save lives and prevent future tragedies. We recommend that the City of Portland:

1. Implement immediate interim traffic calming measures on Franklin Street, at every offramp from I-295, and along every multi-lane arterial. These are the most dangerous corridors and intersections in the city for all users. While seeking funding and final plans for the realignment of these intersections, we urge you to use bollards to reduce lane widths, eliminate no-stop right turns, and use temporary speed bumps to slow traffic exiting the highway and remind drivers they are now in an urban environment.

2. Eliminate right turns on red at traffic signals in the city. In the last few years, Atlanta, Seattle, and Washington, DC, banned right-on-red except in rare cases to promote biking and walking safety and to slow traffic.

3. Implement an immediate 20 miles per hour limit on all city streets. Studies have shown that reducing speed limits does reduce speeds, which reduces deaths and injuries in crashes. It is very possible that if the driver had been traveling more slowly, this victim would be alive today. This bold change would align with proven best practices nationwide and save lives.

4. Start enforcing traffic speeds. Portland issues far fewer speeding citations than all neighboring towns, despite having more vehicles, no less speeding, and more crashes leading to injuries and deaths. Drivers fear no consequences for dangerous behavior in the city.

5. Reinstate a full-time city staff position dedicated to pedestrian and cyclist accessibility and safety. This position was eliminated almost a decade ago. A staff member dedicated to coordinating across multiple state and local departments and contractors would improve consistency and quality outcomes for safety and usability improvements to our streetscapes.

Thank you for your attention to this critical matter. We are invested in this and want to help see it through. Please call upon us to help make this happen.

In solidarity:

Portland Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee

Bayside Neighborhood Association

Portland Gear Hub

Urbanist Coalition of Portland

Friends of Woodford’s Corner

Friends of Allen’s Corner

Casco Bay Trail Alliance

Moving Maine Network

Vision Zero Maine

Bicycle Coalition of Maine