Persistence Pays Off

Check out the newly improved intersection of N.E. Vancouver Way and N.E. Gertz Road. As of March 14, it now has four stop signs instead of two, plus four striped pedestrian crosswalks. How did this four-way stop come to be? People power!

Eight years ago, East Columbia residents Dick Towle, Gyrid Hyde Towle, Maryhelen Kincaid, Lorna Baxter and Carolyn May started lobbying the Portland Bureau of Transportation to include this corner in their Transportation Improvement Plan. The ECNA board at the time joined them in working with TriMet, Jubitz Travel Center, Deltawood, Fox Run, FedEx, Oak Harbor Freight Lines and PBOT.

Every year, the polite but firm public testimony of East Columbia neighbors continued. So much time went by that Dick passed away and Carolyn moved to another area. But now, PBOT has made the changes and that intersection is much safer—proof that persevering citizen involvement gets results.