Clackamas County is home to about 10 percent of Oregon's 3.9 million people. [...]
11 of the 60 most dangerous traffic intersections in Oregon are in Clackamas County.
That's 18 percent, almost double the county's population share.
Even beyond the worst of the worst roads and intersections for crashes, crash severity, injuries and fatalities, Clackamas County has numerous roads and intersections that are on the Oregon Department of Transportation list as highest priority Safety Priority Index System (SPIS).
Bicyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians are hit and killed at several of these intersections that are are in this SPIS list within Clackamas County.
Between Portland and Oregon City along OR 99E, numerous intersections are on this Oregon Department of Transportation Safety Priority Index System (SPIS). Pedestrians at some points along this McGloughlin Road highway, have to walk extended distances to find a light controlled intersection to cross. OR 99E is also dark along this stretch, with cars entering from side streets, and high speeds.
One bad intersection just a few blocks from another intersection and another intersection along OR 99E in Clackamas County in between Milwaukie and Gladstone. SE Maple on March 16, 2024 another pedestrian was fatally hit by a car who didn't yield.
Not far from SE Maple and OR 99E at OR 99E at SE
Risley Avenue another pedestrian fatality
October 6, 2022. This article states that the pedestrian was outside the crosswalk, but there is no
crosswalk painted here on either side of OR 99E at SE Risley, where Risely has a stop sign on either
side of OR 99E. Even if you were not in a crosswalk when you were hit by a car as a pedestrian in
Oregon, there is an implied crosswalk at every corner with a stop sign. In Oregon, every intersection
is a crosswalk, UNLESS it's marked with a crosswalk closed sign. Marking a crosswalk as closed
isn't a quick-and-easy decision for ODOT, and it is only done when there is a safer crossing nearby. There is no
such signage is at this crossing of Risley and OR 99E. There is a newly added pedestrian island there.
Another such intersection OR 99E and SE Vineyard where in 2016 a woman waiting at the bus stop was seriously injured along with the driver of another car, because of a high school student speeding and reckless driving.
Suspects in the McLoughlin Boulevard case on Sept. 26, 2016, were determined to be sober simply by the OSP officer's observation of the suspect's "speech, odor, etc." No citations were ever issued.
Sue Pringle, 63, was sitting in TriMet bus shelter when she was run over by the 16-year-old Rex Putnam student. He was reportedly speeding a black 2008 G37 Infiniti northbound on McLoughlin when he swerved to avoid a white 1999 sedan turning on to Vineyard Road. He hit Caroline Pearl Newton's sedan, sending her to the hospital with injuries, and shattering the bus shelter that contained Pringle.
A resident of Boardman Avenue, Pringle had just gone to lunch at Taco Bell when she was waiting for the bus to go grocery shopping at Fred Meyer. Then she would have taken the bus back home, but her back, pelvis and ankle were broken in the crash, so she was taken to OHSU with Newton.
Pringle's glasses were broken and many of her teeth were fractured when the crash forced her to do a face plant into the sidewalk. The Infiniti's tailpipe came to rest on Pringle's leg, causing third-degree burns.
Will justice be done for Oak Grove crash victims?
Numerous bicyclists riding in bike lanes are seriously injuried in the area with little penalty to the drivers, even if they were speeding, driving recklessly etc..
Instead the CCSO report commits what appears to be a logical error: "I did not issue a citation to Mr. Wright for Fail[ure] to Yield the right of way as the bike rider did have the right of way through the intersection," Westerman wrote in the report.
Legosi told police that Wright's car turned in front of him quickly and accelerated into him. After being struck by the car, Legosi fell to the pavement and hit his head, as demonstrated by his cracked helmet.
Will justice be done for Oak Grove crash victims?
Meanwhile, for all of Oregon, car accidents, pedestrian, cyclist and motorcyclist injury and fatalities are spiking.
OHA dashboard tracks surge in transportation injuries, fatalities since 2010
From 2010 to 2022, data shows that fatalities grew from 351 in a single year to 606. Within that same time frame, the rate changed from nine deaths per 100,000 residents to 14 deaths per 100,000 residents.
That's nearly twice the number of fatalities for all types of motor vehicle crashes. That approximate doubling holds for cyclists and for motorcyclists.
According to the data, the number of cyclist fatalities almost doubled from 11 in 2010 to 21 in 2022.
A similar trend is seen for motorcycle deaths, with 45 recorded in 2010 and 87 in 2022.
The organization noted that the nationwide increase was mostly impacted by a small number of states with significant spikes in pedestrian fatalities. Those states include Arizona, Virginia, Oregon, Tennessee and Wisconsin. In 2021, 90 pedestrian traffic fatalities were recorded in Oregon. In 2022, GHSA projected a surge to 131 fatalities.
Fatalities for Oregon pedestrians nearly doubles from 2010 to 2022 going from 2010 having 70 pedestrian fatalities for the year
to the actual 2022 total pedestrian fatalities of 132. (Oregon Transportation Safety Dashboard)
The future for Clackamas County residents could also get worse in the near future as concerns rise around the Oregon Department of Transportation plan for tolling on Interstate 5 and Interstate 205 which many believe will drive the interstate drivers into the Clackamas County communities to avoid the tolls such as West Linn, Oregon City, Gresham, Gladstone, Lake Oswego, Milwaukie, Oak Grove, etc...
According to Chavez-DeRemer, several cities and Clackamas County have submitted public comments sharing concerns about the assessment which she says did not recognize tolling would divert traffic to nearby communities.
Oregon City Municipal Elevator
Oregon City boasts the unusual elevator which is quite fun and historic, plus it is a great place to look at the Willamette River Falls from above as well as do the walk along the cliffs back down to the OR 99E viewing spot along the Willamette River.
Some of these intersections and roads that are statistically the worst, are within the Portland Metro.
Milwaukie, Oregon City, Gladstone, Oak Grove, Lake Oswego, Johnson City, Oatfield, Jennings Lodge, West Linn, Tualatin, Wilsonville, Happy Valley and Clackamas are all within the Portland Metro area. But Clackamas County is big and very diverse with tons of small towns and different types of vehicles on the roads and varying traffic conditions on the roads and highways through them like Boring, Canby, Damascus, Rhododendron, Government Camp, Sandy, Beaver Creek, Mulino, Mollala, Estacada. Much of Clackamas County is rural with farms. And of course the Mt. Hood area where we get significant snow fall and other weather extremes as well as significant traffic traveling to and through this area for recreation and the scenic nature throughout Clackamas County with state forests and Mt. Hood National forest which draws motorcyclists as well as bicyclists, and even equestrians with their horses to the nature trails.
Stacy Hope
