Today, an elderly woman crossing the road was killed at the intersection of SW Farmington and SW Hall in Beaverton. This is one of four dangerous intersections in the area. I used to cross here daily; it certainly feels unsafe and unwelcoming as a pedestrian, and today's tragedy shows just how unsafe it is. Frustratingly, SW Farmington and SW Canyon are under Oregon Department of Transportation ownership, making it even more difficult to get any sort of change enacted. I wrote the below letter to Mayor Beaty and the City Councilors.

A Letter to the City

Dear Mayor Beaty and City Councilors,

I am deeply scared and angry about the pedestrian that was killed at the intersection of SW Hall and SW Farmington today on March 15th. This intersection and the ones at SW Farmington and SW Watson, SW Canyon and SW Watson, and SW Canyon and SW Hall, are all dangerous, especially when crossing with young or elderly people. I am a Central Beaverton resident, living south of SW Farmington. I am also the Central Beaverton NAC vice chair and a member of The Loop Community Advisory Committee. Both of these committees have heard multiple concerns about these intersections. I live with my husband, my elderly mother-in-law, my three year old son, and we are getting ready to welcome a newborn daughter to our family. We see these intersections as a danger to our safety when walking around our neighborhood.

From 2018 to 2020, I walked across Farmington and Canyon on either SW Watson or SW Hall twice every weekday to get to either Beaverton Central MAX station or Beaverton Transit Center. Once a week, I observed that there was at least one driver crossing the intersection on a red light, after the pedestrian walk signal turned on; I quickly learned to wait to check that every car had stopped when the walk signal turned on, and to be wary of turning cars. Crossing those intersections was, at best, unpleasant, and at worst, unsafe. Today was a tragic reminder of how unsafe it can be.

I am glad that the City knows how important The Loop is; personally, it will make public transit and more businesses accessible by foot, and help my family reduce the times we get in our car. However, the safety improvements are coming too slowly to these four intersections. Based on the presentations that have been given at The Loop CAC and Central Beaverton NAC, introducing any sort of traffic changes or calming at these intersections will require further study that are out of scope for The Loop project. As a resident in this neighborhood, it is frustrating that ODOT is responsible for Canyon and Farmington; it adds an additional layer of obfuscation, time, and energy to make any changes that our community clearly needs for its safety.

We need to make these intersections safe, now. We don't have time to wait until the completion of The Loop improvements. If the City of Beaverton is unable to make these changes due to the jurisdiction issues, we need to either demand that ODOT prioritize making this intersection safe, or we need the City to take control of the intersections to make the necessary changes, similar to what Portland did on NE 82nd Avenue.

Thank you for your time and consideration.