Changes may be coming to Corvallis roads, and community input can help shape them.

The City of Corvallis is currently calling for residents to report any intersections or crossings where they’ve felt unsafe or experienced “near misses,” whether on foot, bicycle on public transit or in car. 

According to Rory Rowan, transportation division manager at Corvallis Public Works, “people are able to report really anything that they experience or feel or have concern about related to their personal safety experience.”

This data collection is a part of the first stage of Corvallis’s Safe Streets and Roads for All Project in collaboration with Benton County. 

Trey Eleazer, a second-year student in food science, usually walks to campus from his home. He reports recently experiencing a near miss with a driver downtown. Though he described already feeling safe walking in Corvallis, he said he is happy to see the program take place. 

“Encouraging (safety) from all directions would be a good idea,” Eleazer said. 

The project’s ultimate goal is to build on the city’s 2019 Transportation Safety Action Plan, which, according to Rowan, “didn’t necessarily look at (safety) system-wide or in a comprehensive way.”

The SS4A project’s resulting safety action plan is the “first step in a long-term process to improve road safety,” per the project website.

The action plan may recommend a variety of actions, like new construction projects or changes to planned projects. However, Rowan said, “There’s more than just infrastructure.” The project is taking a “safe systems approach,” which also examines elements like speed limit rules and traffic rule enforcement.

According to Rowan, the project’s ultimate aim is to reduce serious injuries and deaths resulting from traffic accidents, as opposed to minor fender benders.

In addition, Rowan also emphasizes the importance of the data-driven nature in regard to equitable city planning.

“No matter how we design the (report collecting) process or go to people, we just may not hear from all parts of the community,” Rowan said. 

The Corvallis City Council has approved a task force composed of community members of various interests, according to Rowan.

Per the website, the SS4A project will also conduct safety audits on Walnut Boulevard, Circle Boulevard and Ninth Street.

The SS4A is funded, in part, by the US Department of Transportation through a grant program by the same name. According to Rowan, the federal government’s grant reaches just over $600,000, which Corvallis is matching with about $100,000.

According to Rowan, the SS4A project has seen a lot of public interest. An open house held in early April saw the largest attendance he’s ever seen. 

Though Rowan is excited to see a high level of interest in the project, he also hopes to clarify that resulting projects will take time and that a project making it into the safety action plan does not guarantee it will be approved by relevant bodies.

State Rep. Sarah Finger McDonald, D-16, has recently directed attention to traffic safety in the area. 

In a recent newsletter, she highlights an Oregon Department of Transportation plan to improve safety on Highway 99W. The plan will see 99W’s repaving as well as improvements to lighting, signage and pedestrian crossings.

According to her, the highway has seen 159 crashes in the 2018-2022 period, and ranked in the top 15% of most dangerous driving locations in Oregon’s Safety Priority Index System.For more information on the project, or to report an intersection or crossing, local residents can visit the SS4A Project webpage or search beav.es/N7F.