Reduce truck speed downtown

Want to make downtown Portland more appealing to businesses and shoppers alike?
Here’s a modest suggestion: Enforce the speed limit.
There’s no getting away from the fact that U.S. 27 runs north and south through the heart of the business district of the county seat. And there’s no getting away from the fact that the highway is a significant artery for truck traffic.
But there is truck traffic and there is truck traffic.
Anyone who spends more than 15 minutes watching traffic on Meridian Street will witness speeding by semis through the heart of the downtown business district. Chances are they’ll also see a few red lights run as well.
Why? That’s anyone’s guess.
For some reason, over the years, enforcement of the speed limit on Meridian has been a relatively low priority for city police.
To be sure, some speeders are stopped and some tickets are issued.
But enforcement hasn’t kept pace with the problem.
If it had, word would have gotten through to the trucking community and they’d be slowing down.
Truckers, of course, aren’t the only ones ignoring the speed limit. Plenty of us are a little too heavy on the gas.
But it’s the speeding truck traffic that generates the noise, poses a safety hazard and makes downtown less appealing for retail shopping. — J.R.