• Springville Road closure for widening project
• First Thompson detour set to end August 25
• Thompson bike and pedestrian plan selected by BCC

Springville Road closure for widening project

July 29-September 26, between PCC Rock Creek and The Court Yards at Springville entrance

Springville will be closed to through traffic to allow for the roadwork described below. Vehicle traffic will detour to 185th Avenue, West Union Road, Bethany Boulevard and Kaiser Road. Visit the project page for details. A second closure is expected during summer 2025 to complete the project. 

Springville Road is being widened east of the entrance to Portland Community College Rock Creek campus. Springville Road Phase 4 includes widening the street to three lanes (one lane in each direction and a center turn lane) between Joss Avenue and the Portland Community College (PCC) Rock Creek. The completed project will have continuous buffered bike lanes, sidewalks and lighting on both sides of the street.

The street crosses two streams—one east of the PCC campus entrance and the other between Samuel Drive and Joss Avenue. Culverts at both stream crossings will be replaced to allow fish and small animals to pass below the street. Water quality and detention facilities will treat and slow down surface water runoff before it enters the streams.

Springville Road Phase 4 is the middle and final section of the urban street improvements for Springville Road between 185th Avenue and Kaiser Road. The bike lanes, sidewalks and lighting upgrades have significantly improved safety for all travelers.

First Thompson detour set to end August 25

According to the project page, the road closure necessary to complete the work at the southwest intersection of Kenny Terrace and Thompson is set to end by August 25. This means traffic will use the old route while work proceeds on the current Kenny Terrace in preparation for it becoming the new alignment of Thompson when the project is complete. A second 30-day complete closure will occur later this year to work on the northeast intersection at Saltzman and Thompson. The same detour routes will apply. See the July 2024 article for details.

Thompson bike and pedestrian plan selected by BCC

Two alternatives for bike and pedestrian facilities for the planned widening of Thompson east of Saltzman (Saltzman to Marcotte) were presented to the Washington County Board of Commissioners (BCC) at their Work Session on July 9. The full presentation is available here. 

The preferred alternative provides three different treatments for three segments of the road, to provide safety while avoiding high costs of acquiring large amounts of additional right-of-way (ROW).

Segment 1 is Saltzman to 128^th. The majority of the bike and pedestrian travel to and from Findley Elementary is expected to use this segment. It includes: 

On-street buffered bike lanes both sides • 10-foot multi-use path on north side; 6-foot sidewalk on south side; 4-foot landscape strip on both sides • Center turn lane • Estimated right-of-way width = 80 feet. 

Segment 2 is 128^th Avenue to Hibbard Drive. This includes the curve on the hill. This recommended improvement includes:

On-street buffered bike lanes both sides • 6-foot sidewalks with 4- foot landscape strip on both sides • Center turn lane • Estimated right-of-way width = 75 feet

Segment 3 is from Hibbard Drive to Marcotte Road. This part of the road includes older lots with, in some cases, less space from the homes to the street. The proposal for this segment includes:

On-street buffered bike lanes both sides • 8-foot curb-tight sidewalks on both sides • No center turn lane due to existing development restrictions • Estimated right-of-way width = 58 feet.

WashCo Land Use and Transportation (LUT) Director Stephen Roberts noted that vehicle traffic on Thompson is expected to increase from the present 3500 per day to around 5700 by 2043. This increase and present below-standard conditions create the need for the widening and improvement project.

LUT explains the need for approval of these ped-bike design concepts this way. “The presentation/discussion at today’s BCC Work Session meeting was conducted to get Board direction on cyclist and pedestrian facilities, which are a requirement for all County capital projects. 

This discussion provided us an opportunity to publicly acknowledge the public comments received about the sight-distance concern at Hibbard Drive/Thompson Road intersection and to remind the Board verbally that we’re committed to addressing issues. Once a bicycle facilities option is chosen, we can move forward with the design and refine the treatments at the Hibbard Drive/Thompson Road to address sight distance.”

The project page says that overall design of the project, including the above facilities and the road itself,  is estimated to be complete in February 2025. A second open house is expected to be held when the project design is 60% complete. A date has not been set.