• Cornell Road completion Ribbon Cutting
• Sidewalk Repair Grant Program
• Keep your storm drains clear: Prevent urban flooding
• CHB/Barnes intersection unsafe for bicycles

Cornell Road completion Ribbon Cutting

Saturday, October 14, 10 am, Cedar Mill Park

Washington County Board of Commissioners, Department of Land Use & Transportation, and agencies and jurisdictions are celebrating completion of the Cornell Road project. Washington County leadership and staff will provide brief remarks, followed by ribbon cuttings. Attendees are encouraged to walk, roll, or bike along the projects following the event.

Cornell Road was widened to three lanes (one lane in each direction with a center turn lane) between 102nd and 113th avenues. Other improvements include bike lanes, street lighting, storm drain improvements, and the traffic signal at the 107th Avenue intersection. Construction began in February 2022 and was completed in July. The project was funded by the County’s Major Streets Transportation Improvement Program (MSTIP 3e).

Sidewalk Repair Grant Program

The Sidewalk Repair Grant Program offers financial assistance for sidewalk repair and replacement. Timely repair or replacement of damaged sidewalks keeps our streets accessible to all travelers. Well-maintained sidewalks are important to the health, safety, and welfare of our community.

Sidewalk maintenance is the responsibility of adjacent property owners. Property owners within the Urban Road Maintenance District (URMD) are eligible for the Sidewalk Repair Grant Program to help with the cost. We provide grants as reimbursement for County-approved work. You must pay for the sidewalk repair or replacement out-of-pocket before we can approve a grant.The maximum reimbursement amount is $2,000. Your reimbursement will be whichever of these options is lower: 50% of the lowest bid, even if you use a more expensive contractor, or 50% of the final invoiced amount.

Learn more here—please read carefully so you will be understand how to be eligible!

Keep your storm drains clear: Prevent urban flooding

It’s officially fall and the rain has arrived. Help prevent urban flooding by keeping storm drains clear. Storm drains help keep storm water off roads and streets in the urban areas. When the drains are clogged with leaves, plants, and other debris, the water “ponds,” sometimes causing flooding on streets, bike lanes, adjacent sidewalks, and properties.

“Urban flooding can cause problems for all travelers,” said Todd Watkins, Division Manager, Washington County Operations and Maintenance. “Keeping drains clear can help prevent accidents for those driving, walking, biking and rolling.”

CHB/Barnes intersection unsafe for bicycles

A reader noted that after all the roadwork for the Life Time complex at the southwest corner of Cedar Hills Boulevard (CHB) & Barnes, there is no bicycle lane between Barnes and the Highway 26 onramp. He wrote, “cyclists must move left into the southbound car lane to comply with the road markings on the SW corner of this intersection. No markings or signs indicate the path for cyclists.  The cyclist is then exposed to southbound cars changing lanes to the right and entering 26 westbound, and cars trying to merge left after turning from eastbound Barnes onto southbound CHB. Drivers are eager to enter 26 and accelerate, so speeds are high in the merge area.  Cyclists seem to be completely left out of the design and from my own experience on bikes, this is a very dangerous situation.”

We asked the county Land Use & Transportation Department to respond. “Washington County has jurisdiction over this section of Cedar Hills Boulevard. Life Time Fitness was conditioned to pay Washington County for construction along their frontage.

“Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) has jurisdiction of the area adjacent to the exit/entrance ramps and underpass of U.S. 26. ODOT has plans for a southbound bicycle and pedestrian pathway undercrossing of U.S. 26. Due to the complexity of the area, the location of the County/ODOT jurisdictional break, and the lack of a bicycle facility in ODOT’s jurisdictional area, it was determined most prudent to end the Cedar Hills Boulevard southbound bicycle lane at the signal on Barnes Road.

“This gives bicycles the option to either use the signal to cross to the sidewalk on the east side of CHB and travel as a pedestrian along the sidewalk under U.S. 26, or to take the lane and travel with traffic to continue southbound under U.S. 26. This avoids ending the bicycle lane at the dual lanes of the westbound on-ramp or forcing bicycles onto the westbound on-ramp. 

This situation is temporary until ODOT can construct the bicycle and pedestrian pathway undercrossing of U.S. 26. We have posted “bike lane ends” in the southbound bike lanes on Cedar Hills Boulevard approaching Barnes Road.”