Bike and pedestrian improvements—
your input needed
Washington County is currently conducting a Bike and Pedestrian project prioritization study, targeted for completion in October 2012. A web page for the project is on the county site at www.co.washington.or.us/bikeandped
The site includes an interactive map that allows for the public to provide comments. Currently, the team is planning to accept comments just through the end of the year. If you think this deadline is too short, you’re invited to contact them through the link on the site to request that the deadline be extended.
 To use the map, you must have the latest version of Adobe Flash Player. The automatic download that is supposed to be built into the map application didn’t work for us, we had to go to the Adobe site and get the free download. Once you have that installed, you can take a look at the map by clicking on the link on the Inventory Mapping page. (You need to scroll down to see the link.)
Through a combination of map and field work, the county project team has reviewed and updated the inventory of the existing bicycle and pedestrian system on urban arterial and collector roadways. They now need public input to confirm that the inventory is correct. We are asked to highlight areas that are not correct, identify particular areas of concern, and provide suggestions on how to fix the problem areas.
Your comments can be added to any of the existing routes, and you can suggest places where you’d like to see the facilities extended and/or improved. You need to select bike or ped improvements on the left side of the map before you can add comments.
Because the county’s road system has grown over the years as a result of new development connecting to legacy roads, the bicycle and pedestrian system is patchy and incomplete. Bike and ped facilities have only been required to be added by developers over the last 20-30 years. Older areas lack them.
Regional goals aim at increasing the commuting mode share of bicycling and walking by nearly three-fold over the next 25 years. To accomplish this, Washington County’s Department of Land Use and Transportation division received a $100,000 grant from the Department of Energy to help plan for a complete bike and pedestrian system.
Outcomes of the project will include the development of a recommended list of 20-50 high-priority bike, trail, and pedestrian projects. The DOE-funded bike and pedestrian planning project is scheduled to be completed by October, 2012. Note that the project doesn’t include funds for construction of these projects, but that the county will seek funding from a variety of sources for the priority projects.
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