Safe way to Bonny Slope School?

Parents have been asking about plans for sidewalks in the vicinity of the new Bonny Slope Elementary School. One parent says, “I have two children who will be attending this school, but I am very troubled by the fact that they have no safe way to get to school from our house on Marshall St. I have been told that because we live less than one mile from the school, no bus service will be provided for the children in my neighborhood. 119th is not a safe street, with most cars by far exceeding the posted speed limit of 35 mph. There are zero sidewalks or even safe clear spaces for a child to walk/bike to school. I would like to know if there are any plans in place, anywhere, about making improvements to 119th so that the kids living in that area, who likely will not be provided bus service, can get to school safely.”

County policy on roads like 119th, which is classified as a Minor Collector, is that sidewalks are built by developers when they put in new homes, but the county itself doesn’t build sidewalks in the absence of a capital project (a major road improvement). This is one of the important differences between cities and the county. Current county policy holds that even though an area is urbanized, and might need urban facilities like sidewalks, it isn’t the county’s job to provide these facilities because they aren’t provided county-wide. This is one of the issues that’s being studied in the Urbanization Forum.

Cedar Mill’s unfilled need for sidewalks and other urban amenities is suspected to be one of the reasons that Beaverton didn’t annex the area during the ‘90s. There wouldn’t have been sufficient gain in tax revenue to offset the cost of bringing our neighborhoods up to Beaverton standards.

The county has begun to look at expanding a program called “minor betterments” that could provide asphalt paths—not up to sidewalk standards but a safer way for pedestrians and cyclists to move along roads like 119th. It might be possible to get such an improvement on 119th but not immediately. 

So the short answer is no, there won’t be a safe way for your kids to walk or bike to school. You’ll probably have to join the queue of drivers dropping kids off. Congestion on McDaniel is expected to increase.

A sidewalk is being provided by Beaverton School District (BSD) on the north side of McDaniel adjacent to the school, and that will continue west to connect with The Bluffs subdivision. They’re currently waiting for utilities to do some relocation work before finishing the sidewalk. The county was not able to require BSD to put a sidewalk on the south side of McDaniel, so it will only be available next to the new developments.

There will be a crosswalk on McDaniel near the easternmost driveway entrance into the school for students from the subdivisions that are currently under development to the south. Children reaching the school from that crosswalk will have a separate walkway to get to the school and won’t have to cross the driveways. Flashing lights and a 20-mph speed limit will be in place all along the school frontage.

The western-most driveway at the school will be for buses only. The middle and east driveways may become a one-way system, rather than the two-way circulation that current plans call for.

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