The Oregon Division of Transportation is planning modifications to a virtually 5 mile stretch of SE McLoughlin Boulevard by means of Oak Grove and Jennings Lodge (south of Milwaukie) that might make it safer for biking, strolling, and busing. And we hear from sources that they want extra suggestions about bicycle amenities and different components of the challenge to be able to queue up the very best initiatives for future funding.
ODOT’s McLoughlin Boulevard Investments Technique is a $250,000 planning course of that goals to, “determine and prioritize equitable and impactful transportation security enhancements for all customers who depend upon strolling, biking, rolling and accessing transit alongside the hall.” (Appears just like the strategy the Portland Bureau of Transportation takes with its “In Movement” plans.) There’s no capital funding but, however initiatives that get on the checklist that comes out of this plan can be extra shovel-ready and extra prone to get constructed within the close to time period.
At the moment, this part of McLoughlin is a typical ODOT city freeway (99E) with a really vast cross-section, a lot of business driveways, incomplete sidewalks, unprotected bikeways, comparatively excessive speeds, and an general feeling that solely automobile customers are welcome. We rode briefly on McLoughlin throughout the 2019 policymakers experience and it was jarring to go away the quiet calm of the Trolley Path path and enter the loud, nerve-racking freeway surroundings.
In response to ODOT, this hall of McLoughlin between Sellwood and Oregon Metropolis is a high 10 precedence statewide and ranks within the 99th percentile for bicycle and pedestrian wants prioritization (as per their Lively Transportation Wants Stock). Between 2016 and 2020 there have been a beastly 666 reported crashes — seven of which had been deadly and 23 led to extreme accidents. And of the seven individuals killed in these 5 years, all of them had been susceptible customers (walkers, wheelchair customers, or bike riders). That’s a placing statistic given how few non-drivers really use this street. Including much more urgency to this effort is the truth that neighborhoods alongside the hall rating within the high twentieth percentile statewide for deprived group metrics.
ODOT workers engaged on the plan say including extra safety to the prevailing bike lanes and striping new sections of bikeways is unquestionably on the desk. In addition they suggest bus queue jumps at 4 intersections, a brand new crossing particularly for Trolley Path customers (at Jennings Street), and enhancements to the bridge over the Clackamas River.
Key to creating the protection modifications stick can be to tame drivers and decrease speeds. The present common pace is simply over 40 mph. That’s manner too excessive provided that ODOT’s Blueprint for City Design (which is now totally built-in into their Freeway Design Handbook) requires business corridors like this one to have speeds of 30 – 35 mph. The excellent news is the group advisory committee for the challenge has been unanimous in calls to scale back dashing, however ODOT wants to listen to extra assist for this of their newly launched on-line open home.
We’re additionally watching intently to see what sort of advice comes out of this course of for bike amenities. Proper now, ODOT says the plan is to first carry the complete hall as much as a fundamental commonplace of painted, buffered bike lanes with out vertical safety. As soon as that occurs, they’d add extra safety (like plastic wands) at particular places. However some of us we’ve talked to say that second step — some kind of bodily safety for the bike lane — ought to occur with out having to attend for buffered bike lanes on the complete hall.
Then there’s the dialog about whether or not bicycle riders would even use McLoughlin in any respect — particularly given the close by (and carfree) Trolley Path path. Due to the unlucky concept that bike riders don’t need or want important avenue entry, there might be a scarcity of urgency from ODOT to create high quality bikeways on McLoughlin.
As for the Trolley Path, the present plan is to put in a diagonal, bike-only crossing of McLoughlin at Jennings to assist path customers make a connection. This may be a step ahead from the two-stage crossing most individuals do now (taking the lane right here is fairly scary!).
For the bridge over the Clackamas, ODOT says widening the present path isn’t being thought-about, however different remedies like; extra lighting, a brand new paved path/shared use path connection to the intersection of McLoughlin and Arlington Avenue, and flashing beacons indicating when a bicyclist is sharing the overall journey lanes, are being thought-about.
If we would like ODOT to do extra of the fitting issues, they should hear from extra bicycle riders. Their on-line open home is open now by means of April fifth and there’s an in-person occasion on March twenty ninth (4-7:00 pm) at Oak Lodge Public Library (16201 SE McLoughlin) the place you’ll be able to study extra and discuss to challenge workers.
Try the challenge web site to study extra.
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