Monday, July 11, 2016

In Support of Local Minor Transportation Betterments

This post is mostly for readers in Washington County, Oregon.  I've collected all the links and information here for easy access.

July 2016

Washington County Land Use and Transportation is collecting proposals for "small road improvements" - pedestrian sidepaths, better striping, etc.

http://www.co.washington.or.us/LUT/News/small-road-improvement-proposals-due-july-15.cfm?platform=hootsuite

Last year I submitted a proposal for a pedestrian facility on SW Walker Rd, from Hwy 217 to SW Canyon road.  Amazingly enough, it is on the map of candidates.

There are also proposals for a pedestrian facility on SW 107th from SW Walker to SW Hawthorne, and others throughout the neighborhood.

Small Road Improvements in Our Neighborhood
The county considers comments from the public.  I can't help but think that comments from our neighborhood would only be for the good.

From Victoria Saager, the Urban Road Maintenance District Program Manager:

"... if you would like to submit comments on an identified candidate, you can send them in an email to lutops@co.washington.or.us with the candidate number and road name identified in the subject line. Your comments will be retained and, if the candidate is a finalist for funding and public comments are requested, your comments will be shared with the project selection committee along with other comments received during the public comment period."

The candidates I am lobbying for are:

Candidate #430
Pedestrian walkway has been proposed on Walker Rd from Canyon Rd to 108th Av.

Candidate #476
Pedestrian walkway has been proposed on 107th Av from Walker Rd to Hawthorne Ln.

and

Candidate #306
Pedestrian Path has been proposed on Walker Rd from 108th Av to Hwy 217 (n-bnd Ramps).



Please fire off an email to: lutops@co.washington.or.us supporting any or all of these local improvement candidates.  They will collect comments all through the comment period, but getting your input in by Friday July 15 may improve the chances of any or all of these projects going forward this year.

Please note that while we pay taxes for our transportation system, our end of the county has not been getting much love from the transportation department.

Points I intend to make:

  • Improves safety for pedestrians along SW Walker Rd; currently there aren't viable places to walk, traffic exceeds the posted speed limit, and sightlines are bad.
  • Improves safety AND provides a way to walk along SW 107th to access SW Walker Rd, which does not impinge on private property.  The steepness and narrowness of SW 107th at SW Walker makes it precariously dangerous for pedestrians.
  • Will encourage more walking for short errands, such as to businesses and the library, all of which are in a 2 mile radius of SW Walker and SW 107th Ave, which will subsequently reduce motor vehicle traffic.

Please join me in supporting these local improvement candidates!

3 comments:

Randy Leonard said...

Lynne-
I sent in three separate emails supporting the three projects. Thank you for alerting me to these important improvements....Randy

lynnef said...

Thanks Randy!

Adam Haas said...

Lynne, Thanks so much for taking the initiative on this. Marsha and I are both sending in emails. I just sent in mine and pasted it below. Regards, Adam

My name is Adam Haas and I have resided at 10425 SW Hawthorne Lane for over 25 years. I’m an avid runner and traverse our neighborhood daily to stay in shape and to visit various business along Canyon Road. Being a Father of two, safety is paramount to me and there are parts of my daily runs that send shivers up my spine, the most of which are the areas in which I’m forced to run or walk mere feet away from traffic or dart across the street unprotected in-between oncoming cars.
I’m writing to strongly support for all three candidates (#430, #476 and #306) which would create a walkway in between Walker Road to Canyon road on 108th, a walkway from 107th av. from Walker to Hawthorne and most importantly a pedestrian path on Walker from 108th av. to Hwy 217.
I can’t count the number of times that I felt the rush of wind as a car zipped by, unaware that there was a pedestrian feet away from them. Without creating some sort of safe place for pedestrians on this stretch of road, I fear that it won’t be a question of “if” there will be a horrific accident but “when” will this accident happen?
I urge you move ahead on funding all three of these candidates for improving the safety of our neighborhood streets, for ourselves, our children and our children’s children.
Sincerely,
Adam Haas
PS Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or future hearings on this matter. My cell phone number is 503-997-5584