Good News for Rural Riders...

[K'Tesh]

Spoke to Shelly Oylear (Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator for Washington County Land Use and Transportation) tonight.

I asked her when can we expect something done about the miserable connection of the bike lane from SW Teal Blvd. to Roy Rogers Rd on SW Scholls Ferry Rd.







Well, I got good news, Washington County is looking into installing buffered bike lanes from Teal to Roy Rogers in both directions. No idea how long we'll have to wait, but this is progress... I've been complaining about that stretch of road since my Mom moved into the area.

[K'Tesh]

Got this in my inbox today...

Here is the link to the website information on the Scholls Ferry Project.
http://www.co.washington.or.us/LUT/T...rs-to-teal.cfm
One of design elements are buffered bicycle lanes west of Teal.
The info is limited right now but I can tell you that there will be an open house this summer and one this winter that will provide more of the design information.

Shelley Oylear
Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator
Washington County Land Use and Transportation

Following the link, I got this:

Scholls Ferry Road (Roy Rogers to Teal)


The existing section of SW Scholls Ferry Road between Roy Rogers Road and Teal Boulevard is a two-lane roadway providing north-south access between SW Murray Boulevard and the growing residential areas in southwest Beaverton. Turning onto or from SW Scholls Ferry Road is difficult due to traffic volumes. The roadway also lacks bike lanes and has intermittent sections of sidewalk.

The proposed project will widen Scholls Ferry Road to five lanes, which will consist of two travel lanes in each direction with a continuous center turn lane. This will reduce traffic congestion from the intersection of Teal Boulevard west through Roy Rogers Road. Additional improvements include sidewalks, bike lanes, street lighting and improved sight distance at the intersections.

Project Contact

Bill Ihly
Project Manager
(503) 846-7831
Email: Bill Ihly

Project Map





Funding Information

MSTIP
$2.8 Million


MSTIP - Major Streets Transportation Improvement Project
The funding is for design and right-of-way only. There are no funds for construction at this time.

Current Activity - design


Design for this project has commenced.

Surveyors will be on site gathering field and topographical information such as fence locations, trees, property corner monuments, wells, walls, storm and sanitary manholes, as well as mapping beyond the existing right-of-way when necessary. The information gathered will be used to prepare a project base map that reflects the current topography, right-of-way, soil types, wetland limits, existing utility locations, and other physical features.
Project Timeline

Construction start date: 04/29/2013
Estimated completion date: 12/20/2013


Note: Dates are subject to change due to weather and/or other unforeseeable events.

[Spiffy]

unfortunate that they feel the need to encourage more traffic by adding 3 more auto traffic lanes...

let us know if you feel safer after they change it from a pleasant country road to a freeway with bike lanes...

[wsbob]

"...The proposed project will widen Scholls Ferry Road to five lanes, which will consist of two travel lanes in each direction with a continuous center turn lane. This will reduce traffic congestion from the intersection of Teal Boulevard west through Roy Rogers Road. Additional improvements include sidewalks, bike lanes, street lighting and improved sight distance at the intersections." Washington County


Yes...definitely...a pig in a poke. The additional improvements: "...sidewalks, bike lanes, street lighting and improved sight distance at the intersections." is the only really positive, constructive part of this project.

I've ridden this stretch of road many times over a period of many years, and will say definitely: Roadway in this area, enabling a greater volume of motor vehicle traffic to travel the road at consistently high speeds is a dubious achievement. The land in this area...still countryside just over the hill seen in the pictures, has become very noisy due to increases in motor vehicle traffic over the last 10...maybe 15 years. The two lane configuration kind of helps slow motor vehicle traffic down when volume of said vehicles beccomes heavy.

True, for bike travel, the shoulder of the road from Murray, climbing the hill towards Roy Rodgers has always been insufficient, but I'm not sure the addition of bike lanes is worth the tradeoff of heavier, faster motor vehicle traffic. This is livability degradation.

[Simple Nature]

I made the mistake of riding that stretch once and since have used Barrows Rd that parallels Scholls Ferry. Its not a perfect detour since it still lacks a bike lane for part of it, but it is a lot better and safer than Scholls Ferry.

[K'Tesh]

Originally Posted by Spiffy

unfortunate that they feel the need to encourage more traffic by adding 3 more auto traffic lanes...

let us know if you feel safer after they change it from a pleasant country road to a freeway with bike lanes...

But, it's not a pleasant country road. Traffic there is a nightmare, and we NEED the bike lanes.

I ride on the sides of freeways, and I feel a lot safer there than I do on this stretch of road. I made the mistake of riding from Sherwood home one night, and traffic conditions made me feel uncomfortable taking the lane... I nearly crashed when my bike went off the edge of the road and onto the shoulder.

Shelley told me that it was going to be a buffered bike lane. I've since written the traffic engineer with a request for confirmation.

Originally Posted by Simple Nature

I made the mistake of riding that stretch once and since have used Barrows Rd that parallels Scholls Ferry. Its not a perfect detour since it still lacks a bike lane for part of it, but it is a lot better and safer than Scholls Ferry.

I'd love to see them only add the bike lanes and sidewalks, and I had a situation at that damned roundabout on Barrows once too. I stayed on the road, rather than jumping up to the sidewalk when the bike lane ended, and wasn't able to keep my speed as I tried to get back to Scholls Ferry Rd. Had a large vehicle on my tail that made me very uncomfortable. The one positive thing I can say about the widening of the lanes, there are very few right hook/left cross opportunities here, as the development of this area seems to be completed already (esp between Roy Rogers and Blackbird/158th).

Lets remember this, no matter the widening and potential motor traffic increases, We NEED the bike lane here. (Signage leading bikes to/on Barrows Road, might also be nice)

[DaveT]

First, I am also saddened by the idea of widening Scholls Ferry to 7 lanes, even if 2 of them are for bikes. Unfortunately given the recent Metro decision to add more farmland north of Scholls Fy and west of 175th / Roy Rodgers into the UGB this is just the first such "improvement" coming to the area.

Second, I take the roundabout up to Scholls on my ride to work. I always take the full lane and have never felt uncomfortable just because someone has to wait an extra 20 seconds while I pant my way up that steep little hill.We need to differentiate between truly unsafe roads and roads that just aren't as nice as we would like.

[Haven_kd7yct]

Originally Posted by K'Tesh

But, it's not a pleasant country road. Traffic there is a nightmare, and we NEED the bike lanes.
I'd love to see them only add the bike lanes and sidewalks, and I had a situation at that damned roundabout on Barrows once too. I stayed on the road, rather than jumping up to the sidewalk when the bike lane ended, and wasn't able to keep my speed as I tried to get back to Scholls Ferry Rd. Had a large vehicle on my tail that made me very uncomfortable. The one positive thing I can say about the widening of the lanes, there are very few right hook/left cross opportunities here, as the development of this area seems to be completed already (esp between Roy Rogers and Blackbird/158th).

Lets remember this, no matter the widening and potential motor traffic increases, We NEED the bike lane here. (Signage leading bikes to/on Barrows Road, might also be nice)

Beaverton needs to fix the curb cut ramps if they want bikes to go up on the sidewalks around the roundabout. Currently, the grade from roadway up onto the sidewalk is almost vertical. I ignore it and go around in the lane. Once past the roundabout, the roadway widens to two lanes, and most people want to go left onto Scholls (at least on the weekends they do) so I feel perfectly comfortable taking up the rightmost lane to turn left.

And yeah, bike lanes on the rest of Barrows would be nice; there's enough room to cut into the lawn between the roadway and the sidewalk at least on the north-side of the street. It would mean shifting the lanes a little bit but it would be possible without removing any of the street-side trees. Both directions would be able to have bike lanes.

Scholls doesn't become a "pleasant country road" until after River Road. Before that point, it's a highway-- OR 210.

[DaveT]

Good point about the roundabout. Roundabouts inherently don't lend themselves to separate lanes for cylists and motorists. Washington County seems to favor the sidewalks for bicycles idea, but that leaves cyclists to the right of right turning vehicles, not good at all.

I take the lane in roundabouts, even in the larger ones north of Cornelius and Forest Grove that have signs directing cyclists up on the sidewalk. It will be interesting to see what the new Scholls Fy / River Rd roundabout looks like when it opens next month.