...Sigh...

[canuck]

On the plus side, Brookman Rd in Sherwood got a fresh layer of real asphalt.

Is there some requirement that all county roads need to be resurfaced on a schedule?

I can never understand chip sealing a road that gets minimal use and is not degraded.

A prime example is Dairy Creek Rd, a perfectly good 15 mile out and back ruined.

[DaveT]

At least some folks at the county are well aware of the issue cyclists have with chip seal, but they feel it is by far the most cost-effective way to extend the life of the road base. When they chip sealed Scholls Ferry Road from 175th west to River Rd several years back they purposefully avoided the shoulders for this reason. Unfortunately most roads that get this treatment don't have shoulders. I hate chip seal as well, but I don't have a good answer given current budget constraints.

[Simple Nature]

Today I explored a few other ways to get to Banks from Hillsboro. It adds about a mile, maybe 2 to my previous route. One is through North Plains and does the freeway crossing thing on Mountaindale and then you have the Zion Church route that get you to Roy rd eventually. I've always liked catching the Old Scott's Church rd off Jackson School rd. The shoulder on Zion Church is wide enough for a trike and clean enough but quite a bit of weekday traffic at dinner time/beer-30. Nice thing is that most of these routes are relatively flat.

Both routes from say, Orenco Station or the fairgrounds Max stops are about 18 miles with varying degrees of road comfort.

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/51661328