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Bike/ped advisory committee releases CRC recommendations

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Rendering from PBAC memo: “Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee Recommended Pathway on West Side of West Replacement Bridge (Looking North)”

The Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee (PBAC, see list of members below) for the Columbia River Crossing project has released a 13-page memo that outlines their recommendations related to bridge design options and details their requirements for a “world-class” bicycle and pedestrian facility.

Not surprisingly, the PBAC is recommending the replacement bridge option and writes that, compared to the supplemental bridge design option,

“the replacement bridge option would provide the most direct and safe routes for pedestrians and bicyclists between Vancouver, Hayden Island, and North Portland.”

While the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) only includes language for a single pathway “at least 16 feet” wide, this memo seeks to make it clear that once a Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) is chosen, there will still be room to suggest more a more robust facility.

Tour of Tomorrow
Crossing the Columbia.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Some members of the BAC — including the BTA’s representative Emily Gardner — have advocated for 20-foot wide paths on each side of a new bridge.

Just how much the design can change after the LPA is chosen depends on who you ask.

Skeptics of the project claim that the language approved as part of the DEIS process limits how much the actual facility can change going forward. On the other hand, CRC staff (and other supporters including Rex Burkholder) have told me that the DEIS (and the LPA decision based on it) is nothing more than a jumping off point and that the vast majority of the design decisions are left to come.

In addition to recommending the replacement bridge option, the PBAC writes that the bridge “must include a world-class pedestrian and bicycle facility.”

Their definition of “world-class” is a design that serves the needs of bikes and peds for the “next 50 plus years” and includes separation of various users groups based on speed of travel, good visibility and sight lines, minimal changes in elevation, “ample width” for all users to pass each other, and more.

In a list of detailed “recommendations”, the PBAC says the replacement bridge must include, “a 12-foot wide regional trail adjacent to, and to the west of, a pair of six-foot wide bicycle lanes (see rendering above).” They also call for a series of “belvederes” or viewpoints along the path where people can pull over and rest when necessary.

The memo will be sent to the CRC Task Force prior to their meeting on Tuesday (6/24), where they will make their own recommendation of which alternative should move forward.

For more information, read my past coverage of the Columbia River Crossing.

Download the complete memo here
(PDF, 2.5MB)


Below are the members of the CRC’s bicycle and pedestrian advisory committee:

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