Biking, walking access lags on Washington County bridges

Re: 99w southbound over Tualatin river, call ODOT, they were very responsive a couple years ago when I called about this. Filled in the potholes and pounded it down pretty well.

I wish they would just pave the first few yards of the dirt road that enters there every rainy season pot holes develop there. Or at least do a yard or two from the shoulder to the sidewalk so you don’t have to hit gravel at all.

I know I’ll take the sidewalk heading south to Sherwood, but north bound I stay on the road, I’ve got enough speed to make it to the bike lane on the other side of the bridge.

And doesn’t 99W run North/South?

I should have mentioned the two bridges on Barbur Blvd, but then again, that wasn’t Washington County (or was it)

Oh, and Jonathan, a person who uses a wheelchair is a wheelchair user, or a wheelchairist depending on who you talk to.

The two shots of Canyon Rd showing Video Only, Burgerville, and the “wheelchairist” attempting to traverse the weenie sidewalk over Beaverton Cr, is Downtown Beaverton, just south of the Beaverton Transit Center, mid-way between Beaverton Town Square and Vintage Beaverton Downtown between Hall and Watson.

As Beaverton seeks to draw more business to Broadway, a 6-7 minute walk from here, this is the kind of thing people on foot and bike have to deal with. Word is that Urban Renewal development may address issues like these, but the timeline for that appears to put actual widening of sidewalks and bridges like this one…distantly into the future sometime.

The shot of the bridge over Beaverton Creek on Hall near Performance bike shows the scene of a crazy situation. The reddish brown shrubs in the background near the sidewalk (they’re planted on both sides of the creek bank.) put on a lot of height in a year, blocking view of oncoming north bound traffic, to anybody attempting to exit the Performance bike shop/strip mall parking lot.

The shrubs on the north creek bank (nearest the camera.) manage to be kept down to where they don’t interfere with view of the traffic, but the shrubs on the south side never get brought down, so they continually block view of oncoming traffic. Why? I was told several years ago by someone that should know, that it was because the south creek bank was the responsibility of Damerow Ford.

ODOT just released their new “Oregon Bicycle & Pedestrian Plan”

Check it out at http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/BIKEPED/planproc.shtml

This is a great opportunity to familiarize yourselves and your municipal officials with the new design guidelines for bicycle facilities.

To get these bridges fixed, take a perusal through the state plan and find where these bridges fail to meet the design guidelines, then send in a maintenance request to the appropriate authority and ask for improvements.

For all the ODOT roads, the address is AskODOT@odot.state.or.us . For Washington County, use this form: http://www.co.washington.or.us/LUT/TransportationProjects/contact-us.cfm

Here’s a few ideas:

* where bikes are routed onto the sidewalk, ask that the facilities conform to this passage:
“There are circumstances where it may be advisable to allow bicyclists to ride on a sidewalk: on long narrow bridges with high traffic volumes. This can help cyclists if the bridge sidewalks are wide enough for bicycle use (minimum 5 feet). Ramps should be built to provide cyclists access to the bridge sidewalks; signs should be placed advising cyclists to walk their bikes on the sidewalk ifit’s too narrow for riding. (page 1-32) and accompanying Figure 1-40, which dictates that the paved “exit route” from the street to the sidewalk be at least 8′ wide.

* where bikes are required to use the driving lane, ask that they install “Bicycles on bridge roadway” signs (page 1-20, Figure 1-19) or “Bicycles may use full lane sign (page 1-21, figure 1-22).

References:
2011 Oregon Bicycle and Pedestrian Design Guide
http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/BIKEPED/planproc.shtml

& for that skinny sidewalk that the wheelcharist couldn’t navigate, send in a maintenance request to Beaverton’s Public Works Department “Report a Problem” page.

https://apps.beavertonoregon.gov/secure/reportproblem/

Cite US ADA requirements for “Chapter 4: Accessible Routes” Figure 403.5.1 which shows that accessible routes must be 36″ wide minimum. (Bring a tape measure to make sure that skinny sidewalk really is less than 36″ wide).

http://www.access-board.gov/ada-aba/ada-standards-dot.cfm

They’ll fix it pretty quickly.

Ted Buehler

For the weeds on the sidewalk, you shouldn’t need to cite anything, just send in the photo and list the street address of the property.

If you do want to cite something, you can cite the ADA requirements of a 36″ clear space.

Ted Buehler