After years of safety concerns, the Oregon Department of Transportation says they’ll install more bollards to prevent people from driving cars on the I-205 multi-use path.
The number of people illegally driving cars on the 205 path and other paths in the region has increased dramatically in the past decade. Official numbers aren’t available, but anecdotally it’s become common enough that for many people it’s the final straw (along with personal safety fears, trash, and other hazards) that leads them to avoid the paths altogether.
Today at the Transportation Policy Alternatives Committee (TPAC) hosted by Metro, ODOT Region 1 Policy Manager Chris Ford announced something will finally be done about it. “ODOT is funding the addition of bollards at key locations along the I-205 and I-84 multi-use paths,” Ford shared. “This is to prevent vehicles from driving onto the multi-use paths.”
I followed up with the ODOT Region 1 media spokesperson and have confirmed that a total of 29 bollards will be installed: 21 of them on the I-205 path and 8 on the I-84 path. The I-205 project boundaries are from SE Holgate to Crystal Springs Boulevard. On I-84 the bollards will go in between NE 122nd and NE 181st (in Gresham).
ODOT will spend $450,000 on the project, which they say will also reduce vandalism to lights and electrical systems along the path.
In April 2023, ODOT installed several sets bollards on the I-205 path between NE Prescott and NE Fremont where it goes through the City of Maywood Park (see above). In May 2013, the Washington Department of Transportation installed bollards at an entrance to the I-205 path north of the Columbia River.
ODOT says this latest attempt to prevent car users from accessing the paths has already begun and they expect all construction work to be completed by June 30th.
Check the ODOT project website for more information.
