McLoughlin Boulevard Transportation Investments Strategy

This open house is now closed. Thank you for your participation. For more information, see the project website.

Project Overview

The McLoughlin Investments Strategy will identify near term (within 10 years) projects to improve transportation safety of people walking, biking and accessing transit. Currently, there is not funding for the projects that will be recommended, but having the list will allow ODOT to try to match the projects to future funding opportunities. The study area includes a 5-mile segment of McLoughlin Boulevard (US 99E) from south of Milwaukie to the southern end of the John McLoughlin Bridge at the Clackamas River. This segment is within unincorporated Clackamas County and the City of Gladstone and also serves the nearby communities of Milwaukie and Oregon City.

Project Goals

The goals and strategies of the McLoughlin Investments Strategy project include:

  • Identify near-term improvements (up to 10 years) to address safety of people walking and biking as well as transit enhancements on the corridor
  • Involve a cross section of stakeholders, including traditionally underserved communities, to inform community and investment priorities
  • Leverage recent work, momentum, and upcoming corridor investments

Project Schedule

The project team has identified corridor needs, gathered through community feedback, site visits, and previously documented needs within the area and has developed a list of proposed projects to address transportation safety. The team is currently evaluating these projects to ultimately develop a list of priority projects for ODOT and Clackamas County. Your feedback today will plug into the evaluation to help identify which projects are most important.

Proposed Project Types

The following section provides the proposed project types. In the survey after this section, you will be asked about which of the project types are most important to you. Because funding is limited, ODOT will not be able to fund all of the different types of projects identified for the corridor. The results from this open house will help us understand which projects are most important to the community.

1. Pedestrian Crossing Improvements

Pedestrian crossing improvements include additional signing, crosswalk striping, and signals at a pedestrian crossing. Enhanced crossings may be Pedestrian Hybrid Beacons (which give drivers a red light while pedestrians cross) or Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFBs), like those recently built on McLoughlin Boulevard at Boardman Avenue and Hull Avenue and shown in the pictures below.

New RRFB on McLoughlin Boulevard

New RRFB on McLoughlin Boulevard

2. Transit Improvements

Queue Jumps

Queue jumps allow buses to bypass traffic at signalized intersections by giving the bus a dedicated lane and several seconds to go before the rest of traffic. This can keep the bus from being stopped in traffic.

3. Sidewalks

New sidewalks, with a landscape buffer where possible, are being considered at all locations along the corridor without an existing sidewalk.

4. Bicycle Facility Improvements

A stepwise approach for bike facility improvements is proposed. These steps include:

  • First: Construct consistent buffered bike lanes along the entire corridor. Buffered bike lanes include a striped buffer, which provides greater separation between the vehicle travel lane and bike lane, but does not include any vertical separation.

  • Second: Add vertical separation to the buffer (for example, “candlesticks” as shown in the photo below) once money is available to maintain the barriers if they’re damaged.

5. Speed Management Treatments

Many proposed projects encourage slower speeds, which in turn makes it safer for everyone walking, biking, and driving on the road.

Speed feedback Signs

Speed feedback signs provide drivers with real time speed feedback to alert drivers if they are driving over the speed limit. This, in conjunction with other treatments like buffered or separated bicycle lanes can encourage slower, safer driving behaviors

Planted Medians

Providing medians can also encourage slower speeds and improve safety.

Image courtesy of greaterhiddenhillscdc.org

6. Pedestrian Safety Improvements at Signalized Intersections

Leading Pedestrian Interval (LPI)

Leading pedestrian intervals at signalized intersections allow pedestrians to get into the crosswalk before cars are given a green light, which helps make them more visible for drivers who are turning.

Protected Left Turns

Protected left turns allow no left turns to be made when the pedestrian push button is pushed, making it safer for people using the crosswalk.

7. Location Specific Intersection Improvements (Two Locations)

Several locations along the corridor have been targeted for more significant biking and walking safety improvements, as well.

McLoughlin Boulevard & Jennings Avenue

The intersection with Jennings Avenue is heavily used by people walking and biking because it provides connections to the Trolley Trail. Proposed improvements include extending the Trolley Trail to the intersection with a paved trail or path and/or supporting biking across the intersection with a diagonal bike signal, reducing the waiting time and improving the safety of bicyclists in the intersection.

With a diagonal bike signal, cars will have a red traffic light so that people can bike diagonally across the intersection to connect to the Trolley Trail on either side

Diagonal bicycle signal on an ODOT highway in Corvallis, Oregon

McLoughlin Boulevard & the Clackamas River Bridge

Many people bike and walk over the Clackamas River Bridge on narrow sidewalks. Some also bike in the general travel lanes because there are not bike lanes. While widening the bridge is not possible for this project, other treatments like additional lighting, a paved trail/shared use path connection to the intersection of McLoughlin Boulevard and Arlington Street, and flashing beacons indicating when a bicyclist is sharing the general travel lanes, are being considered.

Feedback

We want your input! Please complete the following survey to provide feedback on your project priorities for McLoughlin Boulevard. This feedback will be directly used to help understand which projects ODOT try to identify funding for first, and it is just one of several criteria to help make this decision. Other criteria include feasibility (including cost), biking and walking safety and comfort, and quality of transit service and access.

Please note that there are five separate question boxes below and you should click "Done" in each one of them after filling it out

McLoughlin Boulevard Investments Strategy - Q1 for Online Open House

McLoughlin Boulevard Investments Strategy - Q2 Online Open House

McLoughlin Boulevard Investments Strategy - Q3 Online Open House

McLoughlin Boulevard Investments Strategy - Q4 Online Open House

McLoughlin Boulevard Investments Strategy - Q5 Online Open House

Missing Sidewalk Locations

Missing Sidewalk near Courtney Avenue

Missing Sidewalk near Jennings Avenue

Missing Sidewalk near Glen Echo Avenue

Thank you for participating in this open house. For more information about the project, visit our project website:  https://www.oregon.gov/odot/projects/pages/project-details.aspx?project=MBSI 

New RRFB on McLoughlin Boulevard

New RRFB on McLoughlin Boulevard

Image courtesy of greaterhiddenhillscdc.org

With a diagonal bike signal, cars will have a red traffic light so that people can bike diagonally across the intersection to connect to the Trolley Trail on either side

Diagonal bicycle signal on an ODOT highway in Corvallis, Oregon

Missing Sidewalk near Courtney Avenue

Missing Sidewalk near Jennings Avenue

Missing Sidewalk near Glen Echo Avenue