PORTLAND, Ore. (PORTLAND TRIBUNE) — The Oregon Department of Transportation plans to close 181 crosswalks across busy roads in the metro region in 2023. Fifty-three of them are in Portland.
The crosswalks are on state highways that serve as major roads in ODOT Region 1 that includes Portland, Barlow, Beaverton, Canby, Cascade Locks, Gladstone, Hillsboro, Lake Oswego, Milwaukie, Molalla, Oregon City, Sherwood, Tigard, Troutdale, Tualatin, West Linn, Wilsonville, and unincorporated portions of Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties.
The closures are planned as part of the Region 1 ADAS Sidewalk Curb Ramp Upgrades Project to bring approximately 25,000 crosswalks across the state into compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act. Most of the crosswalks will be upgraded with safety improvements and kept open.
“We evaluated crosswalks statewide and found that a number of them do not provide equal safety to all users for a variety of reasons. These reasons may include crosswalks ending at or in close proximity to a driveway, a median island or landscaping in the crosswalk path, or traffic signals that do not have pedestrian signals and push buttons. In these cases, the crosswalks are closed by installing “crosswalk closed” signs at the intersection. This ensures that people are guided to use an alternate, nearby, safer and open crosswalk.,” ODOT said on its website on the project.
Crosswalks on state highways in Portland will be closed in all parts of the city. According to a list of planned closures on ODOT’s website, they include:
- 8 crosswalks on US-30BY/Lombard Street in North Portland
- 12 crosswalks on US-30BY/Lombard Street and Sandy Boulevard in Northeast Portland
- 5 crosswalks on US-30 in Northwest Portland
- 16 crosswalks on US-26/Powell Boulevard in Southeast Portland
- 18 sidewalks on OR-99W/Southwest Barbur Boulevard
Crosswalks will be improved without associated closures in Aloha, Cornelius, Forest Grove, Hood River and Sandy.
According to ODOT, the project was launched in response to a formal complaint from the Association of Oregon Centers for Independent Living. Together the parties reached an agreement to improve curb ramps and pedestrian signals along all state highways.
”We build safe spaces for people to walk or roll across our highways. Bringing curb ramps up to accessibility standards and closing unsafe and inaccessible crosswalks are tools we use to meet these obligations,” ODOT said.
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