RE: Minor Betterments Projects near William Walker Elementary

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1 Washington County Department of Land Use and Transportation Operations & Maintenance Division Attn: Minor Betterments Program Coordinator 1400 SW Walnut Street, MS 51 Hillsboro, OR June 10 th, 2011 RE: Minor Betterments Projects near William Walker Elementary To Whom It May Concern: The William Walker Parent Teacher Club (PTC) has learned of several proposed minor betterments projects in the school boundary. We wish to support these betterments because improved pedestrian safety and walkability will result. William Walker currently provides bus service provided to over 560 students because of the low walkability in our feeder neighborhoods, as well as several unsafe road crossings. We strongly support the proposed projects. Adding sidewalks and improving safety of our neighborhood is important both for access to school for encouraging pupils to walk safely in their neighborhoods out of school hours. In addition, improving the sidewalks can help foster school and neighborhood community. Right now, some parents cannot attend evening events because it is not safe for them to walk to school. Projects that we have been made aware of and that have our endorsement include: Adding sidewalks to SW 123 rd, and SW 124 th between Walker Rd and Center St Adding sidewalks to SW Fairfield and SW 119 th between Cedar Hills Blvd and Walker Rd Adding sidewalks to SW Huntington between Cedar Hills Blvd and SW Glenhaven These specific projects would have significant impact in creating safe walking paths to school for neighborhood children and their families. Best regards, Lynn Santelmann President William Walker PTC President

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5 Washington County Department of Land Use and Transportation Operations & Maintenance Division Attn: Minor Betterments Program Coordinator 1400 SW Walnut Street, MS 51 Hillsboro, OR June 30 th, 2011 To Whom It May Concern: I am writing in support of proposed minor betterment projects in my area relating to sidewalks being added to commonly used neighborhood routes. The specific projects that I am writing in support of are: SW Huntington Ave (project #206) SW Butner Road (between Murray Rd and Cedar Hills Blvd) SW 123 rd and 124 th (between Center Street and Walker Rd) SW Fairfield and 119 th (between Cedar Hills Blvd and Walker Rd) Attached are some supporting notes and project detail pages related to the above projects including insight and information into why I feel these particular projects stand out as good candidates. I have also solicited letters of support for the projects from various local community groups including: CPO1 Connecting Neighborhoods Subcommittee William Walker Elementary School PTC Cedar Hills Home Owners Association These groups have sent their letters of support directly to the county separate to this packet. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Washington County for providing the minor betterments forum for community involvement in improving the connectivity and walkability of our neighborhoods. Thank you for your time and efforts in review of the proposals submitted and for your commitment to improving our neighborhoods. Best regards, Barbara Dusicka SW Foothill Dr Portland, OR Dusicka@gmail.com

6 Project # 206: Sidewalk Addition to SW Huntington Copy of Initial Online Submission Road name: SW Huntington Ave Nearest intersection at one end: SW Glenhaven St Nearest intersection at the other end: SW Cedar Hills Blvd Which side of the street is the project on?: East,West Description of the project: Add sidewalks on one or both sides of the street to this approx. 1400ft section of SW Huntington Ave. (Or even temporary solution of clearly designated/painted pedestrian area on side of road.) Additional Detail of Project How will the project benefit the community?: SW Huntington is immediately opposite the entrance to Cedar Hills park and is used as overflow parking when the park gets busy for events (which I imagine it would do more so when the $6,025,000 redevelopment project that THPRD is planning is complete). Not only is Huntington used for access to the park, it is also a major access point for the neighborhood for people walking to the nearby Cedar Hills shopping complex and is a convenient walking path towards the local grade school (William Walker) which can be accessed through Cedar Hills Park. Because of its convenience as a major access point, Huntington has lots of vehicle traffic as well as pedestrians and because the road is so wide, most vehicles tend to exceed the speed limit. Adding a sidewalk to this section of SW Huntington would benefit the community by providing a safer walking path beside this busy street and would encourage more people to walk rather than drive to the nearby mall. Requestor name: Barbara Dusicka Address: SW Foothill Dr Portland, OR Phone: (503) E mail: dusicka@gmail.com

7 Street Classification and Background SW Huntington is a major neighborhood route for the Cedar Hills area (per Washingtonn County plan). Local traffic coming from or to Beaverton or the local Cedar Hills Mall often uses Huntington as an access point. There is frequently a back up of cars turning left on to Huntington from Cedar Hills Blvd as a result of this. Huntington is not only a major neighborhood route for cars, pedestrians also use this street in greater numbers than other neighborhood streets. People walk to the mall or to the shopping strip which starts at Walker and continues down Cedar Hills Blvd and also walk down Huntington to access Cedar Hills Park (which is scheduled for a major construction effortt in the coming years ($6,000,000 bond project with THPRD). Local schools bus routes also travel and drop off children on this section of Huntington. PARK SCHOOL PARK SCHOOL SHOPPING MALLL SCHOOL Because of the width of the street and the fact that Huntington slopes down from Cedar Hills and from Glenhaven to a low point at Edgewood, vehicles tend to speed on this section of street. The slope also can createe visibility issues for pedestrians, particularly between Faircrest and Glenhaven.

8 Connectivity Benefits There are three streets exiting the Cedar Hills neighborhood in the direction of the Cedar Hills Mall and Shopping area. Two (Filmont and Westfield) have no sidewalks and exit onto Walker Rd, which itself has no sidewalks. The third is Huntington, which exits on to Cedar Hills Blvd close to Rite Aid and a short walk from the other shops and mall areas. Huntington is also immediately adjacent to Cedar Hills Park which is a THPRD park with tennis courts and picnic areas and is scheduled for a major renovation to add a water park and other sports amenities. There is a path that runs from Cedar Hills Blvd opposite Huntington, through the park, to William Walker Elementary school. Completing the sidewalk on Huntington would allow for a connection point for pedestrians out of the neighborhood in the direction of the shops. As well as connecting a large neighborhood area with a safe walk route to the shops, it would provide safer access to the park and school for neighborhood families. Affected Communities and Organizations: Improving neighborhood connectivity in this location would have positive effects for multiple agencies including: Beaverton School District (William Walker Elementary, Arts and Communication Magnet Academy, walk to school safety for kids, and potential ability to save money on buses) THPRD (Cedar Hills Park redevelopment parking overflow and access from neighborhood) Washington County (Neighborhood access road, pedestrian access to shops and park for county residents) Cedar Hills HOA (as above) CPO1 connections (as above) If the sidewalk project is completed, a flow on project could be a pedestrian controlled intersection on Cedar Hills Blvd at Huntington that would provide direct access to the Cedar Hills park and William Walker elementary school from the neighborhood. This intersection would significantly enhance benefits seen by the agencies above as well as potential benefits to safety and traffic flow which may benefit the City of Beaverton (who has annexed Cedar Hills Blvd itself).

9 Additional Photos and Maps: Aerial view of affected area of Huntington. Note that North of Glenhaven the neighborhood (including Huntington) has complete sidewalks on both sides of the street. The section between Glenhaven and Cedar Hills Blvd is the only incomplete section of sidewalk onn Huntington and would provide a safe exit point from the neighborhood. Other streets exiting the neighborhood to Cedar Hills Blvd (e.g. Westfield) are also lacking sidewalks with the exception of Park Way, which is not oriented as a direct route to the mall or park area for most homes in the neighborhood.

10 View facing south on Huntington from top of rise between Glenhaven and Faircrest. View facing south on Huntington from bottom of hill near Edgewood.

11 North of Glenhaven where sidewalks on Huntington are complete.

12 Project: Sidewalk on SW Butner Rd from Murray Rd to Cedar Hills Blvd Road names: SW Butner Rd Nearest intersection at one end: Murray Rd Nearest intersection at the other end: Cedar Hills Blvd Which side of the street is the project on?: North and South Description of the project: Define off road pedestrian paths wide enough for a stroller on one or both sides of the street to improve safety and connectivity of neighborhood to shopping mall and Sunset Transit Center. Additional Detail of Project How will the project benefit the community?: SW Butner Rd is narrow curving and busy raised speed limit road that sees both high levels of pedestrian and vehicle activity. It is a school bus route and provides a link from the neighborhood to both the Sunset Transit Center and the shopping area on Barnes and Cedar Hills Blvd. Safety on Butner Road is an issue. I have personally seen school children by vehicle traffic and have seen many near misses as drivers either do not see pedestrians and cut too close, or swing wide into oncoming traffic rounding a corner. Some sections of Butner Road already have pedestrian paths separated from the road in people s front yards. Extending this network of trails such that there is a safe and continuous path for pedestrians separate from the road would hugely improve the safety of this busy road. Affected Communities and Organizations: Improving neighborhood connectivity in this location would have positive effects for multiple agencies including: Trimet (Improved pedestrian access to Sunset Transit Center) Washington County (Neighborhood access road, pedestrian access to shops and transit for county residents) Cedar Hills HOA (as above) CPO1 connections (as above)

13 Additional Photos and Maps:

14 Some sections of the road have wide grass shoulders where pedestrians can safely walk. More clearly marking these as county easementss would make people comfortable using them without feeling like they weree intruding on private property: In some areas (left hand side of picture below) a path for pedestrians is clear to see this would be ideal to implement continuously along the length: In some areas on the road, homeowner plantings in the county right of way force pedestrians onto the main carriageway:

15 Project: Sidewalk on SW 123 rd &124 th Between SW Center St and SW Walker Rd Sidewalk on SW Fairfield and SW 119 th from Cedar Hills Blvd to SW Walker Rd Road names: SW 123 rd & SW 124 th ; SW Fairfield and SW 119th Nearest intersection at one end: SW Center St; SW Cedar Hills Blvd Nearest intersection at the other end: SW Walker Rd Which side of the street is the project on?: East and West of 123 rd, 124 th and 119 th, North and South of SW Fairfield. Description of the project: Add sidewalks on one or both sides of the street to the high pedestrian neighborhood routes in the neighborhood. Additional Detail of Project How will the project benefit the community?: SW 123 rd and 124 th are a part of the neighborhood route in the area and provide connection between shopping, transit center, parks, and residential neighborhood. These streets run down the middle of a high pedestrian traffic area. SW Fairfield is the east west connector that ties these to the shopping complex and SW 119th provides walking access from the neighborhood towards William Walker elementary. In combination, these sidewalks significantly improve connectivity and pedestrian safety between multiple facilities in an area with high population density (cluster of apartment complexes on Center Street) and in which many pedestrians are already active accessing shopping and transit. SW 123 rd connects the northern part of the neighborhood down to the transit center via 124 th and also provides connection in the direction of Cedar Hills Park and shopping. SW 124 th has slightly heavier pedestrian traffic as it is the main collector for the neighborhood for pedestrian access to the Beaverton Transit Center and is a walking route for people going from the transit center to the heart of the Cedar Hills shopping complex. SW Fairfield is the east west connector that ties these two streets to the Cedar Hills shopping complex and shops along Cedar Hills Blvd. SW 119 th is a north south street which intersects Walker Road near an existing safe crossing point (SW Lynnfield) for access to William Walker elementary school and Cedar Hills park (which is slated for a $6million restoration bond project in the next 2 years).

16 Street Classification and Background All four streets for which sidewalks are requested are designated as neighborhood routes for the Cedar Hills area (per Washington County plan). The streets are usedd both by local traffic as well as cars seeking to avoid street lights and traffic on Walker and Cedar Hills Blvd. All these streets have had speed bumps added as a traffic calming method and all, especially SW 124 th and SW Fairfield between Cedar Hills Blvd. and 124 th, have regular pedestrian activity. These streets are also part of local school bus routes. PARK SCHOOL SHOPPING MALLL SCHOOL SCHOOL TRANSITT CENTER Affected Communities and Organizations: Improving neighborhood connectivity in this location would have positive effects for multiple agencies including: Beaverton School District (William Walker Elementary, Arts and Communication Magnet Academy, walk to school safety for kids, and potential ability to save money on buses) THPRD (Cedar Hills Park redevelopment parking overflow and accesss from neighborhood) Trimet (Improved and safer pedestrian access to Beaverton Transit Center) Washington County (Neighborhood access road, pedestrian access to shops and park for county residents) Cedar Hills HOA (as above) CPO1 connections (as above)

17 Additional Photos and Maps:

18 Facing North up SW 124 th from SW Center Street: Facing east on SW Fairfield from Cedar Hills Blvd: SW 119 th at Walker Rd Intersection with lighted pedestrian crossing access to school visible in top left

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