The City, County, and Port of Portland have come together to work out a widened and improved roadway for the first 200 yards (approximately) of NE 25th Avenue immediately north of the intersection with NE Cornell Road. Based on an examination of the plans, Hillsboro’s bicyclists are among the beneficiaries of the project.
The width of the right-of-way for 25th Avenue is finite and, until now, the multiple traffic lanes required for entering and exiting the busy intersection with Cornell Road haven’t left much room for bike lanes. As a result, the cyclists’ tracks have been narrow and feel like they were squeezed in (kudos to the past traffic engineers who obviously made the most out of a deficient situation).
In addition to full-fledged bike lanes, the intersection improvement project is adding dedicated turn lanes from southbound 25th Avenue onto Cornell Road and also upgraded street lighting and traffic signals. The $5.9 million endeavor is funded by the County’s Major Streets and Transportation Improvement Program (MSTIP) 3d. Construction is expected to wrap up at the end of the year.
