County staff recommend shared vehicle-bike lanes and wider sidewalks for Alexander Street project in Aloha; board concurs

Steven Roberts, director of Land Use and Transportation, presented final design alternatives for the Alexander Street improvement project in the Aloha town-center area and recommended a shared vehicle-and-bike-lane configuration with wider sidewalks.

“I am Steven Roberts, director of land use and transportation,” Roberts said when he opened the staff presentation. He and project staff described three alternatives: a standard collector cross section with bike lanes and on-street parking (requiring about 76 feet of right of way), a segregated cycle track concept (about 71 feet required), and a shared-use design with bicyclists in the travel lane supported by sharrow markings and 10-foot sidewalks (about 63 feet right of way required). Staff recommended Alternative 3.

Staff gave the board three central reasons for their recommendation: the town-center context and expected pedestrian activity favor wider sidewalks; the number of driveways and cross streets along Alexander made a separated cycle track operationally problematic; and Alternative 3 would reduce right-of-way impacts and lower expected property take and relocation risk. Roberts told commissioners the county’s MSTIP funding allocation for preliminary design and construction is about $23.7 million and that Alternative 3’s estimated total cost was about $19.4 million, making it the most feasible within current funding.

Staff described community outreach: an online open house in December 2023 yielded 437 visitors and 25 pieces of substantive feedback (some support, and concerns about right-of-way impacts and trees). The staff presentation also showed plan views, proposed sidewalk bump-outs, LID (low-impact development) swales for stormwater treatment, and potential targeted undergrounding of overhead utilities to avoid building removals.

When staff asked for direction, commissioners discussed traffic speeds, raised the possibility of visual traffic-calming measures and speed feedback signs, and asked for coordination with ODOT for signal timing at the busy 180th Avenue (180 Fifth) intersection. Commissioner comments favored design features to keep vehicle speeds low and protect bicyclists where lanes are shared. After discussion, board members expressed general agreement with the staff-recommended Alternative 3.

Why it matters: the project will implement the Aloha town-center vision in a roughly half-mile segment of Alexander Street, create a continuous pedestrian network and influence how motorists and cyclists negotiate a busy corridor adjacent to TV Highway and a planned town center. The staff-recommended design prioritizes sidewalks and minimizes private-property impacts while keeping the project within the current funding allocation.

Speakers quoted in this article are identified in the transcript excerpts below; commissioners provided informal concurrence, and no formal roll-call vote was taken during the work session.