Board concurs with staff to use shared vehicle/bike lanes for Alexander Street improvement

Washington County staff recommended and the Board of Commissioners signaled support for a shared vehicle-and-bicycle lane design for the Alexander Street improvement project in the Aloha Town Center area during the Feb. 4 work session.

The staff recommendation — labeled Alternative 3 in the study — advances wider sidewalks, alternating on-street parking and planted "low impact development" (LID) stormwater planters, and uses shared-lane pavement markings (sharrows) rather than a separated cycle track. Staff said the choice balances pedestrian improvements, bicycle accommodation and property-rights impacts while keeping the project within the county’s current MSTIP funding allocation.

Steven Roberts, director of Land Use and Transportation, introduced the project and the alternatives. Roberts said Alexander Street is designated in the county’s Aloha planning area as a streetscape corridor intended to support increased pedestrian activity and mixed-use redevelopment. He said the Aloha Tomorrow study previously envisioned a segregated cycle track but that detailed engineering revealed constraints that make a…