Hood River advisory committee backs interim Taylor Avenue protected bike lanes, asks staff to soften barriers and monitor use

The Hood River City Urban Renewal Advisory Committee on an advisory vote backed staff recommendations to install interim protected bike lanes on Taylor Avenue while continuing design toward full construction in 2027. Chair Liv Hoffman and committee members heard a detailed staff presentation and public comments after an open house that drew about 40 sign-ins and a bilingual survey with 19 completed responses plus four emailed comments.

Urban renewal administrator Will Norris said the 30% designs balance a fixed right-of-way and competing uses: “it is a 0 sum game,” he said, noting the Heights has 60 feet of right-of-way on 12th and 50 feet on 13th and that adding bike or bus infrastructure will require giving up either travel lane space or parking. Norris recommended keeping the interim protected lanes in place for now, while monitoring how people use them, and returning later if they are unused.

Why it matters: The interim treatment would create a protected connector across several lower-volume east–west streets and link to already-identified safe routes to schools. Committee members expressed concern that the interim condition could persist for years if funding for a roundabout — a precondition to converting 13th to two-way traffic and allowing narrower travel lanes on 12th — is not secured.

Committee questions focused on three themes: parking impacts, safety/visibility and the look of Jersey barriers. Several members urged minimizing parking loss near Pine Street businesses and exploring private parking agreements; Norris noted the city has a template contract ready to manage private lots but said free curbside parking in The Heights may limit private lot participation. On aesthetics, Norris said there are alternative barrier materials available: “They look like jersey barriers, but they’re metal and flat surfaced and can be printed, with any design that you want.”

Norris also described steps staff will take before construction: outreach to May Street School and the Safe Routes to School coordinator, coordination with parks and rec to improve walking/bike connections, public education on the project’s purpose and status and options for monitoring usage (he said he’d received a $5,000 quote for a week’s worth of video bike counts and would pursue other quotes).

The committee asked about whether an economic-impact study exists to show benefits from increased pedestrian and bike traffic; Norris said no such economic-impact analysis has been completed and that effects are likely business-specific. He cited the 2020 parking study showing The Heights at about 54% peak on-street occupancy and noted the city’s 85% occupancy policy for triggering parking-rate changes.

What’s next: Staff will move the design forward to construction documents, seek less industrial-looking barrier options and more art integration, increase targeted outreach and monitor usage after installation. The committee did not adopt a separate motion beyond expressing support for staff’s recommended next steps.