Page 152 - TransportationPlanUsetsGuide

Spacing Considerations for Pedestrian Crossings
Other than the requirement to avoid establishing at-grade crossings within 300 feet from an existing traffic signal, the
County’s mid-block crossing policy does not provide guidance on the overall desired spacing of crossings on urban road-
ways. In the aggregate, crossings must carefully balance pedestrian safety and convenience with other modal needs,
including vehicular traffic flow. Several County and state policies provide implicit guidance:
• Per the Washington County Community Development Code (CDC), block faces in development along Arteri-
als and Collectors cannot be longer than 600 feet. For those that are, an accessway must be provided
every 400 feet. Within designated “Connectivity Lands,” these maximums are reduced to 530 and 330
feet. These standards may result in pedestrian crossing demand where local streets and accessways meet
the arterial/collector.
• Also per the CDC, direct access to an Arterial shall be from other Arterials or Collectors, unless access is
granted through a Type II land use review process, in which case that access can be no less than 600 feet
from another vehicular access point. While R&O 10-107 may still allow a crossing within 300 feet of a sig-
nalized intersection, the CDC requirement essentially establishes a de facto minimum spacing of 600 feet
between Arterial pedestrian crossings.
• ODOT recommends traffic signal spacing between 1,100 and 4,840 feet on urban arterials, depending on
posted speed and length of signal phase. These distances are too great to foster a well-connected pedes-
trian network, but they provide a starting point for establishing crossings in locations where there may be
none for long distances.

How to best integrate and implement these standards depends largely on context. For example, downtown
Beaverton features crossings every 264 feet (0.05 mile) on Hall Boulevard and Watson Avenue, corresponding with
the area’s compact street grid and dense land uses. By contrast, the TV Highway Corridor Plan recommends enhanced
pedestrian crossings or fully signalized intersections approximately every 0.3 mile in the more suburban Aloha area.

Existing signalized intersections can also be made safer and more convenient for pedestrians by delineating standard
crosswalks if they are missing, adding countdown walk signals, allowing a two-second advance phase for pedestrians,
and making physical improvements such as curb extensions and refuge islands.

Pedestrian Crossing Needs
Figure 3-23 shows urban Washington County corridors where new, additional, or enhanced pedestrian crossings should
be evaluated and potentially provided. These corridors, many of them four or more lane arterials with transit service,
were compiled from the Washington County Transportation System Plan Background Report, TriMet’s 2011 Pedestrian
Network Analysis document, and public comments received during the development of the 2014 TSP update. A finer
scale analysis of each corridor is recommended before pursuing crossing projects.

Other transportation facilities, such as railroads and freeways, also present barriers to pedestrians who need to cross
them. The Portland & Western Railroad (PNWR), that parallels TV Highway between Beaverton and Hillsboro, is a barrier
for people from adjacent residential areas south of the tracks accessing the #57 bus stops and businesses along TV
Highway. Pathways worn into the ground indicate that many people trespass across the railroad tracks rather than walk
out of direction to the nearest legal crossing. Sunset Highway (U.S. 26) is a major physical and psychological barrier that
effectively defines the northern area of Washington County. Between Highway 217 and Brookwood Parkway, the aver-
age interchange spacing is about 1.4 miles; and few roads or trails cross in between these locations. Several planned
transportation corridors would provide additional crossings of Sunset Highway: Century Boulevard/229th Avenue, 173rd
Avenue/174th Avenue/Bronson Creek Trail, 143rd Avenue/Meadow Drive/Westside Trail, and the North Johnson Creek
Trail. Highway 217 imposes a north-south barrier between intensely developed areas on either side of the freeway. One
location of particular concern in this corridor is the Washington Square Regional Center, where the shopping mall and
bus transit center sit opposite the WES Commuter Rail station and the Nimbus Avenue employment corridor. The 2014
RTP proposes construction of a pedestrian bridge in this location.

134 PART 3: TRANSPORTATION MODAL ELEMENTS
Effective November 27, 2015 • Updated December, 15 2016