Ardenwald-Johnson Creek Neighborhood Association members raised questions or concerns at the meeting on March 9th about the bike route designation for S.E. 29th Ave. and S.E. Balfour St.
Paul Shirey, City of Milwaukie Public Works Operations Director, provided the answers to questions or concerns from last week via email today:
1. 29th Ave is designated as a bike boulevard, and is a better north-south route than 32nd Ave for cyclists (no bike lanes, higher traffic).
2. With that in mind, all of the east-west streets in that area are narrow and you have to use one of them to get to/from 29th Ave.
3. Balfour St is very close to the continuing east-west connection on Harvey St, so that minimizes cyclists’ time on 32nd Ave.
4. The bike boulevard idea involves calming traffic — if motorists need to slow down to let cyclists get through a tight spot on Balfour, that’s part of the function.
5. The right-of-way width on Balfour St is adequate, even if the paved street itself is narrow. If people are parking in the travel lanes then we can send in code enforcement or post signs.
Any further questions on the bike routes should be directed to Brett Kelver at the Planning Dept 503-786-7657