mtnbud

Long overdue - should make 101 better once finished, but might cause some problems for cyclists until it's finished.

Link.

B. Carfree

I'm not sure it will be better for cyclists when it's done. Center-line rumble strips are trouble unless the shoulder is wide and maintained since they strongly discourage motorists from moving over to give more space where necessary (so it better not be necessary). ODOT doesn't have a very good track record on this sort of thing, imo. They say they'll widen the shoulders, but they never seem to realize that it's not the widest part or even the average that counts, it's the narrowest part that makes the shoulder rideable or not.

That said, I love riding through construction zones. There is some communication required when there are pilot cars so that the pilot car doesn't bring traffic back at a cyclist, but they usually have radio contact with the flaggers, so it generally works out. I've even had flaggers hold traffic for work while letting me go on ahead (since it was clear I could easily get on by without creating any danger). Sure, the cars come in clumps, but the times between clumps are glorious.

mtnbud

Yeah - I'm not a fan of rumble strips. There's a few places near my house where I now am forced to ride in the lane because the rumble strips are too close to the edge of the road and the blackberry vines sneak into what little space is there.

I wonder if ODOT would take that into consideration if we voiced our concerns somehow?

B. Carfree

Good luck with that. ODOT has been incredibly reluctant to take any advise from outsiders. That's a real shame, imo, because they consistently do things in such a way as to create unnecessarily added inconvenience and often even danger for non-motorists. To add insult to injury, this is often done by putting in illegal work. Sadly, judging from their responses to being called out, they seem to have a desire to remove cyclists from the road (even to the point of refusing to add a signal to an intersection in PDX unless the PBOT removes a bike lane from a street that goes to a school!)

mtnbud

Good news:

I e-mailed ODOT and did get a reply:

"Hi Jeff,

I understand that you have questions on the scope of the Cooks Chasm to Sutton Creek project. The rumble strips that will be installed for safety will be on the centerline and NOT the shoulders. The idea is to help prevent crossover accidents. We did not have enough room on the shoulders to install rumbles on the shoulders and still have it be safe for bicyclists. I have attached a copy of the press release that provides more information about the project.

Thanks for the question. Let me know if I can help you further with information.

Safe riding!
Frannie Brindle
ODOT Area 5 Manager "