By Ty Walker
The Mountain Times
The posted speed limit is 35 miles per hour along Welches Road off US Highway 26. But if you’ve walked that stretch of road between the highway and Birdie Lane, you know that too many drivers speed past, ignoring the posted signs.
There are no sidewalks or shoulders on this two-lane road, forcing pedestrians and bicyclists to share the roadway with vehicles. They don’t feel safe.
Drivers have come to complete stops as families with small children make their way down the busy, narrow road. Some would say it’s like a tragedy waiting to happen.
Welches Road safety concerns are nothing new to the neighborhood. In 2016, the Welches community got involved and helped Clackamas County develop The Villages at Mt. Hood Pedestrian and Bikeway Implementation Plan, prioritizing pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure improvements.
The Welches Road Bike/Ped Improvements Project was identified as a high priority project within the master plan. Based on further public meetings and an online survey, citizens have made one thing clear: they are calling for an eight-foot-wide dedicated pathway separate from and located along one side of the road, according to Clackamas County Project Manager Mike Ward.
“People tend to go at a pretty quick pace driving down Welches,” Ward said. “By creating a little bit of separation, this path hopefully will make pedestrians feel safer being removed from so many speeding vehicles.”
Cost for the project is estimated at $3.4 million, with funding provided by community road funds and system development charges.
The next step is to hire an engineering consulting firm to design the path. Requests For Proposals are expected to be released in a few weeks, Ward said.
“Once we get the design firm on board, they will take a crack at what we’ve heard from the community and come up with a rough sketch,” Ward said. “We’ll ID where the path will go, which side of the road.”
For the northern half of the Welches Road Project, building the path on the west side of the road makes more sense than the east, Ward said. The west side has less conflicts with trees and geography and has sufficient right of way.
More public input will be sought as designers move forward with the project. “About the only thing 100 percent certain is the path will be 8 feet wide,” Ward said. “Nothing else is nailed down.”
The project timeline has been updated as follows: A design consultant firm is expected to be named in November; alignment options presented in April; 30 percent of project design completed by June; and construction scheduled for spring 2027. There’s still time to have your voice heard by the Welches Road Project decision makers.
“We appreciate the community’s engagement and that they care about this because that makes projects more meaningful to build, knowing they will hopefully enjoy them.” Ward said.
For updates on the project, see www.clackamas.us/engineering/welches-road. You can sign up to put your name on an email list to receive updates.