Lights on, cyclists!

Last week, the Oregon Department of Transportation re-opened the I-205 Multi-Use Path between SE Strawberry Lane in Clackamas and SE 82nd Drive in Gladstone. The path closed last October for lighting installation.

Path users can expect flagging through the south end of the path as contractor Stacy and Witbeck, Inc. completes remaining work, including grouting of poles, seeding, and mulching. Bicyclists and pedestrians are asked to use caution when traveling through work areas.

This work completes a nearly $4 million project to install overhead lighting on the I-205 Multi-Use Path from SE Foster Road in Portland to SE 82nd Drive in Gladstone (the only portion of the path that lacked lighting).

In November 2009, ODOT and TriMet celebrated the completion of the first portion of lighting (from Lents to Clackamas Town Center), which has increased visibility, access, and safety through several neighborhoods along this major bike and pedestrian path. The project was funded with federal stimulus money through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The I-205 Multi-Use Path is an important north-south connection in the Portland metro region for bicyclists and pedestrians who use it for recreation, commuting, and accessing public transportation. The 16.5-mile path parallels I-205 from NE Marine Drive in Portland to SE 82nd Drive in Gladstone.

–Oregon Department of Transportation

Visit Friends of Trees‘ and ODOT‘s web sites to learn more about the three-year project to plant thousands of trees along the I-205 Multi-Use Path—a partnership among ODOT, Friends of Trees, Metro, East Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District, and a dozen other businesses, nonprofits, and community groups.

Four more plantings are scheduled along the I-205 Multi-Use Path in March and April, including one this Saturday, March 19, in the Lents neighborhood. All are welcome!