22nd Avenue & River Road

Our engineers performed a detailed water system design to implement the improvements while minimizing impacts to public service. Additional valves were installed to limit shutoffs and provide more customers with service during construction. A detailed construction staging plan proceeded valve to valve, so only a small group of residents would lack service and only for a short time.

Transportation Improvements

The City of Milwaukie’s SAFE program aims to improve safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and transit users. The program aims to “upgrade the City’s network of connections, such as sidewalks, ramps, and crossings, to fill network gaps, replace portions that don’t meet ADA standards, and remove barriers for people to get where they need to go safely.” To meet the City’s goals for this project, AKS successfully overcame many design challenges, including steep grades and designing sidewalk improvements within the existing paved surface, and ultimately delivered on many of the City’s transportation goals.

One significant challenge was contending with the steep grades off the west side of a portion of SE 22nd Avenue and on the east side of SE River Road near SE Sparrow Street. Our team paid special attention to grading design to limit abrupt transitions to existing driveways and protect pedestrians from steep slopes. Because the area is slated for a planned greenway improvement project, improvements were designed to minimize future rework.

We also modified vehicle paths through the three-way intersection of SE River Road, SE Lark Street, and SE 23rd Avenue while maintaining circulation and creating a safe pedestrian crossing. The improvements included a new pedestrian refuge island, crosswalks, and an updated traffic pattern. These elements were critical for the continuity of the pedestrian route. Our unique design solution provided a more defined intersection that kept existing vehicle movements open, increased directional control, and made pedestrian and bicycles routes safer. Like the SE Sparrow Street intersection, the SE River Road, SE Lark Street, and SE 23rd Avenue intersection may be part of a future project.

Perpendicular parking was eliminated along the SE 22nd Avenue frontage of the River Road House, a local sports bar, to make the area safer for pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists traveling between the Trolley Trail and SE McLoughlin Boulevard (OR 99E), including full-width paving in the project improved integration of the road section modifications. Prior to the 22nd Avenue and River Road SAFE project, vehicle collisions and frequent near-misses at the adjacent intersection had been witnessed by a business owner in the area. Upon project completion, this business owner voiced that the improvements had been effective in regulating traffic flow and reducing speeds, and also noted that within the first week of the sidewalk being poured, pedestrians no longer had to walk along the busy roadways, and the improved routes increased pedestrian traffic.

Reducing the width of the vehicle lane from 12 feet to 11 feet facilitated more effective use of the remaining right-of-way. New bike lanes and sidewalks on the west side of SE 22nd Avenue and the east side of SE River Road provide much-needed, safe, and accessible pedestrian and bicycle routes. This reassignment of the roadway prism aligns with the City’s emphasis on active transportation, shifting toward allocating the right-of-way equally between motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists, rather than the traditional motor vehicle-centric focus. The narrower vehicle travel lanes also created a natural traffic-calming effect, increasing safety for motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians alike.