ODOT, Hood River Urban Renewal reach agreement for jurisdictional transfer

As previously reported, ODOT did not have plans or funding for safety improvements. When a series of community meetings in 2018 showed the “existing Heights traffic configuration did not meet residents’ expectations and that more than minor updates to the district were demanded … Urban Renewal Agency initiated a multi-year and multi-phase project to fully redesign and configure the Heights District roadways,” Norris said.

Council adopted that “multi-year and multi-phase project” — called the Heights Streetscape Plan — in 2023, and it was incorporated into the city’s Transportation Plan in 2024.

Norris said the OR-281 transfer boundaries are from Oak Street to Pacific Avenue, with ODOT retaining the bookend intersections. ODOT will also operate and maintain the traffic signal at May and 12th streets at an estimated cost to the city of $3,500-$4,500 per year.

Other key points:

• ODOT will pay $2,300,000 as general compensation for the transfer, the approximate cost for grind and overlay of the roadway.

• The city will take responsibility for installing ADA-compliant ramps along Taylor Avenue and on 13th from Taylor to Belmont by Dec. 31, 2028, and receive $1.7 million from ODOT for this work. ODOT will be responsible for installing the ADA ramps everywhere else in the Heights along OR-281.

• The roadway will continue to be signed OR-281, and the city must maintain the roadway’s existing road capacity, 14-foot width loads.

Work on Taylor Avenue will be the first of 11 sequential projects in the Heights Streetscape Plan. As previously reported, Nathan Polanski, engineering director with MIG, said the Taylor Avenue neighborhood connection and east-west crossings along 13th Street are smaller pedestrian and bicycle projects that focus on improving safety at intersections, including shared path crossings with rectangular rapid flashing beacons, curb extensions, and a buffered bike lane, among others.