Transportation — Intersection close to multiple schools to receive painted crosswalk following community requests

A marked crosswalk will be installed across North College Street at the road’s intersection with Foothills Drive, the result of repeated requests that came from the surrounding community over the years.

The intersection is positioned several blocks east of Antonia Crater Elementary and Chehalem Valley Middle schools, which city staff noted in a presentation to the City Council for approval of an intergovernmental agreement. An IGA was required because the North College Street is otherwise designated as Highway 219 and as such is within the Oregon Department of Transportation’s purview.

The marked crosswalk “allows the Newberg School District to consider Foothills Drive a safe route to school for children living on the east side of Highway 219,” staff concluded.

The state traffic roadway engineer with ODOT approved the city’s request for installation of the crosswalk, which will be financed and completed by the state department at a cost of about $550. The city’s only financial obligation is to perform annual maintenance on the crosswalk for the next 10 years, at an estimated cost of $200 per year.

“ODOT will be doing the work themselves for the benefit of the Newberg community,” senior engineer Paul Chiu said.

Because of that the city does not have a schedule of when the work will be completed. The IGA was approved by the council in July.

“That one is something a lot of homeowners (asked) for for quite some time, so I’m glad it’s happening,” Chiu said.

Still, he noted, pedestrians should exercise caution at the intersection, especially as the crosswalk will be a new feature and possibly unanticipated by motorists familiar with the street.

Written by: Colin Staub; Newberg Graphic