The Corvallis-Albany Bikeway Project will offer a new connection for pedestrians and cyclists to travel between the North Albany area and Downtown Corvallis.
In April of 2017, after extensive community outreach to property owners, community members, Bicycle Advisory committee members, and other stakeholders, the Benton County Board of Commissioners directed staff to focus on a final destination for a connective path along U.S. 20.
The Pilkington to Merloy Connection is moving forward! The continuation of this connection was made possible by a Community Paths Grant awarded to the County in 2021. Construction of the Pilkington to Merloy connection is tentatively scheduled for 2024. Benton County has contracted with David Evans and Associates to provide preliminary design services and right-of-way acquisition assistance.
The North Albany Connection between Hickory and Rainwater is also moving forward! David Evans and Associates is also working on this segment of the project. After denial by the Union Pacific Railroad of a proposal to have the path go under the existing railroad, staff and the consultant looked for other options for a temporary connection. The proposal is to end the path at Rainwater to at least provide a connection to U.S. 20 and move this project into right-of-way negotiation and construction.
North Albany Refinement Plan – The County was successful in obtaining additional Community Paths Grant funding to further refine the alignment between Rainwater and Scenic. The eventual alignment may include going over or under the highway! The County continues to work closely with ODOT as this collaborative effort will ensure that the vision for the community connections from Corvallis to Albany can be realized.
Timeline
10/30/23 – Construction of the Hickory to Rainwater connection is tentatively scheduled for 2025. County has received Community Paths Grant funding for a North Albany Refinement Plan (Rainwater to Scenic) and a Carbon Reduction Program Grant for a refined alignment and preliminary (30%) design from Merloy to Scenic – the balance of the project. Having this preliminary design in hand, the County will competitively look for additional funding for construction.
11/29/21 – Construction of the Pilkington to Merloy connection is tentatively scheduled for sometime in 2024.
08/10/21 – Benton County began formalizing a new public outreach strategy for the project.
09/29/20 – The County coordinated with the Oregon Department of Transportation on a design of a multi-use path parallel with Highway 20 between Conifer to Merloy and has contracted with David Evans and Associates to provide design services.
10/22/18 – Project placed on hold.
9/8/17 – County sent various letters to various property owners throughout the summer to seek contact information for future discussions
9/8/17 – Engineer preparing preliminary design by end of September
6/12/17 – Phase 3 Kickoff Meeting occurred.
6/6/17 – Board of Commissioners voted 3-0 in favor of moving to and completing Phase 3.
5/16/17 – Consultant Team presented stakeholder committee recommendation to Board of Commissioners. They will vote on this on June 6, 2017.
4/26/17 – Stakeholder Meeting #4 occurred. Recommended rural route to TSP. Recommended Highway 20 route to Phase 3.
4/5/17 – Community Open House occurred.
3/22/17 – Stakeholder Meeting #3 occurred. Narrowed choices to two options plus two hybrids.
3/8/17 – Technical Committee #1 meeting occurred. Recommended two options.
3/1/17 – Project team field visited all 3 options.
2/22/17 – Stakeholder Meeting #2 occurred. Group narrowed routes to 3 options.
1/25/17 – Stakeholder Meeting #1 occurred. Group discussed criteria to evaluate possible bikeway location.
1/3/17 – County Board approves proceeding to Phase 2.
12/14/16 – Route Options Maps added to website
12/12/16 – Community Event at Waldorf School on 12/13/16 from 5:30-7:00.
Late Fall 2016 – Scenario Analysis to begin
7/25/16 – Many interviews have been completed
7/5/16 – A list of questions and interviews has been established. Interviews will begin soon.
6/7/16 – Barney and Worth will be contacting various parties to learn about the possible connection of a bikeway between Corvallis and Albany. This work will begin in early summer and be completed in fall. It will consist of minor research and numerous interviews.
Benton County’s Original Project Phase Planning
This project will be completed in multiple phases.
History:
- Several options were identified as potential routes for the final bikeway path.
- The stakeholder group recommended the Highway 20 Route move forward to Phase 3.
- The stakeholder group recommended the rural route be placed in the TSP.
- The County Board directed staff to move to Phase 3 on June 6, 2017.
- To see what the public response was, go to the following link https://www.co.benton.or.us/bikeway/page/corvallis-albany-bikeway-projec…
- The Corvallis-Albany Bikeway will be completed in sections refferred to as Community Connections. The Pilkington to Merloy connection was tentatively slated to begin construction in 2022.
Exhibits
- Click this text to open the exhibits of the Conifer to Merloy portion of the Corvallis-Albany Bikeway project. This PDF file will open in a new tab.
Phase 1
Phase 1 was listening to the community to determine need and support for the project using surveys, stakeholder interviews, and feedback given during a public open house on December 13, 2016. To that end, Barney and Worth, a consultant firm, conducted online and telephone surveys to determine public interest in a path in the general Highway 20 corridor. More information about the surveys and survey results is also available on the website.
Results from the surveys were presented to the public at the open house on December 13, 2016. The contents of that presentation are available here. Comments submitted by attendees of the open house are also available online.
The information collected in phase one was considered by the County Commissioners in their Phase 2 decision. Information was presented to the Board of Commissioners at a work session on December 20, 2016. The contents of that presentation are available here.
The county board authorized staff to proceed to Phase 2 on Jan. 3, 2017.
Phase 2
The goal of Phase 2 was to engage the community in the study and determine if a best conceptual route could be chosen from the identified alternatives.
A conceptual location along Highway 20 starting at Conifer on the east side of the roadway heading northward until Bowers Slough (just past Independence Highway) then under the roadway to the north side of Highway 20 and heading eastbound to Scenic Drive was chosen.
The county board authorized staff to proceed to Phase 3 on June 6, 2017.
Phase 3
The goal of Phase 3 is to perform the preliminary engineering of the selected route. This phase includes engineering, cost estimates, environmental impacts, and citizen and property owner interaction and input.
Construction of the Pilkington to Merloy connection was tentatively scheduled for 2022.
For the latest information on the Corvallis-Albany Bikeway Project visit https://www.co.benton.or.us/publicworks/project/corvallis-albany-bikeway-project
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