Columbia Street Safety and Mobility Project

A part of the City’s Complete Streets Program, the Project was to develop a north-south bike and small mobility route west of I-5 for all ages and abilities connecting neighborhoods between the Burnt Bridge Creek Trail and the Vancouver Waterfront.

The Project involved improvements to bicycle, small mobility, and pedestrian facilities on Columbia Street between West Columbia Way and West 45th Street.

Design and Construction

The following safety and mobility upgrades were installed and included in the project:

• Parking-protected mobility lanes between W 8th Street and W 13th Street.
• Sharrow marked lanes between W 13th Street and Mill Plain Boulevard.
• Buffered, zicla-protected mobility lanes between Mill Plain Boulevard and W 45th Street.
• On-street parking removal between Mill Plain Boulevard and W 45th Street.
• An enhanced pedestrian crossing on Columbia Street between W 6th Street and W 8th Street.
• Bike boxes and mobility lane extensions at intersections.
• Marked crosswalks with street lighting at intersections.
• Automatic bike and pedestrian counters.
• Outreach and education about roadway improvements and enforcement activities.

Evaluation

All Complete Streets projects have an embedded post project data collection and evaluation to determine how the added safety and mobility elements function, and to recommend refinements and changes if needed. This is the final stage of a Complete Streets project after which the road is monitored for safety or other issues in the same manner as all city streets.

The Evaluation Report is linked in the Files section below. The yearlong post-implementation evaluation compared pre- and post-project data to measure whether design changes and investments advanced project goals. These goals included: fewer crashes for all modes, travel speeds in line with posted speed limits, reduced level of traffic stress for bicyclists, small mobility users and pedestrians, and increases in people taking transit, walking and bicycling.

Files

Columbia Street Presentation – Westside Bike Mobility Project Update and Pavement Management Columbia Street Memorandum – Westside Bike Mobility Project Update and Pavement Management Columbia Street Parking Utilization Analysis Columbia Street Paving Project Final Plans Evaluation Report – Columbia Street Mobility Project Complete Street Monitoring Corridor Report