Hillsboro: What Public Works Told People Who Asked for Stop Signs and Flashing Crosswalks
- Hillsboro Public Works told residents that stop signs on 91st and 92nd and a flashing crosswalk beacon at Century and Johnson do not meet federal traffic criteria, a city log of 21 public requests sh…
- The log sits on pages 11 to 13 of the Oct.
- The requests reached Public Works between May 26 and Oct.
Hillsboro Public Works told residents that stop signs on 91st and 92nd and a flashing crosswalk beacon at Century and Johnson do not meet federal traffic criteria, a city log of 21 public requests shows. The log, printed Oct. 15, also lists six requests still without a resolution date.
The log sits on pages 11 to 13 of the Oct. 27 Transportation Committee packet as an information item. The committee meets at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27, in the Civic Center Auditorium and on Zoom, with transportation utility fees the only item listed for a recommendation to the City Council.
The log, request by request
The requests reached Public Works between May 26 and Oct. 12. By our count, 18 came through a web form, one by phone and two through the mayor’s office. The table condenses every entry, combining two pairs of identical requests; quotation marks show the log’s words, and “open” means no resolution date.
| Request | Location in log | Response or status |
|---|---|---|
| Stop signs | 91st and 92nd at Tennyson and Gibbs | “Do not meet warrants” |
| All-way stop (2 requests) | Jackson/Freeman | Open |
| All-way stop | 60th/Oelrich | Open |
| Stop signs, traffic calming | SE Maple | Open |
| Traffic calming | NE Lilac St | Open |
| Parking removal | SE 12th at private driveway | Open |
| Flashing beacon | Century/Johnson | Not warranted; high-visibility crosswalk installed |
| Flashing beacon | Garibaldi/Connell | Resolved Oct. 12; no comment |
| Crossing time | NE Cherry Dr./NE Century Blvd. | Times “meet MUTCD requirements” |
| Bike-lane buffers (2 requests) | Century at Century High School | Parking “already prohibited”; sent to police |
| Speed feedback signs | NE Azalea St, 28th to 32nd | Speeds “reasonable”; volumes too low |
| Speeding | Lois | Speeds reasonable; contact police |
| Speed zone change | Jackson School Road | Reduction “not warranted” |
| Drivers not stopping | 28th/Main signal | More signs installed Oct. 13 |
| Dead-end signs, barricades | Not named | Signs to be installed; no barricades |
| Tree trimming | Westbound Dogwood at Century | Trimmed Oct. 13 |
| Vegetation trimming | Rood Bridge corner | Drivers can pull forward to see |
| Parking removal | SW 218th | Outside city; sent to Washington County |
| Records request | 67th/Blanton area | One past request; vegetation trimmed |
One closed entry carries no explanation. The Garibaldi and Connell beacon request lists Oct. 12 as its resolution date, but its comment field is blank.
What a “warrant” means
Several answers turn on the word “warrant.” In the federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, or MUTCD, a warrant is a threshold condition that, if met in an engineering study, leads to further analysis of whether a sign or signal is justified. For all-way stops, those conditions include crash history, sight distance and an eight-hour traffic count.
The city’s neighborhood traffic page says staff study every stop sign request against those rules, and it states that “stop signs do not lower speeds.” On 91st and 92nd, staff wrote Oct. 12 that the intersections “do not meet warrants for stop signs.” The three all-way stop requests, all filed Oct. 12, had no answer when the log was printed.
A crosswalk instead of a beacon
The same test applied to flashing beacons. The MUTCD describes a rectangular rapid flashing beacon, or RRFB, as a pedestrian-activated pair of rapidly flashing yellow lights that adds emphasis to a crossing sign at a marked crosswalk without a stop sign or signal.
At Century and Johnson, staff wrote that an earlier review found the intersection “did not meet warrants for an RRFB” but did warrant a high-visibility crosswalk, since installed. The intersection “is proposed to be signalized sometime in the future,” the comment adds, though staff has no projected date.
Enforcement first near Century High
Bike-lane requests drew a similar answer. Two requests sought buffers to keep cars out of the bike lane on Century at Century High School, and staff replied that parking or stopping there “is already prohibited.” Barriers could interfere with street sweeping and let debris build up, the comment says, and enforcement “is the appropriate first step.”
On NE Azalea Street and Lois, staff found speeds reasonable and pointed to police. A request to change the speed zone on Jackson School Road, filed after a crash, drew a reply that the crash happened on a private roadway and a reduction “is not warranted.” The city’s page notes that only the Oregon Department of Transportation can legally set speed zones.
How to ask, and how to be heard Oct. 27
New requests can go through the city’s traffic and signal safety email form, which has categories for stop signs, speed zones, crosswalks and parking. It asks people reporting neighborhood speeding whether they have already requested extra police enforcement.
To speak in person Oct. 27, fill out a yellow card at the back of the room and hand it to city staffer Zakk Kiley; comments are limited to three minutes. To speak on Zoom, register your name and phone number or Zoom name before 3 p.m. that day at [email protected] or 503-681-6146.
The Zoom meeting ID is 856 7291 0089, with passcode 638238, or dial 1-669-900-6833. Virtual speakers cannot share screens or turn on cameras, and the agenda asks that presentation materials arrive as written testimony.
Top image: Illustrative image, 2015: a rectangular rapid flashing beacon at a bicycle and pedestrian crossing in Portland. Photo: nickfalbo, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped).
