photo illustration from Clackamas Community
College paves way for pedestrians
BY MERARI CALDERON RUIZ
W alking back and forth from school
should be an easy task, unless it starts
to rain and get muddy where there is no
sidewalk.
“If you're headed out from our main
entrance to Molalla 213, th ere's not a
sidew alk there, and that was an issue
for us because we have students who are
walking on the side of the street, which
is dangerous, and if you ’ re a student
with a disability it can be a real barrier,”
said Luke Norman, the Transportation
Systems Analyst at the college.
To fix th is p rob lem , C lack am as
C om m unity C ollege applied for the
Oregon Departm ent of Transportation
grant in the spring of 2016 and requested
$98,700. The college received the full
< grant in the summer of 2016. CCC also
received a grant for $1.7 million for the
future construction of a new transit center
with 12 bus bays.
According to Norman, part of the reason
that the college was awarded the grant is
because it has multiple transit services.
Some of these services include TriMet,
South Clackamas Transportation District
from Molalla, CCC Express and Canby
Area Transit.
This grant will cover 90 percent of the
cost to start construction on the sidewalk.
The co lle ge 's bond, $90 m illion that
was approved by voters in late 2014 for
construction projects, w ill pay for the
other 10 percent.
“The bond really makes this possible. It
focuses staff time on improvement to the
campus, it allows us to use extra resources
and it also allows us to make sure the path
connects with the new infrastructure on
campus,” said Norman.
As to w hy the sidew alk w as never
completed in the first place, Bob Cochran,
the Dean of Campus Services, said, “ A
long tim e ago, a sidewalk on that side
w asn't really needed. There's a sidewalk
on the other side of that entrance way that
people used, but when OC Point developed
with all the restaurants and businesses
there, then people started going back
and forth to that corner to access those
businesses.
“ In summary, we didn't want to build
a sidewalk there and then have to tear it
out if we had to buy the alignment of the
entrance road, so now that the bond has
passed and we know what the entrance
road is going to look like we can build the
sidewalk with certainty without tearing
it out,” said Cochran.
There have been several requests from
stu d en ts, com m unity m em bers and
people working at the college to have a
sidewalk built.
“ I actually walk here,” said McKenna
P a n a s e w ich , a 's tu d e n t at CCC.
“ Occasionally I’ll get a ride, like I am right
now, thank God, but if I w asn't I would
have to walk in the grass and it's starting
to rain and that would suck for my shoes.
It's just dangerous because it's like how
am I supposed to get out that way? For
the most part there are sidewalks, but
that would be nice for people with bikes
so they don't get hit, it's less dangerous.”
Construction will not start right away.
According to Norman, the transit center
and the path will be under construction
in 2018 and 2019.
“ It should be about six to eight weeks
maximum. It's not a complicated project,”
said Cochran.
When the project is complete, it will be
a io-foot wide, paved path that is one-
fifth of a mile long.
Anyone coming to and from campus
during construction should be aware that
there will be traffic, but the benefit of
this project is that it will become safer
for anyone that walks, bikes, or has a
disability.
__________________________ photo by Douq Fry
Top: The college plan shows future sidewalk connecting the main campus to
Highway 213.
Bottom: Student Grady Plank walks to campus on Monday.
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