Century Boulevard Extension Project Moves To Next Stage Of Review In Hillsboro

Press release from the City of Hillsboro:

April 5, 2021

Century Boulevard Extension Project Moves to Next Stage of Review

Share your comments on the Washington County-led project through Sunday, April 11, and get answers to your questions in an FAQ.

Meeting The Increasing Need in Our Community

It is a long-term City Council priority to enhance the multimodal (pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicle) capacity on the north-south roadways in our community. After years of hearing from the community regarding which projects to prioritize and move forward, the Century Boulevard Extension Project was finally selected to move forward from the Transportation System Plan (TSP). This project is being built in partnership with Washington County using Washington County Major Streets Transportation Improvement Program (MSTIP) funding.

Being able to travel between the northern and southern portions of our city is important in the everyday lives of many of our community members. Most of the major employers in our community are located in the northern portion of the City while most housing is located south of Main Street. Many employees also use these corridors to travel from communities south of Hillsboro to their jobs.

We Need Your Help

Since the last open houses held in 2019, City of Hillsboro and Washington County staff have continued to refine the roadway connection and bridge design. Community members are now being asked to review the details before the engineers finalize the project design.

“This is an important step in the design process,” says Allison Bergseng, City of Hillsboro Capital Principal Engineer. “A community member may know of specific design elements that have an impact on the project. Receiving this input now can help make sure the design is meeting the neighborhood’s needs.”

Comment on Washington County’s Century Boulevard Extension Project online until April 11. You can also find out more answers to your questions in these FAQ’s.

More On How the Project Began

The TSP is the blueprint for the City’s transportation investments over a 20 year period. Back in 1999 the TSP identified a need for more north-south multimodal travel capacity and listed a four-part approach:

• Complete the Century (called 231st Avenue in 1999) corridor,
• Widen Cornelius Pass Road,
• Complete Brookwood/Shute corridor, and
• Enhance access to US 26 via Jackson School Road.

The Century Boulevard extension project, along with projects on Cornelius Pass Road and Brookwood Boulevard, were again identified in the 2004 TSP. Both of these planning projects included an extensive public outreach and input process.

Additional analysis of south Washington County and South Hillsboro traffic in the years to follow reinforced the need for multiple north-south connections to be built, including this project.

For the MSTIP 3e: Fiscal years 2018-19 to 2022-23, Washington County hosted a month-long online open house and three in-person open houses to collect community input. Over 1,300 comments were received on potential projects.

This press release was produced by the City of Hillsboro. The views expressed here are the author’s own.