Monroe Avenue Corridor Study
The City of Corvallis and Oregon State University (OSU) are collaborating on a project which will develop a conceptual improvement plan for Monroe Avenue between 14th and 26th Streets. Both the City and OSU recognize the importance of this corridor as a connection between the community, University, and businesses and organizations that share its frontage. The plan will focus on enhancing the safety and comfort for people walking, biking, driving, and accessing transit as they travel along Monroe.
COMMUNITY SURVEY AND MAPPING EXERCISE
During the month of December, 2023, the community was asked to share their thoughts on the Monroe Avenue corridor through an on-line survey and mapping exercise. Below is a summary of the information collected through this exercise.
Appendix A – Online Map Comments
Appendix B – Survey Summary and Responses
COMMUNITY OPEN HOUSE #1
A community open house was held at the Corvallis Community Center (C3) on May 8, 2024. The following visual materials were available for public comment and input.
Goals and Improvement Concepts: This series of posters identify the goals of the corridor study, the existing conditions on Monroe, and some initial improvement strategies that were considered by the project team before being refined into two corridor concepts for public comment.
Concept #1: Buffered westbound bike lane with an eastbound shared vehicle/bike lane. Bikes would share the travel lane with vehicles when traveling downhill (eastbound) but would be provided with a buffered bike lane when traveling uphill (westbound). The additional space provided by not striping the westbound bike lane, as well as parking removal, provide additional flexibility and width available to the pedestrian zone.
Concept #2: A two-way cycle track is provided for bicycles on the south side of Monroe Avenue. This provides a protected path for bicyclists. Parking removal would be used to expand the pedestrian zone.
COMMUNITY OPEN HOUSE #2
Over the past year, the City and OSU have developed, discussed, and evaluated a number of possible corridor improvement concepts. Several of the more promising concepts have been shared with stakeholders and members of the general public through engagement efforts that included an online mapping tool, a corridor walk, a project survey, a stakeholder briefing meeting, and a community open house. The outcome of this process has been the development of a preferred concept that was shared at this open house event on September 25, 2024, held at the Corvallis Community Center (C3).
The following links will connect you with some information that was presented at the open house:
Opening Presentation: Phill Worth of Kittelson & Associates provided a PowerPoint presentation providing background information on the process that has led to the development of a preferred concept.
Poster Materials: Display boards provided additional information on the preferred concept being presented.
Preferred Concept: This map provides a graphic illustration of proposed improvements to the entire Monroe corridor between 14th and 26th Streets. Use your PDF viewer’s zoom feature to magnify the map, and scroll to the left and right to travel along the length of the corridor.
FINAL PUBLIC OUTREACH MEETING PLANNED FOR FEBRUARY 5, 2026
The City is adding a final community outreach meeting to its schedule before embarking on the formal process to adopt recommendations of the proposed corridor plan into the Corvallis Transportation System Plan. This meeting is intended to correct some misinformation communicated in previous outreach efforts.
During development of the report documenting the corridor study process and recommendations, we discovered that our consultant had made an error in their analysis of parking impacts associated with the preferred strategy. That error had overstated the available parking capacity in the neighborhood immediately north of Monroe Avenue, and this error was communicated to stakeholders and the general public in our outreach. A revised analysis revealed that if the preferred strategy were to be implemented today, with parking demands similar to what were measured and no changes to current parking management strategies, then displaced parking on Monroe would not be readily absorbed by on-street parking in the surrounding area.
While the discovery of this error has not led us to revise our preferred concept for improving multi-modal travel on Monroe, it has caused us to consider mitigation strategies to deal with the expected impacts to parking in the area. In order to correct the previously communicated misconceptions, and present potential parking mitigation strategies, we are inviting you to the following meeting:
February 5, 2026
6:30 – 7:30 PM
Corvallis Community Center, Alder Room
2601 NW Tyler Avenue
Corvallis, OR 97330
At this meeting we will also outline the process to adopt the corridor study into the City’s Transportation System Plan, and additional opportunities for the public to participate in that process.
For those of you unable to attend this meeting, please feel free to contact the staff below for additional information on proposed parking strategies.
Greg Gescher
greg.gescher@corvallisoregon.gov
541-766-6731 ext. 5081
