Hillsboro Signal

The two-lane, no sidewalk stretch of Jackson School Road that cuts through Hillsboro was never really built to handle commuter traffic, but that’s what it does now. There aren’t many north-south roads connecting US 26 to downtown Hillsboro, so 7,000 cars a day end up on Jackson School Road, according to the city. On October 3 Scott Dreher, Hillsboro’s Capital Program Manager, laid out a series of improvements for the road. First, the entire road is going to be widened to three lanes, along with a protected bike lane and sidewalk on each side. Here’s what that looks like: And there’s going to be all sorts of other improvements, from pedestrian crossings to traffic circles to new lighting. Here’s a[…]

It’s one thing to read about things, or even complain about them, but it’s another entirely to actually get involved. But decisions are made by the people who actually show up. The city is inviting people to do just that week with its call for volunteers for various boards. There are opening on several decision making bodies in the city, and you have until Monday, November 13 to apply for them. Fill out the form right here. Which boards have positions available? Here’s the list provided by the city, complete with a little about what each committee does. Skip to the things that catch your interest. Budget Committee: Mandated by state law, approves the city’s budget. Members include seven citizen[…]

Did you know our city hires lobbyists? You might only picture corporate interests when you think of lobbying, but it’s not uncommon for municipalities the size of Hillsboro to try to influence the state legislature. This year Hillsboro lobbied for transportation funding and to oppose limited economic development tools. You can learn more about these efforts tomorrow at 6PM in conference room C113B of Hillsboro’s civic center. A work session before tomorrow’s city council meeting gives citizens a chance to hear from Andy Smith, Hillsboro’s Government Relations Manager, and  Mike Van Dyke, the city’s lobbyist. They’ll be talking about all the issues they lobbied legislators on; here’s a sheet outlining what they see as victories this year: We’ll be living[…]

9,500 people work in downtown Hillsboro. Only 400 of those people live there. That’s just one of many statistics about downtown Hillsboro shared with city councillors last week during a work session about Block 67—the site where Hank’s Thriftway once stood. Citizens attending open houses have expressed a desire to see another grocery store open in its place, but there are several reasons why that’s not likely. Market analyst Jerry Johnson outlined the numbers at the meeting alongside Mark Clemons, Economic Development Director and Dan Dias, Senior Development Manager. The median household income of a downtown Hillsboro resident is $36,584, compared to $67,757 city wide—a wide disparity. And it’s not hard to work out why: most of the housing downtown[…]