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Contractors in Portland could be required to provide additional room for pedestrians and cyclists, instead of having the option to reroute traffic around job sites.

The City Council on Wednesday will consider a resolution that would formalize new guidelines for providing space to cyclists and pedestrians on the streets around construction work zones.

The Portland Bureau of Transportation spent the past year and a half devising the administrative rules in partial response to complaints from the public. Faith Winegarden, temporary street use permitting manager for PBOT, said the issue has become more of a concern in recent years.

鈥淲ith the amount of construction in our city and just the additional number of people, we recognize this is a concern,鈥� she said.

Currently, if contractors want to use the public right of way adjacent to their job sites to facilitate their construction, they must draft a traffic control plan and apply for a temporary street use permit through the PBOT Permit Center.

According to the new rules, pedestrians and cyclists should under normal conditions be provided with a 鈥渞easonably safe, convenient and accessible route that replicates as practicable the most desirable characteristics of the existing route.鈥� The rules state that closing a sidewalk should be considered only a 鈥渓ast resort,鈥� and temporary routes should be clearly marked and ADA-compliant.

The rules likely would not apply to projects currently under way, Winegarden said.

The resolution coincides with the goal of 鈥淰ision Zero鈥� 鈥� passed by the council last June 鈥� to eliminate loss of life on Portland streets.