Connector enters Metro territory

During recent open houses, opponents and supporters testify before Metro

  • By: Patrick Johnson  
  • Published: 10/26/2009 1:26:01 PM
  • Last Updated: 10/26/2009 1:55:33 PM
The Metro Council could have a problem when updating its 2035 Regional Transportation Plan — the Interstate 5 to Highway 99W connector project.

A study group comprised of regional consultants and representatives has been working on the issue for several years, and last February finally voted on a list of projects that would create three corridors for traffic to travel between 99W and I-5.

But the vote wasn’t unanimous, something required by an intergovernmental agreement signed by all parties.

Clackamas County and Wilsonville earlier voted against the three-route plan, called Alternative 7, because of a proposed southern route that would connect south Sherwood with north Wilsonville. They say the terrain would make this route prohibitively expensive, federal environmental permits won’t likely be issued and that traffic generated from the new road would clog up Interstate 5 at the Elligsen Road interchange.

On the flip side, Washington County officials, Sherwood, Tualatin, Tigard and business groups now are calling for the projects to be placed in the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP). They want construction to start as soon as possible.

With the final public hearings on Metro’s “Making the Greatest Place” initiative, the connector debate has bubbled up again, and now councilors are getting a taste of the controversy that filled 2008.

“It’s going to be up to the Metro Council to make a decision on what gets in the RTP,” Michael Jordan, Metro Chief Operating Officer said last Thursday after the last public hearing. “It will be discussed again.”
Jordan said the issue will be taken up with the Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation and moved to the Metro council for a decision by early next year.

Opponents make their case
Now, Clackamas County commissioners and Wilsonville city officials against the plan are making their voices heard.

Wilsonville Mayor Tim Knapp spoke at an Oct. 13 Metro open house in Oregon City, where he told the Metro council he felt the southern route of the plan would allow commuters from Yamhill County to cut across, plugging up the route for freight movement to I-5.

“We must not rush to build highway connections based on political considerations,” he said. “What is needed is an in-depth analytical look at what the impacts, pro and con, are. We do not believe this has been done in any successful way and therefore the south corridor mobility study is desperately needed.”
Wilsonville Community Development Director Michael Bowers didn’t parse words at the Metro open house as well.

“I think the southern arterial brings what I call a perfect storm, which has enormous risks from a budgetary perspective and other issues,” he said. “The reality is we have very challenging topography and robust natural resources, 29 stream crossings, one-quarter to one-half mile of wetlands and shallow bedrock that will require blasting to get through. The quarries are located in this area for good reason. The risks, just like Boston’s Big Dig, this endeavor could easily cost five times current estimates. We could be talking $1.5 to $2 billion. Looking at the topography, you almost have a build a bridge through the Alps to that area.”

But Wilsonville and Clackamas County aren’t the only ones against the plan.

A group called Farmland Preservation Community Action Committee has come forward to oppose the southern route for the connector.

The group supplied a petition with nearly 4,000 people who do not support the southern arterial plan.
“This process was not done honestly and forthrightly,” said Dan Ruediger, one of the organizers of the group. “The (Connector Stakeholder Working Group) was window dressing. They were asked for their opinion but it was never taken into account.”

Cities, business community
responds
Last Thursday, the Metro council had its last public open house on the RTP process. On hand were the business community, and representatives from Tualatin and Sherwood, all out to support Alternative 7.
Steve Gilmore, CEO of the Wilsonville Chamber of Commerce, said his chamber has been working with the Sherwood and Tualatin chambers on the connector issue because “municipalities were really not making progress.”

“One of the things we realized during the process was that none of the options on the table was really a good option,” Gilmore said. “The three-chamber coalition talked about finding a compromise we could all live with. (Metro) Councilor (Carl) Hosticka and others, who were part of the (Connector Policy Steering Committee) at the time, took that option and created what is known now as Alternative 7. It’s a good compromise, it’s something the business community can live with and, ultimately it’s one of the best options I have seen on the table.”

Gilmore also said the three chambers want to see a traffic study done for Interstate 5 from Barber Boulevard to the Boone Bridge south of Wilsonville to look at the impacts of the option on the interstate.
Larry Harvey, a lobbyist with PacWest who represents a group called the South Metro Business Alliance, said many people have tried to address the concerns brought up about Alternative 7.

“But no progress has been made because we seem to be stuck in a syndrome often called the ‘wrong rock’ syndrome,” Harvey said. “Every time a new rock is brought to the table for consideration, it is still the wrong rock, and we are asked to bring a different rock. At this point, quite frankly, we do not even know what the right rock would look like.”

Sherwood Mayor Keith Mays also said the Alternative 7 option is the best way to go.
“In fact all of the alternatives studied showed that excluding a connection south of Sherwood had severe impacts on the economic viability of Sherwood’s Town Center and the mobility on Highway 99W and Tualatin-Sherwood road,” Mays said.

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Not in my back yard from Hillsboro
10/27/2009 4:39:53 PM

To compare this to the big dig in Boston is an effort to avoid saying not in my back yard. The project team elected to use the most modern technology to determine the best route thru this area. The Quantm system for route alignment was selected to addresses any of the shortcomings of the conventional approach to transportation route planning. This program allowed the team to integrate environmental, community, cultural, engineering and cost factors into a single analysis. By integrating the large amounts of environmental data in this area the team also assured a reduction of project impacts on the environment, including demonstrating that "all reasonable alternatives" had been considered as required by NEPA. This system has been successfully applied on road and rail projects worldwide, including California, Texas, North Carolina, Indiana, Arkansas, Washington, Colorado, Louisiana, Delaware, Michigan and Idaho along with Canada, France, Spain, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and China.This unique route optimization technology generated millions of alternative corridor alignments and returned a range of 10-50 best options for review by various stakeholders. The system enabled the team to take a holistic approach by integrating all the project elements. This allowed the project team to recommend the alignment alternative that best met the relevant environmental, cultural, social, engineering and cost constraints.The mayor says “What is needed is an in-depth analytical look at what the impacts, pro and con, are. We do not believe this has been done in any successful way.” Let’s look at a little history about this project. In the1970’ planners identified a need for a new road in this location, in the 1990’s, 1000 Friends of Oregon sponsored a study that suggested this project, and for the past 4 years, 3 Cities, 2 Counties, ODOT, Metro, and FHWA studied this area and agreed with the 3 business associations that this was the best solution. How much more analysis is needed?Mike Bauers, says, “you almost have to build a bridge through the Alps to that area.” The facts, some of the highest ridges in this area are around 2000’ elevation, the Alps are around 10,000’ to 14,000’. When making City policy I sure hope Mike uses better facts.A comment was made that, “the (Connector Stakeholder Working Group) was window dressing. They were asked for their opinion but it was never taken into account.” In January 2009 this group of local citizens was polled and there response was, 7 members supporting the option, 4 accepting the option and 5 not supporting the option. I assume if you did not support the option you would feel like your group was just window dressing. Those that supported the option may have a different opinion.




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