City Council Approves I-5/Wilsonville Road Traffic Mitigation
At the Dec. 18, 2017, Wilsonville City Council meeting, the Council approved two contracts for road-construction projects estimated at $1 million designed to mitigate traffic congestion in the I-5/Wilsonville Road/Boones Ferry Road intersection area. The Council endorsed a contract to the low bidder, Kerr Contractors Oregon, Inc., in the amount of $562,578 to modify the I-5/Wilsonville Road interchange Exit 283 southbound freeway on-ramp. The project adds a third stacking lane to the metered I-5 on-ramp in order to increase capacity to hold an additional 25 vehicles waiting to enter the freeway during evening rush-hour.
The second traffic-mitigation project was awarded to Brown Contracting, Inc., for $191,649 to reconstruct the southern, signalized entrance/exit to Old Town Square/Fred Meyer shopping center to include a second travel lane on northbound Boones Ferry Road between the exit/entrance and Wilsonville Road.
The Council approved a major remodeling project for the Wilsonville Public Library in the amount of $1,054,000 to 2KG Contractors, Inc. Total library renovation costs, including a completely upgraded heating-air conditioning-ventilation (HVAC) system and new furniture, is estimated at $1.35 million. The Library District of Clackamas County is contributing $1 million to the project, with the balance of the remodeling costs originating from the City’s general fund.
The Council authorized an intergorvenmental agreement with the City of Tualatin and Washington County for Metro regional government to mediate a land-use dispute between the Cities of Tualatin and Wilsonville over future proposed land-uses in a portion of the Basalt Creek Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) area that was designated in 2004 primarily for industrial employment. After receiving a $350,000 Metro grant funded by a regional new-construction excise tax for concept planning of the area and agreeing initially on land-use designations in 2016, the City of Tualatin changed the proposed use of the Basalt Creek “Central Subarea” from the prior employment allocation to residential uses. Due to a number of concerns focused on inappropriate housing location and higher residential traffic, the Wilsonville City Council objected to the proposed change in land-use from employment to residential housing.
The Council authorized a contract to the Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE) not to exceed $120,000 that is fully reimburseable by the U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration (FTA). CTE is to assist the City’s South Metro Area Regional Transit (SMART) agency successfully deploy new battery electric-powered buses funded by a $1.45 million 2017 FTA “Low-No Emissions” program grant by analyzing transit routes and determining optimum bus configuration and charging infrastructure.
Under Mayor’s Business, the Council authorized a two-year contract extension for Municipal Court Judge Fred Weinhouse whose work has been considered exceptional.
The Council also discussed proposed legislation in the “short” February session of the Oregon legislature that would remove public-review processes and allow the Oregon Dept. of Aviation to ‘supersite’ an extension of the Aurora State Airport runway in Marion County. The Council directed staff to work with Clackamas County to oppose the proposed legislation that preempts public participation in the land-use process and results in increased urban-level activity in a rural location lacking municipal governance, adequate infrastructure and surface-transportation facilities.
Prior to the Council meeting in work session, the Council heard reports on items to come before Council that evening and considered other matters. The Council discussed the pros and cons of using a $1.55 million federal Metropolitan Transportation Investment Program grant awarded competitively through Metro in February 2017 for the proposed $10 million I-5 Pedestrian & Bikeway Bridge project. Since the time of the grant award, City staff project that both federal and state alternative-transportation grant-funding opportunities are declining, while ‘federalizing’ the project creates additional staff work, costs overhead and extra City obligations not required if local funds are used. The Council also discussed options for installing ‘red-light’ cameras in the I-5/Wilsonville Road/Boone Ferry Road intersection area to deter running red lights and blocking intersections that create traffic congestion and imperil public safety.
Community members can watch a replay of all or a portion of the City Council meeting on Comcast/Xfinity Ch. 30, Frontier Ch. 32 or on the City’s video-on-demand service at www.ci.wilsonville.or.us/WilsonvilleTV.
