December 2016 Minutes

SW Trails PDX
Monthly Meeting Minutes

December 15, 2016

The Watershed Building in Hillsdale
6388 SW Capitol Hwy
Portland OR 97239

Attendance: Don Baack, Dave Manville, Lee Buhler. Barbara Bowers, Glenn Bridger, Rick Kappler, Barbara Stedman, Dale Sherborne, Rich Newlands, Rob Wilcox

Don called to order at 7:03m.

There were introductions and people talked about issues with the snow they had seen in the last few days.

Southwest in Motion Project: Rich Newlands of PBOT talked about the Southwest in Motion Program. He handed out a paper on SWIM. This type of program has been very successful in East Portland. Rich said the lack of pedestrian facilities, level land and stormwater made it more straight forward there than southwest. The program looks at active transportation modes. There are over 400 possible individual projects. They will work on criteria for establishing a prioritized list of the projects and then develop that list. He said it is important to understand the constraints of each proposed project. He said some projects might make a lot of sense as far as good destinations but they could be expensive.

Glenn asked about the boundaries of the SWIM project. Rich said it is the boundaries of the Transportation Service Plan minus downtown. Rich said he was hoping to use Southwest Neighborhoods, Inc. to get public feedback on the project but the SWNI Transportation Committee is too overloaded to take it on. Therefore, he plans to develop a citizen’s advisory committee. They will also send out post cards to southwest directing residents to an online survey. He said they also hope to attend other open houses.

The SWIM plan will go to City Council for adoption. He said mapping of where are and where there are no facilities will be important. He said a cost estimate for each proposed project is important. Rich hopes to have the project list ready in January.

Don suggested including a tentative criteria. Barbara suggested looking at less expensive options such as striping pavement and extended shoulders. Dave said working with BES to make their projects walkable is important. He said it is very important to look at less expensive options. Rich agreed and said it is important to look how we can achieve some significant progress in the next ten years rather than a wish list of expensive projects. Rich said it was important to list all options for each projects.

Don said greenways are important. Don said there were several urban routes that should be added. He said there is a section of the Bridlemile neighborhood that needs a pedestrian route. He said there is also important to develop a route in Ashcreek going to Washington Square. He suggested looking at re-doing the TSP Comp Plan trails. Glenn said Barbur, Beaverton Hillsdale Highway and Capital Highway need sidewalks and pedestrian crossings. Rich said it is important to look at the weak links in the pedestrian network.

Glenn asked about vegetation in local streets and Rich said that would not be a part of the projects. He said urban trails might be different. Barbara suggested things like planters to slow down traffic. Dale said it sounded like growth mitigation. He said people who have profited from un-mitigated growth should contribute. He said we did not need sidewalks before there was so much traffic.

Rob said there should be some policy changes such as adjacent properties blocking trail routes. Rich said the policies are in place but it is not enforced. Rob said the urban trail program maintenance program should be completed. He said sidewalks should be required for new development. Rich said they do try to get those sidewalks. He said it does not always make sense to put sidewalks where and it might make more sense to put the money in a sidewalk fund. Glenn gave an example of a sidewalk that was very important in the Hillsdale Town Center but the developer was given a choice to put the money in a fund.

Rob said route mapping on the internet is also important and there should be a policy at the City to contact the developers to take neighborhood cut through routes out. He said it is important to talk about aging citizens in policy. Rob said he would like to get a full list of projects. Rob said they would like to see a maintenance plan for all their pedestrian facilities. Don said it should also list who is responsible for maintenance. Rob said each pedestrian facility need GIS data at the City as well.

Don said the projects with SWIM would not have to go through the same process as a citizen initiated trail. He said he would like to see a list of those projects. Don said SW Trails has contacted most neighborhoods in southwest and they are working through the good trail connection projects for SWIM. These trail connections are unlikely be on any prior project list. Dave said most of those connections are on the SW Trail map but are not part of the SW Urban Trail Program. Glenn said the program should work for all. Don said this is very important for SW Trails and the neighborhoods. Don said we have been working with most neighborhood for some time on the best connections.

Rick said PBOT should be doing a lot of the maintenance. Dave said we are experiencing terrible bureaucratic delays in getting trail permits. Glenn requested an updated time table for the project. Rich said he still hopes to go to City Council in the summer. (Note added Jan 25, 217- Rich Newlands is being replaced by a staffer from the PBOT Planning department which may cause a month or two delay in the project completion.)

The agenda was approved.

November Minutes: Dave made a motion to approve the November minutes. Lee seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.

Albert Kelly: Don talked about the trail improvements in Albert Kelly Park. Parks and BES are recommending stepping stones across the culvert. Don suggested a better trail. Rob asked if it would be a Safe Route to School route.

Hikes: The last hike was cancelled due to icy weather. Sharon will lead the next hike. It will go to the river.

Membership: Don said we have 80-90 paid memberships

Sponsorships: Debbie has been working on getting the sponsorship letters out.

Safe Route to School from Bertha and BH Highway: Dave said there was no permit necessary from BDS. However, there is a required (but not yet issued) permit from PDOT.

Trail Permits: Dave said Alexis allowed all ten of Dave’s permits into one.

SW Trail SWIM Rep: Dave Manville will be primary and Glenn Bridger will be alternate SWTrails representatives to the SWIM advisory committee.

Work Parties: Dave said they met with Portland Parks about the trail stewardship agreement. Dave said SW Trails was given more responsibility for independent work. We also be able to work independently on certain projects.

Raz Baack Crossing; Glenn said they are considering raising the Raz-Baack crossing to accommodate more water retention, deeper pool for longer periods. Don suggested a letter asking that an appropriate temporary bridge be built. Glenn moved that such a letter be written. Lee seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.

Next Meeting: The next SW Trails meeting will be January 26th. It will be the annual membership meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:49pm

Respectfully submitted

Lee Buhler