TSP final lap around the shark tank

City Council Meeting

Public Hearing on the 

Transportation System Plan

Tuesday, July 1

 6:30 pm.

Agenda items (From the City Council Schedule)   Look for actual City Council Meeting Agenda  with reports and background information on the Friday prior to the meeting.

0. Action 

• Approve consultant contract for the SW Employment Area Plan project (Selden)

           Study Sessions

• Annual Development (Chapter 50) Code Maintenance Amendments (LU 14-0014/Ord. 2643)(Hamilton)

        Public Hearings

• Transportation Systems Plan-Periodic Review (Ord. 2645 / LU 14-0015)

Review of June 17 Study Session

The City Council held a Study Session about the TSP on June 17.  The meeting video can be seen HERE.
I encourage everyone to watch the interchange between the Staff and the Council during the study session portion of the meeting.  Here are some problems I have with the staff presentation and responses to Council questioning:  

STA vs MMA.  Staff inferred that there was no substantive difference between these two roadway designations for Hwy. 43.  Read about what the MMA means for a city in a post from January.  The Council removed the MMA from the Comp Plan for the entire city, so codes and policies that relate to density and congestion should be viewed through that filter and purged from the TSP.

Up-classification of streets.  Staff declared that all streets on the initial list of streets proposed to be classified to a higher level of functioning (E.g.: from Neighborhood Collector to Minor Arterial) were already operating at the higher level according to current traffic volumes.  This is NOT true.  This fact has been established in TAB meetings and at other community events.  Lakeview Blvd. is well below the top numbers for its current class and was on the list to be up-classified - are there others? Traffic reports were not supplied to the Council at the study session.  

The claim was that by up-classifying roads, the City would be able to tap into grants that are only offered to higher functioning roadways.  This can be disputed, but another reason might be that increased density can be placed on roads with higher classifications (more traffic allowed without failing state standards).  Staff may have had future development in mind rather than funding for sidewalks.  The TSP states that it's goal is to plan for future growth, so this explanation fits.  Why did staff say all roads currently meet higher standards?

Bike paths decrease car use.  Staff claimed that bike paths or lanes would decrease congestion, especially on Hwy. 43.  In the Neighborhood Chairs meeting the engineers were asked if there was any scientific proof that this was true.  They answered, "Not that I know of."  Research by USC shows that while this is a favorite claim by Smart Growth advocates, it is not true. This is one of those urban myths that sounds like it should work so it must be true, right?  Wrong.  Bike paths may well increase safety and bicycle ridership, but they do nothing to decrease auto use.  Why does staff continue to use disproven theories?

Changing codes.  Mayor Studebaker asked if certain codes could be changed to fit what the Council wanted.  He was told no, then yes, but with great difficulty since the codes and policies were written to align with the Comp Plan and that would have to be changed too.  And after all, this is was what the Council already said it wanted when "you approved the Comp Plan back in March."  It was a clever way to avoid saying, "Yes Mr. Mayor.  The Council can change the codes and the Comp Plan if necessary, if this is not what you intended in the first place.  What is it you prefer? How would you like us to proceed?"  How hard is that to say?  Aren't Staff getting paid to do the work laid out for them by our elected officials, or do they operate on their own and tell the Council what they can and cannot do?   How open and cooperative is Staff in Lake Oswego?  It is up to the City Manager to reign in his staff, and make sure that he and they are on the same page as the Council.  Even if their  own beliefs are different, the Council's wishes should prevail.  Otherwise, why have elections?  

Transportation in Lake Oswego is about cars.  Anyone who doesn't understand and respect this is living in an alternate universe.