Local, not Regional – Please!
The original promise of the Edgewater neighborhood was to keep street connections local and minimize cut through traffic. The City Council voted to change this.
What happened? The Fisher Road Extension Plan!
The Master Plan includes a planned Fischer Road extension. The Fischer Road extension, as planned, will directly connect Roy Rogers Road to Highway 99W. This road goes through the Bankston Nature Preserve, close to the Tualatin River, and through established communities.
How much traffic?
The King City consultants estimate 8,600 cars per day will use Fischer Road west of 131st, and
over 12,600 cars per day east of 131st (by the year 2040). The city estimated 40% of this traffic
will be cut through as people funnel through our community to make their way from Hillsboro,
Aloha, and Beaverton to I-5 in Wilsonville via Fischer, 99W and 124th.
As a comparison: the Washington County 2022 traffic count for Beef Bend Road at 119th Avenue measured 9,476 vehicles.
How is this possible?
The Comprehensive Plan and the Municipal codes are the rules that govern how King City functions. The King City Comprehensive Plan and Municipal Code both address any future extension of Fischer Road to the West. When Edgewater was developed, it stated that any future extension of Fischer Road to the West was to remain local in character.
The City Council voted to remove the following requirement from the Comprehensive Plan:
If such local street connections are ultimately made with SW 137th Avenue or to the north, it is very important that the internal street system design for the planning area will not facilitate through traffic that is traveling to and from destinations outside of the West King City Planning Area and immediate vicinity.
(note: West King City Planning Area is now known as Edgewater. See this page from the original, pre-modified plan here. )
They also voted to remove the requirement for “local streets” in the plan, replacing it with “Collector or Neighborhood routes”:
These two future connections shall be accommodated by local streets collector or neighborhood routes, which will be designed to ultimately extend to the western city limit
Where is the Fischer Road extension?
This shows the location of the Fischer Road extension (using the Master Plan’s Backbone streets map):
- Crosses the Bankston Nature Preserve (Conservation Easement) – outlined in red
- Notice how close it is to the Tualatin River
- There are 4 new traffic signals on Beef Bend Road between Roy Rogers and 131st Avenue (orange squares). Roundabouts and traffic circles are planned for the Fischer Road extension.
Why Should our Community be Used to Fix Regional Traffic Problems?
This is not clear. Follow the money? There may be funding reasons or incentives to help the City pay for new roads – this is not clear. What is clear is the non-monetary cost – the negative impact to our community and to nature is very high.
This is our community, and this transportation plan should prioritize intercity connectivity and not be a plan for regional connectivity.
Are there other options?
We believe there is a solution which is simple and viable: move the collector road north in place of an already planned neighborhood road
This map shows the road after moving it north (gray lines are removing planned Fischer Road Extension):
- is further from the Tualatin River, better protecting the environment and positive recreational activities
- avoids the Bankston Nature Preserve (Conservation Easement), a vital connective natural space
- it is the same route already planned for a neighborhood road
- is closer to the higher-density development planned along Beef Bend Road
- provides the connectivity for King City residents
- extends a pedestrian/bike path as a separate path – not running alongside a busy collector road – to provide local connectivity for bikes and pedestrians
Questions?
Email: RecallKingCityCouncil@gmail.com.
Phone: 503 658 9718
