Paul Shirey, City of Milwaukie Public Works Operations Director, provided the answers to questions or concerns from last week via email today:

1. 29th Ave is designated as a bike boulevard, and is a better north-south route than 32nd Ave for cyclists (no bike lanes, higher traffic).

2. With that in mind, all of the east-west streets in that area are narrow and you have to use one of them to get to/from 29th Ave.

3. Balfour St is very close to the continuing east-west connection on Harvey St, so that minimizes cyclists’ time on 32nd Ave.

4. The bike boulevard idea involves calming traffic — if motorists need to slow down to let cyclists get through a tight spot on Balfour, that’s part of the function.

5. The right-of-way width on Balfour St is adequate, even if the paved street itself is narrow.  If people are parking in the travel lanes then we can send in code enforcement or post signs.

Any further questions on the bike routes should be directed to Brett Kelver at the Planning Dept 503-786-7657

Download Mar. 9, 2010 Minutes (PDF)

Revised agenda items will be updated on this website only. (An agenda revision was made Mar. 8th and uploaded.)

Meeting Location: Ardenwald Elementary School, Room 101, 8950 S.E. 36th Ave., Milwaukie at 6:30 p.m.

1.    Introductions
2.    Police Reports
3.    TriMet: Light Rail Conceptual Design Update
4.    Friends of Tideman Johnson Grant Proposal
5.    Summer Concerts
6.    Milwaukie Daze
7.    Committee Reports

a.    Vice-chair
b.    Secretary (Webmaster)
c.    Treasurer
d.    Land Use
e.    Southeast Uplift
f.    Transportation
g.    Public Safety Advisory Committee
h.    Membership
i.    Art
j.    Balfour Street Park

8.    Approve Minutes from February 9, 2010 Meeting
9.    Adjournment

At Tideman Johnson Park we’ll be planting natives (only about 1300 to go) and mulching so they’re all tucked in and ready for their spring growth spurt.  Come find us down by the boardwalk (near Springwater Trail and SE 37th Ave. trailhead).

• Saturday, March 6th, 9 a.m. – noon
• Tools and refreshments provided
• Volunteers of all ages welcome

Free volunteer recognition lunch will follow, at the Johnson Creek Watershed Council headquarters.

Please take a moment if you plan on attending the luncheon to register at the JCWC website so they’ll know how much lunch to make.

We hope you see you out there!

• Monthly Milwaukie Light Rail Meeting
  Mon. Feb. 22, 2010, 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
  Bridge City Church
  2816 SE Harrison St., Milwaukie.
  (Note: Due to third Monday being in close proximity to the holidays, the meeting will be held on the fourth Monday in February.)
• Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Project Open House
  Mon. Feb. 22, 2010, 4:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.
  St. Phillip Neri Parish Hall, Carvlin Hall
  2408 SE 16th Ave., Portland
• Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Project Open House
  Thu. Feb. 25, 2010, 4:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
  Milwaukie High School
  11300 SE 23rd Ave., Milwaukie

Please visit Milwaukie Light Rail (Tacoma St. Station/JCB) for neighborhood’s information on the project.  For more information on the project, visit www.trimet.org/pm.

If you have any questions or comments about the minutes, please email Secretary Bryan Dorr.

The parking space and structure reduction may not relieve Johnson Creek Boulevard (JCB) from traffic volume and some traffic mitigation such as signal light at S.E. 32nd Ave. and JCB is likely.

A revised design elevation may be available for public viewing in March.

Alan Snook, traffic engineer of DKS and Associates, explained cars queuing from SE 32nd Ave. and JCB to Tacoma St. and McLoughlin can be a safety issue if cars are lined up on McLoughlin to Tacoma Street ramps. Signal lights would be mandatory to prevent queuing on McLoughlin Blvd.

Stop signs will likely remain at S.E. 36th Ave. because planners recognized that removal of the signs was unfavorable and may likely remain.

A signal light or a stop sign at S.E. 42nd. Ave and JCB remains open for discussion at this time.

The proposed congestion tolling proposed at Tuesday’s Ardenwald neighborhood meeting was not part of the project plan and therefore was not open for discussion at Thursday’s meeting.

Attendees at tonight’s meeting were unsatisfied with the lack of answers from the Questions and Answer session during the October 26th meeting last year.

Printout of Oct. 26th’s  meeting notes were inadvertently left behind but were available online at the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Project’s website (Download Oct. 26th Q&A Notes).

Metro Councilor and Ardenwald resident Carlotta Collette proposed the idea in January, which was published on Ardenwald.org (read proposal here).

Collette discussed more on the topic at Tuesday’s Neighborhood Association meeting with discussions and feedback from NDA board members and residents.

The tolls are collected through a transponder device.  Cars without transponders would have license plates photographed and a bill sent monthly for the toll.

Tolls would be applicable during traffic peak hours during the day.

The costs for the equipment, installation and operations is unknown.

The gantry would be set up in Ardenwald neighborhood on the S.E. 32nd Ave. bridge just north of Johnson Creek Blvd. before turning into Tacoma Street.

Tolling would be used to reduce traffic congestion on a residential street. Johnson Creek Blvd. connects I-205 with 99E and the Sellwood Bridge.

Johnson Creek Blvd. was one of the five locations in the region selected as an option for the tolling project, but approval has not been finalized.

February 10, 2010

Dear Members of the Ardenwald NDA,

Thank you very much for your January 7 letter regarding the future of Johnson Creek Boulevard. The Milwaukie City Council has been following the various discussions that are underway about possible changes to the street due to the Portland-to-Milwaukie light rail project. Johnson Creek Boulevard is an important route, as it serves at least three Milwaukie neighborhoods and neighboring jurisdictions and businesses.

The City of Milwaukie is carefully weighing the trade-offs that are necessitated by this difficult situation. We have clearly heard from your NDA that traffic signals, speeding, blocked driveways and increased traffic volumes are unacceptable and incompatible with neighborhood livability.

From those working on the light rail project, we understand that Johnson Creek Boulevard’s future will resemble a parking lot along part of its length during certain hours, and that if nothing is done to ameliorate this condition, cut-through traffic on 32nd , Roswell, Filbert, Olsen and Logus will worsen. We also understand that the light rail project will be required to install a traffic light at 32nd to ensure that cars do not back up on to 99E during the late afternoon.

The City is engaged with the other governments that have jurisdiction over the street. As we participate in these discussions, we will keep your recommendations close at hand. Although trade-offs are inevitable and all the Ardenwald recommendations may not be workable, we will make every effort to balance the competing demands that continue to characterize Johnson Creek Boulevard.

Perhaps most importantly, we agree with you that the City should not allow increased traffic volumes or speeding at the expense of neighborhood livability and safety. The City has its highest degree of control at the intersection of 42nd and JCB. The best solution for this intersection will be informed by the choices that are being made by the other jurisdictions on the corridor, as well as the input of neighborhoods like Ardenwald.

Thank you again for your letter and for sharing your ideas on possible improvements to Johnson Creek Boulevard.

Respectfully,

Jeremy Ferguson

Mayor

We’ve had lots of weed-wackin’ and ivy pullin’ — including a group of 20 college students on Martin Luther King Day. Now it’s planting season.

And, come check out our new interpretive signs. The signs were designed by Marty Urman of the Johnson Creek Watershed Council and the text was thoroughly tested on Doug Bridge’s fifth-grade class at Lot Whitcomb Elementary (Photo of the sign is also in the attached EPacket).

Website: http://www.ardenwald.org/comm/fotjp