Tacoma St. Park & Ride scales back; 32nd Ave. gets signal lights; Oct. 26th Q&A’s

Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail project planners announced at Thursday night Tacoma Street Station/Johnson Creek Blvd. meeting that theTacoma Street Station Park & Ride size was cut down to 800 cars spaces, and shaving off one story from the structure.

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).